vai-ssg 0.0.18

A static site generator made in python.

vai

✨ Key Features

• 🔎 Full-Text Search: Automatically builds a search index for all your pages and headings.
• 🎨 Syntax Highlighting: Beautiful code blocks out of the box.
• 💅 Custom Blocks: Create admonitions for notes, warnings, and tips.
• ⚙️ Simple Configuration: Control your site's navigation from a single config.yaml file.
• 📦 Zero Dependencies: The final site is just pure HTML, CSS, and JS. No backend needed.
• 🐢 Live Reload Server: See your changes instantly as you write. However, it is not as robust as other alternative such as VitePress. You may have to manually refersh at times. u can Ctrl+r for quick refresh though.

---

⚡ Quick Start Guide

1. Installation

pip install vai

2. Initialize Your Project

This command creates the necessary folder structure in your current directory.

vai init

This will create the following structure:

src_md/       # Markdown content
static/       # CSS, JS, and image assets
templates/    # HTML templates
config.yaml   # Site configuration

3. Start the Development Server

vai run

Your site is now running at http://localhost:6600. The server will automatically rebuild and refresh the browser when changes are made to src_md/, static/, or config.yaml.

4. Build for Production

vai build

This will generate your final static site in the dist/ folder. You can host this on any static web server.

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🧠 Understanding the Stucture

Writing Content in src_md/

Vai uses folder and file names to build the site structure and sidebar.

• Uses a number-Name pattern for ordering.
• Folders = sidebar section.
• Markdown files = pages.

Example:

src_md/
├── 1-Introduction/
│   ├── 1-Welcome.md
│   └── 2-Installation-Guide.md
└── 2-Advanced-Features/
    └── 1-Search.md

Resulting URLs:

• /introduction/welcome/
• /introduction/installation-guide/
• /advanced-features/search/

Configuring the Site with config.yaml

This file controls the header, navigation, and metadata (e.g., GitHub repo link). It's easy to understand and modify.

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🎨 Customizing the Look

• Modify the site's CSS in static/style.css.
• Replace images/logos in the static/ folder.

📚 Special Markdown Features

Page Metadata

Add a title and date to any page by including a metadata block at the top:

+++
title: My Custom Page Title
date: January 1, 2024
+++

# Welcome to my page
...

Admonition Blocks

Use call-out blocks for notes, warnings, and expandable content.

:::note
This is a helpful note for the reader.
:::

:::warning Custom Warning Title
This is a critical warning with a custom title.
:::

:::details Click to Expand
This content is hidden by default and can be expanded.
:::

more example and visual showcase in the documentation

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🚀 Deployment

General Hosting (Netlify, Vercel, etc.)

1. Run:

   vai build
   

2. Upload the contents of the dist/ folder to your host.

GitHub Pages

1. In config.yaml, set:

   github_repo_name: YOUR_REPO_NAME # Note: it is case sensitive
   

2. Run:

   vai build --github
   

3. Push the contents of the dist/ folder to the github-pages branch.