Build and preview the documentation locally

Use this guide for the MiniScaffold repository or a generated library repository. The BuildDocs and WatchDocs targets use fsdocs to generate a site from docsSrc/.

Prepare the repository

1. Install the .NET SDK that the repository's global.json specifies.
2. Install the .NET 8 runtime for the build project.
3. Open a terminal in the repository root.
4. Add each new page to the applicable docsSrc/ directory.
5. Add a link to the page in that directory's 0-toc.md file.

Build the documentation

On macOS or Linux, run this command:

./build.sh BuildDocs

On Windows, run this command:

.\build.cmd BuildDocs

The target generates the site in docs/.

Preview the documentation

On macOS or Linux, run this command:

./build.sh WatchDocs

On Windows, run this command:

.\build.cmd WatchDocs

The target generates the site in temp/watch-docs/ and starts a local web server. The server updates the preview when you change the documentation source.

If the browser does not open, open the URL from the terminal output in a browser. Check each new page and its navigation links. To stop the server, press Ctrl+C in the terminal.