For advanced workflows, you can import and use the docmd build engine directly within your own Node.js applications. This is ideal for custom CI/CD pipelines, automated documentation generation, or extending docmd for specialised environments.

Installation

Ensure @docmd/core is installed in your project:

npm install @docmd/core

Core Functions

buildSite(configPath, options)

The primary build function. It handles configuration loading, Markdown parsing, and asset generation.

import { buildSite } from '@docmd/core';

async function runBuild() {
  await buildSite('./docmd.config.js', {
    isDev: false,      // Set to true for watch mode logic
    offline: false,    // Set to true to optimise for file:// access
    zeroConfig: false  // Set to true to bypass config file detection
  });
}

buildLive(options)

Generates the browser-based Live Editor bundle.

import { buildLive } from '@docmd/core';

async function generateEditor() {
  await buildLive({
    serve: false, // true starts a local server; false generates static files
    port: 3000    // Custom port if serve is true
  });
}

Example: Custom Pipeline

You can wrap docmd to create complex documentation workflows.

import { buildSite } from '@docmd/core';
import fs from 'fs-extra';

async function deploy() {
  // 1. Generate dynamic content
  await fs.writeFile('./docs/dynamic.md', '# Generated Content');

  // 2. Execute docmd build
  await buildSite('./docmd.config.js');

  // 3. Move output
  await fs.move('./site', './public/docs');
}

Plugin API (@docmd/api)

The @docmd/api package is the dedicated home for the plugin system. It provides hook registration, WebSocket RPC dispatch, source editing tools, and centralized URL utilities.

npm install @docmd/api

URL Utilities

Plugins should use these centralized utilities instead of rolling their own URL logic.

outputPathToSlug(outputPath)

Convert a build engine output path to a clean directory-style slug.

import { outputPathToSlug } from '@docmd/api';

outputPathToSlug('guide/index.html');   // → 'guide/'
outputPathToSlug('index.html');         // → '/'
outputPathToSlug('de/v1/api/index.html'); // → 'de/v1/api/'

outputPathToPathname(outputPath)

Convert to a root-relative pathname.

import { outputPathToPathname } from '@docmd/api';

outputPathToPathname('guide/index.html'); // → '/guide/'
outputPathToPathname('index.html');       // → '/'

outputPathToCanonical(outputPath, siteUrl)

Build a full canonical URL.

import { outputPathToCanonical } from '@docmd/api';

outputPathToCanonical('guide/index.html', 'https://example.com');
// → 'https://example.com/guide/'

sanitizeUrl(url)

Collapse double slashes (except after protocol).

import { sanitizeUrl } from '@docmd/api';

sanitizeUrl('https://example.com//path/'); // → 'https://example.com/path/'
sanitizeUrl('/foo//bar/');                  // → '/foo/bar/'

buildAbsoluteUrl(base, localePrefix, versionPrefix, pagePath)

Build an absolute URL with locale and version prefixes.

import { buildAbsoluteUrl } from '@docmd/api';

buildAbsoluteUrl('/', 'de/', 'v1/', 'guide/');
// → '/de/v1/guide/'

resolveHref(href)

Normalize user-written hrefs to clean URLs. Handles .md stripping, trailing slashes, external: and raw: prefixes.

import { resolveHref } from '@docmd/api';

resolveHref('overview.md');
// → { href: 'overview/', isExternal: false, isRaw: false }

resolveHref('external:https://github.com/docmd-io/docmd');
// → { href: 'https://github.com/docmd-io/docmd', isExternal: true, isRaw: false }

resolveHref('raw:docs/readme.md');
// → { href: 'docs/readme.md', isExternal: false, isRaw: true }

Pre-computed Page URLs

Every page object includes pre-computed URL data. Plugins can read these directly — zero computation needed.

export async function onPostBuild({ pages, config }) {
  for (const page of pages) {
    console.log(page.urls.slug);      // "guide/"
    console.log(page.urls.canonical); // "https://example.com/guide/"
    console.log(page.urls.pathname);  // "/guide/"
  }
}

Backward Compatibility: All exports from @docmd/api are also re-exported from @docmd/core, so existing code continues to work without changes. New projects are encouraged to import directly from @docmd/api.

createActionDispatcher(hooks, options)

Creates a dispatcher that routes WebSocket RPC messages to plugin action/event handlers.

import { createActionDispatcher } from '@docmd/api';

const dispatcher = createActionDispatcher(
  { actions: myPlugin.actions, events: myPlugin.events },
  { projectRoot: '/path/to/project', config, broadcast }
);

const { result, reload } = await dispatcher.handleCall('my-action', payload);

createSourceTools({ projectRoot })

Creates source editing utilities for markdown file manipulation.

import { createSourceTools } from '@docmd/api';

const source = createSourceTools({ projectRoot: '/path/to/project' });

// Get block information at a specific line range
const block = await source.getBlockAt('docs/page.md', [10, 12]);

// Wrap text with syntax markers
await source.wrapText('docs/page.md', [10, 12], 'important', 0, '**', '**');

loadPlugins(config, options)

Loads, validates, and registers all plugins declared in the config. Returns the populated hooks registry.

import { loadPlugins, hooks } from '@docmd/api';

const registeredHooks = await loadPlugins(config, {
  resolvePaths: [__dirname]  // Help resolve plugins in pnpm workspaces
});

Type Exports

For TypeScript plugin authors, the following types are available:

import type {
  PluginModule,       // Full plugin contract interface
  PluginDescriptor,   // Plugin metadata (name, version, capabilities)
  PluginHooks,        // Shape of the hook registry
  Capability,         // Hook category declaration (init, body, actions, etc)
  ActionContext,      // Context passed to action/event handlers
  ActionHandler,      // Signature for action handlers
  EventHandler,       // Signature for event handlers
  SourceTools,        // Source editing tools interface
  BlockInfo,          // Block information returned by getBlockAt
  TextLocation,       // Text location returned by findText
} from '@docmd/api';