THE GITHTML FIELD GUIDE
Build Docusaurus for a local documentation review
Build an existing Docusaurus project locally with its documented build script, then preview the generated production output. The normal output is a site directory, not a self-contained HTML handbook. Building and hosting are separate steps, and a successful local preview does not prove that individual pages will work unchanged inside a document reader.
Review the project’s build setup
Read package.json, the Docusaurus configuration, and the project’s setup instructions. Confirm the package manager and installed dependencies. Build scripts, configuration, and plugins are executable project code, so review unfamiliar repositories before running their commands.
Check where output is written and ensure it is a dedicated generated directory. Preserve any existing work. The standard build directory is useful to recognize, but custom scripts can change behavior, so inspect the actual project rather than relying on convention alone.
Build and preview the production output
In a project using the standard npm scripts, run npm run build, inspect the messages, then run npm run serve to preview the generated site. The preview is a local service; it does not publish a public website.
Use the project’s configured local address and avoid exposing the preview to other networks unnecessarily. Open the production preview rather than relying only on a development server, because the output and routing behavior are the artifacts you intend to review.
npm run build
npm run serveInspect representative content
Review a normal article, a deep route, a page with images, and a page containing custom interactive components. Docusaurus can pre-render useful content, but the actual theme and components determine which enhancements still need JavaScript.
Check what remains when scripts or connectivity are unavailable. Do not describe every Docusaurus page as either fully script-dependent or automatically portable. Record specific observations about the generated edition and the pages that matter to the reader.
Choose the right delivery artifact
If the goal is a hosted documentation site, keep the generated site collection and proceed through an explicitly authorized hosting process. If the goal is offline reading in gitHtml, evaluate the actual .html files and their dependencies separately.
A focused standalone companion guide may be more suitable for a small review packet. Include source revision and version context in that copy. The local build is an important production check, but it is only one stage between editable sources and a dependable reading experience.
Sources and further reading
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