rust-lang/mdBook

Features

• Static Site Generators - Compiles Markdown source files into complete, navigable HTML websites for documentation.
• Documentation Generators - Converts collections of Markdown files into structured, web-based books with integrated search and syntax highlighting.
• Static Documentation Generation - Compiles collections of Markdown files into structured, navigable HTML websites for technical documentation.
• Documentation Build Pipelines - Ships a modular build pipeline that validates code, processes content, and renders technical documentation into deployable websites.
• Markdown Documentation Tools - Organizes hierarchical content into structured books using Markdown, featuring live previews and automated build processes.
• Static Site Generators - Compiles Markdown source files into navigable, static HTML websites with customizable themes and syntax highlighting.
• Document Rendering - Converts Markdown source files into structured, navigable web-based books.
• Table of Contents - Organizes content into a hierarchical table of contents via configuration.
• Documentation Metadata Configurations - Defines core project settings like book title and source directory to control documentation identity.
• Publishing Toolchains - Enables overriding default templates, stylesheets, and assets to create branded documentation sites.
• Markdown Documentation Systems - Extends standard Markdown with features like task lists, footnotes, and tables.
• Technical Writing Workflows - Provides a structured workflow for managing technical documentation projects with automated table of contents, live previews, and integrated search.
• Build Configuration - Manages build preferences and metadata through a centralized configuration file.
• Content Preprocessors - mdBook integrates custom preprocessors to modify source content or introduce new syntax before the final output is rendered.
• File-Based Routing Systems - Maps directory structures directly to navigation hierarchies for generated documentation.
• Navigation Hierarchies - mdBook groups content into prefix, numbered, and suffix sections, allowing for logical separation through part titles and visual dividers in the navigation menu.
• Document and Text Tools - Command-line utility for creating books from markdown.
• Markdown Transformation Pipelines - Transforms raw Markdown content using extensions to enable dynamic content injection before rendering.
• Documentation Search - Provides a built-in, real-time search interface that indexes documentation content for quick navigation and highlighted results.
• Build Pipeline Customizers - mdBook executes external programs to generate book output, allowing users to define custom build pipelines or use third-party plugins.
• Development Preview Servers - Provides a local server that rebuilds and refreshes content automatically during the authoring process.
• Interactive Technical Documentation - Embeds executable code blocks into web-based documentation to provide hands-on learning experiences.
• External Content Inclusions - Embeds entire files or specific sections of code into documentation pages.
• Keyboard Navigation - Provides interactive sidebar, arrow buttons, and keyboard shortcuts for navigation.
• Preview Servers - Hosts generated documentation on a local server for immediate visual inspection and testing.
• Syntax Highlighting - Applies color-coded syntax highlighting to code blocks to improve readability for various programming languages.
• Interactive Feature Settings - mdBook customizes built-in capabilities like search, syntax highlighting, and code playgrounds through a centralized configuration file.
• Documentation Usage Examples - Validates embedded code examples by executing them during the build process to ensure accuracy.
• File Change Detection - Monitors project directories for file changes to trigger automatic rebuilds.
• Configuration Manifests - Uses a centralized configuration file to define project metadata, hierarchy, and build parameters.
• Plugin Architectures - Enables content modification through a plugin-based architecture that intercepts raw Markdown before rendering.
• Data Tables - Translates pipe-and-dash syntax into structured HTML tables.
• Theme Customization - Overrides default templates, CSS, and assets to match specific branding requirements.
• Renderer Output Customizers - Customizes generated web documentation including navigation and search functionality.
• Code Display & Snippets - Supports interactive code snippets that allow readers to modify and execute code directly within the documentation.
• Project Initializers - Bootstraps new documentation projects with standardized directory structures and configuration files.
• Build Automation - Manages build workflows including output directory placement and automated rebuild triggers.
• Build Pipeline Hooks - mdBook defines the order and custom settings for external processing tools to ensure content transformations occur in the required sequence during the build process.
• Pluggable Backends - Supports swappable rendering backends to export documentation into multiple output formats.
• Callouts - Renders specialized callout blocks for notes, tips, and warnings.
• Code Visibility Toggles - Allows readers to toggle the visibility of hidden code lines via an interactive interface.
• Table of Contents Generators - Automatically generates source files for chapters based on a defined table of contents.
• Redirection Rules - Generates HTML files that automatically forward visitors to new locations.

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