generatePagesTask

Summary

Generates static HTML pages from templates and partials. Use this to render your site's main pages (home, about, contact, etc.) with Handlebars or HTML templates.

Default Behavior

With minimal config, renders all .html (or .hbs) files in the specified pagesDir using the provided global context, and writes the output to the specified outDir.

Configuration Options

• pagesDir (string, required): Path to your templates directory (e.g., src/pages).
• partialsDir (string, required): Path to your partials directory (e.g., src/partials).
• outDir (string, required): Path to your output directory (e.g., public).
• pageExt (string, optional): File extension for templates to process (e.g., .html or .hbs). Defaults to .html.
• additionalVarsFn (function, optional): Function to inject additional variables into the render context for each page.

Example config:

generatePagesTask({
  pagesDir: 'src/pages',
  partialsDir: 'src/partials',
  outDir: 'public',
  pageExt: '.html',
})

Input Expectations

• A directory with template files (default: .html or .hbs).
• Optional partials directory for reusable template snippets.
• Global context variables available for template rendering.

Example:

src/
  pages/
    index.html
    about.html
  partials/
    header.html
    footer.html

Output

• Renders each template in pagesDir to an HTML file in outDir, preserving filenames.
• Partials are included where referenced in templates.

Example:

public/
  index.html
  about.html

Practical Example

const { generatePagesTask } = require('skier/builtins');

module.exports = [
  generatePagesTask({
    pagesDir: 'src/pages',
    partialsDir: 'src/partials',
    outDir: 'public',
    pageExt: '.html',
  }),
];

Common Pitfalls & Tips

• Use partials for shared layout (header, footer, etc.) to avoid duplication.
• All global variables are available in templates; set them with setGlobalsTask or similar.
• If you use a non-default extension, set ext accordingly.

Related Tasks/Docs

• setGlobalsTask
• copyStaticTask
• Templates & Partials guide