GenGen

A powerful static site generator written in Dart that can be used both as a CLI tool and as a library. GenGen provides Jekyll-compatible features with modern Dart architecture and a clean, fluent API.

Features

• Jekyll Compatibility: Uses identical template variables, Liquid syntax, and configuration
• CLI & Library: Use as a command-line tool or embed in your Dart applications
• Simple, Fluent API: Inspired by StaticShock and Jaspr for minimal setup
• Plugin System: Extensible architecture with built-in and custom plugins
• Modern Architecture: Written in Dart with async/await support
• Fast & Efficient: Optimized for performance and memory usage
• Developer Friendly: Hot reload, file watching, and comprehensive error handling

Installation

CLI Usage

Install globally:

dart pub global activate gengen

Library Usage

Add to your pubspec.yaml:

dependencies:
  gengen: ^0.0.1

Quick Start

Command Line

# Create a new site
gengen new my-site
cd my-site

# Build the site
gengen build

# Serve with hot reload
gengen serve

Need a bolder look? Pass --theme=aurora when running gengen new site to scaffold with the Aurora theme.

Docs Platform

GenGen ships with a full documentation theme and scaffold so you can spin up product docs without starting from scratch.

# Scaffold a docs site
gengen new docs my-docs-site
cd my-docs-site

# Preview locally
gengen serve

# Produce the static output
gengen build

• Navigation lives in _data/docs/navigation.yml; update the sidebar by editing this file rather than the layouts.
• Each Markdown page should declare nav_section and nav_order in its front matter so the sidebar stays in sync.
• The scaffold installs the reusable theme under _themes/docs-platform—swap colors or Sass there without touching layouts.
• Deploy the generated public/ directory to any static host. The repo includes step-by-step guides in docs/deploy-github.md and docs/deploy-netlify.md.

The repository itself uses this platform under the docs/ directory, so you can reference it as a working example.

Library Usage

import 'package:gengen/gengen.dart';

void main() async {
  final generator = GenGen()
    ..source('./content')
    ..destination('./build')
    ..title('My Site')
    ..plugin(MarkdownPlugin());
  
  await generator.build();
}

Why GenGen?

GenGen combines the best of Jekyll's simplicity with Dart's modern language features and a clean, chainable API inspired by StaticShock and Jaspr. Whether you're building a blog, documentation site, or need programmatic static site generation, GenGen provides the tools you need.

Key advantages:

• Simple API: Chain methods with .. for intuitive configuration
• No Complex Setup: Works out of the box with sensible defaults
• Jekyll Migration: Easy migration from Jekyll sites
• Type Safety: Dart's type system catches errors early
• Performance: Fast builds and efficient memory usage
• Extensibility: Plugin system for custom functionality

Library Examples

Basic Blog

final blog = GenGen()
  ..source('./posts')
  ..destination('./blog-output')
  ..title('My Development Blog')
  ..plugin(MarkdownPlugin())
  ..plugin(PaginationPlugin());

await blog.build();

Documentation Site

final docs = GenGen()
  ..source('./docs')
  ..destination('./docs-site')
  ..title('Project Documentation')
  ..plugin(MarkdownPlugin())
  ..plugin(SassPlugin())
  ..config({
    'markdown': {'auto_ids': true},
    'sass': {'style': 'compressed'},
  });

await docs.build();

Development Server

await generator.serve(port: 4000, watch: true);

Usage

CLI Commands

Usage: gengen <command> [arguments]

Global options:
-h, --help    Print this usage information.

Available commands:
  build   Build static site
  serve   Serve site with development server
  new     Create a new site
  dump    Dump site information

Library API

Testing & Coverage

Run the test suite:

dart test

Generate an LCOV coverage report (saved to coverage/lcov.info):

just coverage

If lcov/genhtml is installed, you can also generate HTML output:

just coverage-html

See README_LIBRARY.md for comprehensive library documentation.

Documentation

• Library Usage Guide - Complete library API documentation
• Plugin Development - Creating custom plugins
• Configuration - Site configuration options
• Examples - Working examples and use cases

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit issues and pull requests.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.

Usage: gengen <command> [arguments]

Global options:
-h, --help    Print this usage information.

Available commands:
  build   Build static site