terradoc 0.1.1

Reusable engine for indigenous documentation platforms

Terradoc

Terradoc is a Python toolkit for building multilingual documentation websites for Indigenous languages, ecological knowledge, and community-led cultural archives.

It was developed as the reusable publishing engine behind the Plataforma de Linguas Indigenas, an initiative focused on language revitalization, documentation, educational access, and long-term community stewardship of linguistic and cultural knowledge in Brazil.

Rather than treating language data as a generic CMS problem, Terradoc is designed for projects that need:

• structured lexical and encyclopedic data
• multilingual presentation
• static deployment on low-complexity infrastructure
• community-specific branding and terminology
• traceable, file-based content workflows that can be reviewed and archived

What Terradoc Does

Terradoc converts structured project data into a complete static website.

A typical project combines:

• dictionary or lexicon records
• encyclopedia articles
• fauna or ethnobiological entries
• bibliography data
• optional recordings metadata
• locale files for multilingual interface text

From those inputs, Terradoc generates HTML pages and JSON assets that can be published on standard static hosting without requiring a database or application server.

Context And Use Case

Terradoc exists to support documentation and revitalization work where language materials are not just technical assets, but part of a broader social, educational, and ethical process.

In the context of the Plataforma de Linguas Indigenas, this includes:

• producing accessible digital materials for Indigenous communities, educators, and researchers
• organizing lexical, cultural, and reference content in a consistent format
• enabling multilingual public-facing portals
• keeping infrastructure simple enough to maintain and replicate across multiple community-specific platforms

The work is also shaped by governance principles that are essential in Indigenous language documentation, including free, prior, and informed consent, community data stewardship, and responsible handling of culturally sensitive materials. Terradoc does not replace those governance processes, but it is intended to support workflows where they are taken seriously.

This makes Terradoc particularly useful for:

• Indigenous language documentation initiatives
• community archives
• educational language portals
• collaborative research projects that need transparent, file-based publishing

For Partners And Funders

Terradoc supports a model of digital language infrastructure that is practical, replicable, and aligned with long-term stewardship.

For institutions, partner organizations, and funders, the value is not only in the websites it produces, but in the operational model it enables:

• low-complexity deployment without expensive hosting infrastructure
• reproducible publication workflows that reduce dependence on custom web development
• reusable architecture that can support multiple community-specific platforms
• clearer separation between content stewardship and software maintenance
• durable outputs that can be archived, transferred, and maintained over time

In the broader context of Indigenous language revitalization, this matters because digital tools often fail when they are too expensive, too opaque, or too dependent on a single developer or institution. Terradoc is designed to reduce those risks by emphasizing structured data, static publishing, and maintainable project conventions.

It is also designed to fit projects where community control over publication decisions matters. In practice, that means the software works well in environments that require reviewable source files, explicit content pipelines, and governance checkpoints before publication.

For Developers

Terradoc is intended for developers who need to build and maintain documentation portals without reinventing the full publishing stack for each project.

From an engineering perspective, the package provides:

• a Python-based CLI for project scaffolding and site builds
• a src-layout package with bundled templates and schema files
• configuration-driven customization through YAML
• static output suitable for simple deployment targets
• a codebase that is easier to audit and adapt than a bespoke CMS integration

If you are integrating Terradoc into a larger documentation workflow, the main extension points are configuration, local template overrides, upstream data preparation, and deployment automation around the generated docs/ directory.

Core Capabilities

• Modular site generation for dictionary, encyclopedia, fauna, bibliography, and recordings content
• Multilingual rendering with locale-based navigation and page generation
• Static-site output that can be hosted on GitHub Pages, institutional servers, or any basic web host
• Bundled templates that can be overridden per project
• Theme customization through YAML configuration
• Cross-linking between datasets to improve navigation across related entries
• Built-in project scaffolding for new sites

Typical Outputs

Depending on the modules enabled and the source material available, a Terradoc project can be used to publish:

• a multilingual dictionary portal for community and school use
• a cultural encyclopedia with articles, linked references, and internal cross-navigation
• a fauna or ethnobiological knowledge section connected to lexical entries
• a bibliography or research reference index for teachers, researchers, and collaborators
• a recordings catalog that connects audio metadata to lexical or educational content
• a lightweight digital documentation portal that can be maintained and republished without a custom web backend

How It Works

Terradoc uses a project directory with a predictable structure:

my-project/
  terradoc.yaml
  config/
    templates/
    index.yaml
    dictionary.yaml
    fauna.yaml
    encyclopedia.yaml
    bibliography.yaml
  data/
  locales/
  docs/

The standard workflow is:

1. Scaffold a new project.
2. Add or adapt your configuration.
3. Place source data in the project directories.
4. Run the build.
5. Publish the generated docs/ output.

Installation

After the first public PyPI release, install with:

pip install terradoc

Until then, install from source:

python -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
pip install -e .[dev]

Quick Start

Create a new project:

terradoc init my-project

Move into the project and edit the main configuration:

cd my-project

Build the site:

terradoc build

The generated site will be written to docs/.

Command-Line Interface

Terradoc currently exposes two primary commands:

• terradoc init <name>: scaffold a new project with starter configuration, templates, locales, and asset placeholders
• terradoc build: validate inputs, run conversions, generate derived data, and build the final static site

Configuration

Projects are configured through terradoc.yaml. A minimal example:

project_name: "My Project"
project_subtitle: "Community documentation portal"
site_title: "My Project"
site_tagline: "Language, knowledge, and memory"
culture_name: "Community Name"
meta_prefix: "my_project"
locales: ["pt", "en"]
default_locale: "pt"

modules:
  dictionary: { enabled: true }
  fauna: { enabled: true }
  encyclopedia: { enabled: true }
  bibliography: { enabled: true }
  recordings: { enabled: false }

theme:
  logo: "images/logo.svg"
  favicon: "images/favicon.svg"
  colors:
    primary: "#3D352F"
    accent: "#C75B39"

Local templates in config/templates/ take precedence over the bundled defaults, which makes it straightforward to adapt Terradoc to different communities, institutions, and visual identities without forking the package.

Project Philosophy

Terradoc is intentionally simple in its deployment model:

• content lives in files
• output is static
• infrastructure requirements are minimal
• project customization happens through configuration and templates

This design makes the system easier to audit, preserve, replicate, and maintain over time, especially in collaborations where longevity and handover matter as much as feature velocity.

That same design also supports stronger governance practices:

• source materials can be reviewed before publication
• content decisions remain visible in files and configuration
• project teams can maintain clearer boundaries around what is and is not published
• community review processes are easier to integrate than in opaque hosted systems

Terradoc is a publishing engine, not a policy framework, but it is built to work within projects that prioritize consent, community data sovereignty, and responsible stewardship.

Development

Run the test suite with:

pytest -q

Build distributable artifacts with:

python -m build
python -m twine check dist/*

Contributing

Contributions are welcome, especially improvements related to:

• documentation workflows
• multilingual and accessibility support
• template flexibility
• data validation and conversion pipelines
• community-oriented publishing use cases

If you plan to make substantial changes, align them with the project's core priorities: reproducible builds, transparent data flows, and maintainable static output.

License

Terradoc is licensed under the GNU GPL v3.0 or later. See LICENSE.