Core Concepts Overview

jstatico transforms a source directory into a static website through a simple, predictable process.

Key Ideas

Everything is a Tree

Your source directory becomes a tree data structure. Each file is a node with content and metadata. Templates can access any part of this tree.

Three-Phase Pipeline

Every build follows the same steps:

  1. Preprocess - Parse input files (Markdown → HTML, extract frontmatter)
  2. Render - Apply templates (Nunjucks)
  3. Write - Output to destination

Convention Over Configuration

Special prefixes determine behavior:

  • _ prefix = not written to output (layouts, data, processors)
  • .json in _site/ = loaded as data
  • .processor.js = generates pages dynamically

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