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Technical Overview

LEO is an pluggable static site generator backed by a common GraphQL data pipeline. The technical flow boils down to two processes.

  1. Files -> Database
  2. SPA -> Static Files

Files -> Database

The data pipeline is enabled by graphql-directory-api. It is a webpack-based, pluggable function from a folder of files to a GraphQL schema backed by a JSON store derived from the folder of files.

Data Plugins

LEO Plugins define:

  • A set of mappings from File to JSON Object.
  • A data type that we can use to query said JSON

Using these mappings, a directory (conventionally, data/) of files can be consumed as a GraphQL API. This approach enables a high level of extensibility. Examples of what is possible includes generating search indexes and auto-creation of excerpts.

Templating

Leo eschews template languages in favor of React Components, which yields a familiar syntax and retains the full power of the JavaScript language. JavaScript files are processed with babel and the es2015 preset by default.

React Router is used to keep UI in sync with the URL. This enables declarative route configuration as well as more advanced techniques, such as code-splitting.

Extensibility

At the core of Leo sits webpack. Through webpack Leo can be extended to do almost anything.

The primary method of extending Leo's static site functionality is via plugins. Plugins can do many things including post processing the JSON database, defining new Content Types, and analyzing files