🌌 Astrodon - fast, modern static site generator built with Deno.

By the way, this blog uses Astrodon as well!

Source Code

Available on GitHub

Published on JSR

• JSR Score: 100%
• Install: deno add jsr:@nergy101/astrodon
• Works with: Deno, Bun
• Latest version: 0.2.5

Basic Usage

Below is how this blog uses Astrodon for building and serving the site.

// build.ts
import { build } from "astrodon";

await build({
  contentDir: new URL("./routes", import.meta.url).pathname,
  outDir: new URL("./dist", import.meta.url).pathname,
  assetsDir: new URL("./assets", import.meta.url).pathname,
  componentsDir: new URL("./components", import.meta.url).pathname,
});

// serve.ts
import { serve } from "astrodon";

await serve({
  root: new URL("./dist", import.meta.url).pathname,
  port: 8000,
});

Docker Deployment

This blog uses a minimal Dockerfile setup for hosting through Docker. The Dockerfile uses a multi-stage build:

1. Build stage: Uses Deno to build the static site from markdown files
2. Runtime stage: Uses nginx to serve the built static files

The Docker image of this blog is available as nergy101/blog:latest on Docker Hub.

The Dockerfile is as follows:

# syntax=docker/dockerfile:1

# ---- Build stage ----
FROM denoland/deno:alpine AS builder
WORKDIR /app

# Copy config first to maximize cache hits
COPY deno.json deno.lock* ./

# Copy scripts and sources
COPY build.ts serve.ts ./
COPY routes ./routes
COPY assets ./assets
COPY components ./components

# Prefetch dependencies and build static site
RUN deno cache build.ts serve.ts && \
    deno run --allow-read --allow-write --allow-run build.ts

# ---- Runtime stage ----
FROM nginx:alpine
WORKDIR /usr/share/nginx/html

# Remove default nginx static assets
RUN rm -rf ./*

# Copy custom nginx configuration
COPY nginx.conf /etc/nginx/conf.d/default.conf

# Copy built static site
COPY --from=builder /app/dist ./

EXPOSE 80
CMD ["nginx", "-g", "daemon off;"]

And the nginx.conf is as follows:

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name localhost;
    root /usr/share/nginx/html;
    index index.html;

    # Enable gzip compression
    gzip on;
    gzip_vary on;
    gzip_min_length 1024;
    gzip_types text/plain text/css text/xml text/javascript application/javascript application/xml+rss application/json;

    # Handle clean URLs - try exact path, then with .html, then as directory
    location / {
        try_files $uri $uri.html $uri/ =404;
    }

    # Cache static assets
    location ~* \.(jpg|jpeg|png|gif|ico|css|js|svg|webp|woff|woff2|ttf|eot)$ {
        expires 1y;
        add_header Cache-Control "public, immutable";
    }
}

This allows for clean URLs and caching of static assets.
E.g. /projects/astrodon.HTML will be served under /projects/astrodon as well.

Features

• Markdown Processing: Advanced markdown parsing with custom extensions
• Asset Optimization: Automatic WebP conversion and optimization
• Fast Builds: Intelligent caching and parallel processing
• Modern Output: Clean, semantic HTML with responsive design

Tech Stack

• Runtime: Deno
• Language: TypeScript
• Styling: Custom CSS with CSS variables
• Build System: Custom build pipeline

Key Benefits

• Fast Development: See the watch.ts script for hot reloading and instant rebuilds
• Flexible: Custom extensions and dynamic content
• Optimized: Automatic image optimization and caching
• Simple Deployment: Docker deployment with nginx as example

Markdown Showcase

Astrodon supports comprehensive markdown features. Here's a showcase of what's possible:

Text Formatting

Let's start with bold text and italic text. We can also use bold italic for emphasis.

Strikethrough text shows deleted content, while inline code highlights technical terms.

Lists

Here's an unordered list:

• First item
• Second item with bold text
• Third item with italic text
• Fourth item with code

And an ordered list:

1. First numbered item
2. Second numbered item
3. Third numbered item
1. Nested item
2. Another nested item

Code Blocks

import { serve } from "jsr:@std/http/server";

const handler = async (req: Request): Promise<Response> => {
  const currentTime = new Date().toISOString();
  return new Response(`Current time: ${currentTime}`, {
    headers: { "content-type": "text/plain" },
  });
};

await serve(handler, { port: 8000 });

Tables

Blockquotes

This is a simple blockquote. This is a blockquote with bold text and inline code.

Task Lists

• Set up Deno project
• Create basic web server
• Add markdown support
• Implement WebSocket connections
• Add database integration

Definition Lists

Term 1

Definition 1 with bold text and code.

Term 2

Definition 2 with italic text.

Abbreviations

The HTML and CSS are used to style this page, while the API provides dynamic content.

Footnotes

• Fast startup times - Deno starts up quickly^[1]
• Type safety - TypeScript provides excellent developer experience
• Modern tooling - Built-in formatter, linter, and test runner
• Build-time caching - Static content for optimal performance

This page demonstrates all major markdown features including headings, text formatting, lists, code blocks, tables, links, images, blockquotes, task lists, and footnotes!