ZeroPress Build Pages

Reference

Build Output

Build Pages writes internal working files to:

.zeropress-build-page/
  build-pages-config.json
  preview-data.json
  build-report.json
  public-assets/

These files help inspect the resolved build state. They are not the public output directory.

Internal Working Directory

.zeropress-build-page/ is generated in the current working directory.

  • build-pages-config.json: resolved user-facing Build Pages config.
  • preview-data.json: internal generated build input passed to @zeropress/build.
  • build-report.json: summary of discovered Markdown, skipped files, front page mode, and output paths.
  • public-assets/: staged public root used by the underlying build.

Do not edit these files as source. They are regenerated on each build.

Static Output

The destination directory receives deployable files:

_site/
  index.html
  assets/
  _zeropress/
  sitemap.xml          when site.url is configured
  robots.txt

Common output:

  • HTML pages generated from Markdown.
  • Hashed theme assets such as assets/style.<hash>.css.
  • /_zeropress/search.js, /_zeropress/search.json, and /_zeropress/search_pagefind.js when search is enabled.
  • sitemap.xml, when site.url is configured.
  • fallback robots.txt, unless public robots.txt exists.
  • copied public files.
  • copied Markdown source files, unless --no-copy-markdown-source is used.

Source Config

Do not confuse generated working files with source config files:

docs/.zeropress/config.json

The source .zeropress/ directory is authored by the site owner. The workspace .zeropress-build-page/ directory is generated by Build Pages.

Public Files

Public files come from --public-dir, or from --source when --public-dir is omitted.

Public root files can override or influence generated special files:

  • robots.txt: copied as-is and prevents fallback robots generation.
  • favicon.ico, favicon.svg, favicon.png, apple-touch-icon.png: copied to the destination and auto-injected into generated HTML <head> output.
  • sitemap.xsl: copied to the destination. When ZeroPress generates sitemap.xml, it auto-discovers that file and adds an XML stylesheet processing instruction for /sitemap.xsl.

Markdown Source Copy

By default, source Markdown files are copied to the generated output and the bundled docs theme can show View this page as Markdown.

Use:

zeropress-build-pages --source ./docs --destination ./_site --no-copy-markdown-source

to publish HTML without original Markdown source files.

Ignore In Git

Most projects should ignore generated directories:

/.zeropress-build-page/
/_site/

If you build with an older published package that writes internal files to ./.zeropress/, ignore that generated root as well while keeping <source>/.zeropress/ tracked.