Getting started with docmd is designed to be instantaneous. This guide explains the core workflow from initialization to final production build.

1. Initialize Your Project

To start a new documentation project, create an empty directory and run the init command.

mkdir my-guide && cd my-guide
docmd init

The Project Structure

After initialization, your project will follow this clean, intuitive structure:

2. Launching the Preview

You can see your changes in real-time without building the site. Launch the development server:

docmd dev

• URL: http://localhost:3000
• Hot Reload: Every time you save a .md or .config.js file, the browser updates instantly.

3. Organizing Content

Every markdown file inside the docs/ folder becomes a URL. Subfolders are respected automatically.

• docs/index.md → / (Home)
• docs/api.md → /api
• docs/guides/setup.md → /guides/setup

[!TIP]
Use standard Markdown syntax. docmd will automatically extract the first H1 header of your file to use as the page title if not specified in the frontmatter.

4. Configuring Navigation

docmd gives you absolute control over the sidebar. Edit the navigation array in docmd.config.js to structure your site.

navigation:[
  { title: 'Introduction', path: '/', icon: 'home' },
  {
    title: 'Advanced',
    icon: 'settings',
    collapsible: true, // Allow users to collapse this section
    children:[
      { title: 'Configuration', path: '/configuration' },
      { title: 'Plugins', path: '/plugins' }
    ]
  }
]

5. Building for Production

When you are ready to deploy, run the build command:

docmd build

This generates a highly optimized Single Page Application (SPA) inside the site/ directory. It is completely static so you can host it on GitHub Pages, Vercel, Netlify, or even a local USB drive.

Verification Step

To verify your production build locally, you can use any static server or run:

docmd dev --preserve