#Getting Started

#What is zpress

zpress is an information-architecture-driven documentation framework for monorepos. Your config file is the architecture — it defines what content exists, where it comes from, and how it's organized in a single tree. Source markdown files are never edited by the tool. zpress syncs them into a build directory, injects frontmatter, generates sidebars and nav, and produces a static site.

#Why zpress

There are excellent documentation tools out there — VitePress, Rspress, Docusaurus, and others. They were direct inspirations for this project. So why build another one?

Zero config, real defaults. Most documentation tools need significant setup before they produce anything useful. zpress ships with opinionated defaults that work immediately. Point it at a repo with a docs/ directory and you get a working site — sidebar, navigation, and all.

Your structure, not ours. When you do configure zpress, the config maps to how you already organize your markdown. You describe where your files are and how they should be grouped. You don't restructure your docs to fit the tool — the tool fits your docs.

Built for the vibe. AI coding tools are everywhere now. When you're vibing on a project — spinning up features with Claude, Copilot, Cursor, or whatever you reach for — documentation shouldn't be the part that slows you down. Tell your AI to create a docs/ directory, write some markdown, and run zpress dev. It just works. No plugin config, no theme wiring, no boilerplate. The whole point is that a docs site is one command away from existing.

#Install

pnpm add zpress

#Initialize

Run zpress setup or create a zpress.config.ts at your repo root:

import { defineConfig } from 'zpress'

export default defineConfig({
  title: 'My Project',
  description: 'Project documentation',
  sections: [
    {
      text: 'Introduction',
      link: '/intro',
      from: 'docs/intro.md',
    },
  ],
})

Add a section that auto-discovers pages from a directory:

{
  text: 'Guides',
  prefix: '/guides',
  from: 'docs/guides/*.md',
  icon: 'pixelarticons:book-open',
}

Every .md file matching the glob becomes a page under /guides/.

#Start the dev server

zpress dev

This runs sync to copy and process your source files, starts a file watcher for live reload, and launches the dev server. Open the URL printed in the terminal to see your site.

#Commands

#Project structure

After running zpress dev, the .zpress/ directory is created:

your-repo/
├── docs/                       # Your source markdown
│   ├── intro.md
│   └── guides/
├── zpress.config.ts         # Information architecture
└── .zpress/                 # Generated (gitignore this)
    ├── content/                # Synced pages
    │   └── .generated/         # sidebar.json, nav.json
    ├── public/                 # Static assets
    ├── dist/                   # Build output
    └── cache/                  # Build cache

Add .zpress/content/, .zpress/dist/, and .zpress/cache/ to your .gitignore.

#Next steps

• Sections and Pages — understand the building blocks of your information architecture
• Configuration reference — complete field reference for zpress.config.ts