Introduction

Welcome to Cdocs — a minimal, data-driven static documentation site generator (SSG) written in C++.

It compiles the Markdown sources in docs/ together with the config, navigation, i18n strings and front-end assets in .Cdocs/ into a purely static, offline-capable, zero-runtime-dependency site under dist/.

#What problem it solves

Traditional doc tools either require a Node/Python runtime or scatter their configuration so widely that restyling means touching source code. Cdocs is built around a different set of goals:

• Single-binary CLI: one Cdocs.exe (or Cdocs) does "compile → generate → RSS → PWA"; no Node/Python needed to serve a preview.
• Data-driven: site title, navigation, theme and languages are all expressed in JSON — change copy/structure without touching C++.
• Offline-capable: third-party libraries (Mermaid / KaTeX / highlight.js / FlexSearch) are shipped with the site, so it works without a network.
• SEO-friendly: JSON-LD, canonical, sitemap hreflang and per-language search indexes are emitted at build time.

#Core features

• CLI: build / serve / new / version / help subcommands
• Content: Markdown (md4c based, with GFM extensions: tables, task lists, strikethrough)
• Navigation: config-driven sidebar, up to 6 nesting levels, collapsible groups, mobile drawer
• Search: client-side full-text search (FlexSearch) with title/body fields and hit highlighting
• Theme: light/dark dual theme, follows system on first visit, remembers preference
• Enhancements: code highlighting / copy button, Admonitions, Mermaid diagrams, KaTeX math
• Experience: ⌘K command palette, image lightbox, print / export PDF, "was this page helpful?" feedback
• i18n: {{key}} + flat JSON dictionaries
• Publishing: per-page SEO, sitemap, robots, RSS 2.0 / JSON Feed, PWA offline

#Three steps to get started

# 1) One-shot build (auto-compile generator -> generate site -> RSS -> PWA)
.Cdocs\tools\build.cmd          # Windows
bash .Cdocs/tools/build.sh      # Linux / macOS

# 2) Local preview (built-in C++ static server, default http://localhost:8088)
Cdocs serve

# 3) Scaffold a standalone site (copies engine + Cdocs.exe + sample docs/intro.md)
Cdocs new my-docs

Tip: serve ships a C++ HTTP server, so no Python or Node install is required; it only listens on 127.0.0.1. Re-run after editing docs/ to refresh the preview.

#Where to go next

• For command usage and authoring syntax, read the Guide.
• For CLI flags and config-file fields, read the API Reference.
• For the full "Markdown to live site" pipeline, read the Render Pipeline.