A modern static site generator for Ruby with Vite/Tailwind integration

Features · Installation · Quick Start · Configuration · How It Works · Integrations

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Craze is a static site generator that compiles Markdown content with YAML front matter into a static website using ERB templates. It features incremental builds, live reload during development, and seamless integration with modern frontend tools like Vite and Tailwind CSS.

Features

• Markdown content with YAML front matter
• ERB templates with layouts and partials
• Collections (posts, pages, etc.) with custom permalinks
• Incremental builds with file watching
• Live reload during development
• Vite + Tailwind CSS integration
• Extensible integrations (RSS, Sitemap, Search Index)

Installation

Add to your Gemfile:

gem 'craze'

Then install:

bundle install

Requirements

• Ruby 3.2+
• Node.js 18+ (for Vite integration)

Quick Start

Create a new project:

craze init mysite
cd mysite
craze dev

With Vite + Tailwind:

craze init mysite --with-vite
cd mysite
cd frontend && npm install && cd ..
craze dev

Build for production:

craze build

Integrations

Sitemap

Generates sitemap.xml with all pages.

RSS

Generates feed.xml for posts collection.

Search Index

Generates search.json for client-side search.

Vite Assets

Copies Vite build output to dist directory and provides template helpers.

Configuration

Create craze.yml in your project root:

Option	Type	Default	Description
site.title	String	"My Site"	Site title
site.url	String	"https://example.com"	Site URL
site.language	String	"en"	Site language
build.out_dir	String	"dist"	Output directory
build.base_path	String	"/"	Base path for URLs
build.clean	Boolean	true	Clean output before build
content.dir	String	"content"	Content directory
templates.dir	String	"templates"	Templates directory
assets.dir	String	"assets"	Assets directory
integrations	Array	[]	Enabled integrations

Example Configuration

site:
  title: "My Blog"
  url: "https://example.com"
  language: "en"

build:
  out_dir: "dist"
  base_path: "/"
  clean: true

content:
  dir: "content"
  collections:
    posts:
      pattern: "posts//*.md"
      permalink: "/posts/:slug/"

templates:
  dir: "templates"

integrations:
  - sitemap
  - rss
  - search_index

How It Works

1. Content Discovery scans content/ for Markdown files
2. Front Matter Parsing extracts YAML metadata from each file
3. Markdown Rendering converts Markdown to HTML using CommonMark
4. Template Rendering applies ERB layouts with page data
5. Integration Execution runs sitemap, RSS, search index generators
6. Output Writing writes HTML files to dist/

Template Helpers

Helper	Description
url_for(path)	Generate URL with base path
asset_path(name)	Generate asset URL
escape_html(text)	HTML escape
format_date(date, format)	Format date

Vite Helpers

Helper	Description
vite_client_tag	Vite HMR client (dev only)
vite_js_tag(entry)	JavaScript entry point
vite_css_tag(entry)	CSS entry point
vite_asset_path(entry)	Get asset path from manifest

Development

bundle install
bundle exec rake test
bundle exec rubocop

Contributing

Bug reports and pull requests are welcome at https://github.com/ydah/craze.

License

Released under the MIT License.