skier. v1.0.0

setGlobalsTask

Set site-wide variables accessible in all templates and subsequent tasks.

When to Use

✅ Use setGlobalsTask when you need:

  • Site-wide configuration (title, URL, author)
  • Computed values from existing globals
  • Build-time constants

❌ Use setGlobalFromMarkdownTask instead when:

  • Content comes from a Markdown file

Quick Start

setGlobalsTask({
  values: {
    siteTitle: 'My Blog',
    author: 'Jane Doe',
  }
})

Configuration

Option Type Required Description
values object ⚡ Static key-value pairs
valuesFn function ⚡ Dynamic function receiving current globals

⚡ At least one of values or valuesFn is required. Both can be used together.

Type signature

The exact SetGlobalsConfig interface, transcluded from source so it stays in step with the shipping code:

export interface SetGlobalsConfig {
  values?: SkierGlobals;
  valuesFn?: (globals: SkierGlobals) => SkierGlobals | Promise<SkierGlobals>;
}

Every task's config type together: API Reference → Config Interfaces.

Static Values

Simple key-value assignment:

setGlobalsTask({
  values: {
    siteTitle: 'My Site',
    siteUrl: 'https://example.com',
    author: {
      name: 'Jane Doe',
      email: 'jane@example.com',
    },
    navigation: [
      { label: 'Home', url: '/' },
      { label: 'Blog', url: '/blog' },
      { label: 'About', url: '/about' },
    ],
  }
})

Dynamic Values

Compute globals from other globals:

setGlobalsTask({
  valuesFn: (globals) => ({
    // Latest 5 posts
    recentPosts: (globals.posts || []).slice(0, 5),

    // Post count
    totalPosts: (globals.posts || []).length,

    // Current year
    currentYear: new Date().getFullYear(),

    // Build timestamp
    buildTimestamp: new Date().toISOString(),
  })
})

Combining Static and Dynamic

Both can be used in a single task:

setGlobalsTask({
  values: {
    siteTitle: 'My Blog',
  },
  valuesFn: (globals) => ({
    fullTitle: `${globals.siteTitle} | Powered by Skier`,
  }),
})

Order: values are applied first, then valuesFn.

Real-World Example

From a site with navigation and category grouping:

// First: collect items
generateItemsTask({
  itemsDir: 'src/items/posts',
  outputVar: 'posts',
  // ...
}),

// Then: compute derived globals
setGlobalsTask({
  values: {
    siteTitle: 'Tech Blog',
    siteUrl: 'https://techblog.example.com',
    socialLinks: {
      twitter: 'https://twitter.com/techblog',
      github: 'https://github.com/techblog',
    },
  },
  valuesFn: (globals) => {
    const posts = globals.posts || [];

    // Group posts by category
    const postsByCategory = posts.reduce((acc, post) => {
      const cat = post.category || 'Uncategorized';
      (acc[cat] = acc[cat] || []).push(post);
      return acc;
    }, {});

    // Get unique categories
    const categories = Object.keys(postsByCategory).sort();

    return {
      postsByCategory,
      categories,
      featuredPost: posts.find(p => p.featured) || posts[0],
    };
  },
}),

Template Access

All globals are available in templates:

<title>{{siteTitle}}</title>
<p>© {{currentYear}} {{author.name}}</p>

{{#each recentPosts}}
  <article>{{this.title}}</article>
{{/each}}

Common Mistakes

❌ Overwriting globals unintentionally:

// Second call overwrites the first!
setGlobalsTask({ values: { siteTitle: 'First' } }),
setGlobalsTask({ values: { siteTitle: 'Second' } }), // siteTitle is now 'Second'

❌ Using valuesFn before data exists:

// Wrong order: posts doesn't exist yet
setGlobalsTask({
  valuesFn: (g) => ({ count: g.posts.length }) // ❌ posts is undefined
}),
generateItemsTask({ outputVar: 'posts' }),

✅ Correct: Place after the task that creates the data:

generateItemsTask({ outputVar: 'posts' }),
setGlobalsTask({
  valuesFn: (g) => ({ count: (g.posts || []).length }) // ✅
}),