Getting Started

Create a Markdown source directory, run Build Pages, and deploy the generated static output.

Build Pages does not require a framework project. You can start with a directory of Markdown files and add config, public assets, or a custom theme only when you need them.

1. Create A Source Directory

docs/
  index.md

Create docs/index.md:

# My Docs

Welcome to the project documentation.

2. Build The Site

npx @zeropress/build-pages --source ./docs --destination ./_site

The command:

• discovers Markdown pages under docs/
• prepares internal ZeroPress build data
• copies public files
• runs the bundled docs theme
• writes static output to _site/

The generated _site/ directory is the directory you deploy.

Preview the generated site locally with serve:

npx serve _site

Open the local URL printed by serve to inspect the generated HTML before deploying.

3. Add Site Config

Optional site configuration lives under the source directory.

docs/
  .zeropress/
    config.json
  index.md

Example docs/.zeropress/config.json:

{
  "$schema": "https://schemas.zeropress.dev/build-pages-config/v0.1/schema.json",
  "version": "0.1",
  "site": {
    "title": "My Docs",
    "description": "Project documentation.",
    "url": "https://example.com",
    "footer": {
      "copyright_text": "© 2026 My Company",
      "attribution": true
    }
  },
  "front_page": {
    "type": "markdown",
    "file": "index.md"
  }
}

Use config when you want to set site metadata, menus, footer text, search behavior, or a custom front page source. See Configuration for the full config reference.

4. Add Public Files

By default, the source directory is also used as the public passthrough root. For larger projects, keep public files in a separate directory:

docs/
  index.md
public/
  favicon.svg
  robots.txt
  sitemap.xsl
  images/

npx @zeropress/build-pages --source ./docs --public-dir ./public --destination ./_site

See Generated Files: Public Files for public directory behavior and ignored paths.

5. Deploy

Deploy the generated _site/ directory with your static hosting provider.

• For GitHub Pages, Vercel, Cloudflare Pages, Netlify, and provider settings, read Deployment.
• For a Node project with npm install and npm run build, read Package Manifest.