render
mdu render converts the Markdown pages into a static HTML site and exits. It writes the pages and linked local assets to the output folder, ./site by default. If any page contains [Download the PDF](mdu:pdf), MDU also generates a combined documentation.pdf there and resolves the link to that file. It renders like any other link. Your Markdown files stay unchanged.
Usage
mdu render [PATH [OUTPATH]] [options]The alias mdu r runs the same command. See Paths and file search for the default folders and common options for --pattern and --hidden.
| Option | Effect |
|---|---|
--editPageRoot <url> |
GitHub edit URL of the documentation folder. Adds an edit icon beside each page's level-one heading, or an Edit this page link in the footer when there is none, and a repository button with the owner/repository name to the header. |
Examples
mdu render
mdu render ./ProjectDocs ./public/docs
mdu render ./docs ./site --pattern "*.markdown" --editPageRoot "https://github.com/example/project/edit/main/docs"Site configuration
An optional mdu.yml in the documentation folder sets the site name, light and dark logos and favicons, and theme colors. MDU copies the referenced files into the output folder.
site_name: Documentation
logo:
light: assets/logo-light.svg
dark: assets/logo-dark.svg
favicon:
light: assets/favicon-light.svg
dark: assets/favicon-dark.svg
colors:
light:
background: "#ffffff"
text: "#1d1d1f"
primary: "#0066cc"
dark:
background: "#1d1d1f"
text: "#f5f5f7"
primary: "#2997ff"The background color also applies to the header, navigation, sidebar, and dialogs. Secondary text, lines, and code surfaces are mixed from the text and background colors, and hover backgrounds from the primary color, so they match a custom palette.
Page front matter
YAML front matter at the top of a page controls its title, metadata, and navigation entry:
---
title: Installing MDU
description: Install the MDU .NET tool globally or per repository.
icon: material-download
navigation:
title: Setup
order: 10
---| Key | Effect |
|---|---|
title |
Browser title and fallback navigation title |
description |
Page meta description |
icon |
Icon shortcode shown beside the level-one heading, such as material-download |
navigation.title |
Label in the sidebar, tabs, and breadcrumbs |
navigation.order |
Sort order among sibling pages |
navigation.visible |
false hides the entry; the page stays reachable by its URL |
navigation.expanded |
true opens the section in the sidebar initially |
navigation.placement |
top makes a first-level page or section a top navigation tab |
pdf.visible |
false leaves the page out of mdu pdf |
Both the nested form shown above and the compact form navigation.order: 10 work. Navigation explains the navigation keys in detail.