Installation

Get DocAnvil running and create your first documentation site.

Install DocAnvil

The install scripts download a prebuilt binary for your platform (about 5 MB), check it against the release's published SHA-256 checksums, and put it on your PATH. No Rust toolchain needed.

curl -fsSL https://github.com/docanvil/docanvil/releases/latest/download/install.sh | sh

irm https://github.com/docanvil/docanvil/releases/latest/download/install.ps1 | iex

# Compiles DocAnvil and its dependencies (needs a Rust toolchain)
cargo install docanvil

git clone https://github.com/docanvil/docanvil.git
cd docanvil
cargo install --path .

Verify the installation:

docanvil --help

Install options

Pass options to the piped script with sh -s --:

curl -fsSL https://github.com/docanvil/docanvil/releases/latest/download/install.sh | sh -s -- --version 1.2.0

On Windows, set the environment variables before running the one-liner (for example $env:DOCANVIL_VERSION = "1.2.0").

Re-running the script when that version is already installed does nothing and exits successfully, so it's safe to use in CI.

Manual download

Prefer not to pipe a script into your shell, or working on a locked-down machine? Every release has a prebuilt archive per platform:

Download the archive and the release's SHA256SUMS, check the archive against it, then put the binary somewhere on your PATH:

VERSION=1.1.4                 # the release you want
TARGET=aarch64-apple-darwin   # from the table above
BASE=https://github.com/docanvil/docanvil/releases/download/v$VERSION
<p>curl -fLO "$BASE/docanvil-v$VERSION-$TARGET.tar.gz"
curl -fLO "$BASE/SHA256SUMS"
shasum -a 256 -c --ignore-missing SHA256SUMS   # or: sha256sum -c --ignore-missing SHA256SUMS</p>
<p>tar -xzf "docanvil-v$VERSION-$TARGET.tar.gz"
mkdir -p ~/.local/bin && mv docanvil ~/.local/bin/

$Version = "1.1.4"
$Asset = "docanvil-v$Version-x86_64-pc-windows-msvc.zip"
$Base = "https://github.com/docanvil/docanvil/releases/download/v$Version"
Invoke-WebRequest "$Base/$Asset" -OutFile $Asset
Invoke-WebRequest "$Base/SHA256SUMS" -OutFile SHA256SUMS
(Get-FileHash $Asset -Algorithm SHA256).Hash.ToLower()
Select-String $Asset SHA256SUMS
Expand-Archive $Asset -DestinationPath "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\docanvil\bin" -Force

Releases up to v1.1.3 have no SHA256SUMS file. For those, compare against the SHA-256 digest GitHub shows next to each asset on the release page.

Updating

docanvil update          # check for a newer release and upgrade, with a confirmation prompt
docanvil update --check  # just report whether there's a newer release
docanvil update --yes    # upgrade without prompting

docanvil serve also prints a one-line notice when a new release is out. It checks at most once a day and never in CI. Set DOCANVIL_NO_UPDATE_CHECK=1 to turn it off.

If you installed with cargo install, update with cargo install docanvil --force instead.

Create a Project

Scaffold a new documentation project with docanvil new:

docanvil new my-docs

This creates the following structure:

my-docs/
  docanvil.toml        # Project configuration
  nav.toml             # Navigation structure
  docs/                # Your Markdown content
    index.md           # Home page
    guides/
      getting-started.md
      configuration.md
  theme/
    custom.css         # Your CSS overrides

Start the Dev Server

cd my-docs
docanvil serve

The dev server starts at http://localhost:3000 by default. You can change the host and port:

docanvil serve --host 0.0.0.0 --port 8080

Write Your First Page

Create a new Markdown file anywhere in the docs/ directory:

# My New Page

Welcome to my documentation!

- Supports **bold**, *italic*, and ~~strikethrough~~
- Add links to other pages with wiki-link syntax

Save the file and your browser will reload automatically. The page is discovered and added to the navigation.

Build for Production

When you're ready to deploy, generate the static site:

docanvil build

The output goes to the dist/ directory by default. Upload it to any static host — GitHub Pages, Netlify, Vercel, S3, or just a plain web server.

Use --clean to remove the output directory before building:

docanvil build --clean

For CI/CD pipelines, use --strict to fail the build when there are any warnings:

docanvil build --strict

Checklist

• Install DocAnvil
• Run docanvil new to scaffold a project
• Start the dev server with docanvil serve
• Write your pages in Markdown
• Customize the theme
• Build and deploy with docanvil build

Next Steps

• Configure your project and navigation
• Learn about Markdown features and components
• Customize the theme to match your brand