Get the rocks out of your socks! Assemble makes you fast at creating web projects. Assemble is used by thousands of projects for rapid prototyping, creating themes, scaffolds, boilerplates, e-books, UI components, API documentation, blogs, building websit
Looking for the grunt plugin? Please visit grunt-assemble.
(Note that the current website assemble.io, is for grunt-assemble. Thanks for your patience while we work on updating the site with documentation for the latest assemble).
(Click the following sections to expand them)
(TOC generated by verb using markdown-toc)
Is your website, blog or project built with assemble? Please let us know about it!
Add assemble your project's devDependencies using npm:
$ npm install -D assemble
You should now be able to run assemble directly (using node assemblefile.js etc) or using npm scripts. For example, add the following to package.json:
{
"scripts": {
"build": "assemble"
}
}
Then run
$ npm run build
You can also assemble's CLI globally, which adds the assemble command to your system path, allowing it to be run from any directory.
$ npm install --global assemble
Note that even if assemble is installed globally, it's good practice to install it locally in every project to ensure that your projects are protected against any potentially breaking changes that might occur in assemble between development cycles.
To use assemble's CLI, you'll need to add an assemblefile.js to your project. The fastest way to do this is to run the following command:
$ assemble
If no assemblefile.js exists in the current project, assemble will ask if you want to add one. If you answer yes, assemble will then generate a basic assembfile.js for you.
Run assemble from the command line.
$ assemble <tasks> [options]
Specify one or more space-separated tasks to run.
Examples
Run task foo
$ assemble foo
Run tasks foo and bar
$ assemble foo bar
Non-task options are prefixed with --.
Examples
Set the --cwd to run an assemblefile.js in a different directory:
$ assemble --cwd=docs
Emit views as they're loaded and log them to stderr:
$ assemble --emit=view
See more [command line options](#command line options)
Object-paths may be specified using dot-notation for either the key or value in a command line argument.
Additionally, assemble uses expand-object (and some custom parsing) to make it easier to pass non-trivial options and commands via command line. So all of the following formats are possible.
Examples
Boolean values:
$ assemble --foo
# { foo: true }
Key-value pairs:
$ assemble --foo=bar
# { foo: 'bar' }
Nested booleans:
$ assemble --option=foo
# {options: { foo: true }}
Nested key-value pairs:
$ assemble --option=foo:bar
# {options: { foo: 'bar' }}
Deeply nested key-value pairs:
$ assemble --option=foo.bar.baz:qux
# {options: foo: { bar: { baz: 'qux' }}}}
Or on the left-side of the =:
$ assemble --option.foo.bar.baz=qux
# {options: foo: { bar: { baz: 'qux' }}}}
Change the cwd for the assemblefile.js to run, optionally specifying any tasks to run:
$ assemble <tasks> --cwd [directory]
Example
To run the scaffolds example in the examples/ directory, you would enter:
$ assemble --cwd examples/scaffolds
If successful, in the command line, you should see something like this:
Specify the name of the config file for assemble's CLI to run, the default is assemblefile.js.
Example
$ assemble --file assemblefile.dev.js
Create an assemble app. This is the main function exported by the assemble module.
Params
options {Object}: Optionally pass default options to use.Example
var assemble = require('assemble');
var app = assemble();
Assemble exposes the entire API from the templates library for working with templates and template collections. The API is much more extensive than what is documented here, see templates for more documentation.
Templates and Views
In the following documentation, the terms "template" and "view" both refer to aspects of the same thing. Here's what they mean:
template: an actual template stringview: a object with a content property that contains the template string. Since views are instances of vinyl, you can think of a view as a "vinyl file for templates".Create a template collection for caching views:
app.create('includes', {viewType: 'partial'});
Options
cwd {String}: the base directory to use when loading templates onto the collection from a glob
viewType: {String|Array}: One or more view types to associate with the collection
Add views
Add a view to the collection:
app.include('foo.md', {contents: new Buffer('this is contents')});
Add multiple views:
app.includes({
path: 'foo.md', contents: new Buffer('this is contents'),
path: 'bar.md', contents: new Buffer('this is contents'),
path: 'baz.md', contents: new Buffer('this is contents')
});
// or pass a glob (optionally override `cwd` defined on `.create`)
app.includes('*.{md,hbs}', {cwd: 'templates/includes'});
View types are defined on a collection to determine how a templates in the collection will be handled throughout the [render cycle][].
Available types
Assemble supports three view types:
partial: Views with this type are can be used as "partials" (or "partial views"), which can be injected into other views. Useful for components, document fragments, or other snippets of reusable code or content. These views are passed to rendering engines to be used as partials, or variables on the context if partials are not directly supported.layout: allows views to "wrap" other views (of any type, including other layouts or partials) with common code or content.renderable: Views that have a one-to-one relationship with rendered files that will eventually be visible to a user or visitor to a website. For example: pages or blog posts. The renderable view type is automatically set if no other view types are set.Defining view types
You can define view types when a collection is created:
app.create('snippet', {viewType: 'partial'});
Or directly on the collection options:
app.create('snippet');
app.snippets.option('viewType', ['partial']); // string or array
Register template engine for rendering views with the given ext:
app.engine(ext, fn);
Params
ext {String}: The file extension of files to render with the enginefn {Function}: Async function that follows consolidate engine conventions, and takes three arguments: str, locals and callback.Example
// this engine is already registered in assemble
app.engine('hbs', require('engine-handlebars'));
// create a custom engine
app.engine('txt', function(str, locals, cb) {
// render `str` with `locals`
cb(null, str);
});
You can tell assemble to use the same engine for all file extensions by setting a value on options.engine.
Example
// use engine `hbs` for rendering all files
app.option('engine', 'hbs');
Or, if you're using .renderFile, you can force a specific engine to be used by passing the engine name.
Example
Use the hbs engine to render all templates:
app.src('templates/*.*')
.pipe(app.renderFile('hbs'))
Render a view with the given locals and callback.
app.render(view, {title: 'Foo'}, function(err, view) {
// `view` is an object with a rendered `content` property
});
Params
view {Object|String}: The view to renderlocals {Object}: Locals to pass to template engine for rendering templates in viewcallback {Function}Assemble offers the following low-level methods for working with the file system:
Assemble has first-class support for vinyl-fs, so any gulp plugin can be used in your assemble pipeline.
Create a vinyl stream. Takes glob patterns or filepaths to the source files to read.
Params
glob {String|Array}: Glob patterns or file paths to source files.options {Object}: Options or locals to merge into the context and/or pass to src pluginsExample
app.src('src/*.hbs');
// define `src` options
app.src('src/*.hbs', { layout: 'default' });
Specify a destination for processed files.
Params
dest {String|Function}: File path or rename function.options {Object}: Options and locals to pass to dest pluginsExample
app.dest('dist/');
Copy files with the given glob patterns to the specified dest.
Params
patterns {String|Array}: Glob patterns of files to copy.dest {String|Function}: Desination directory.returns {Stream}: Stream, to continue processing if necessary.Example
app.task('assets', function() {
// return, to let assemble know when the task has completed
return app.copy('assets/**', 'dist/');
});
Renders files as they are pushed through the stream.
app.src('*.hbs')
.pipe(app.renderfile())
.pipe(app.dest('foo'));
Force a specific engine to be used for rendering files:
app.engine('txt', function(str, locals, cb) {
cb(null, str);
});
app.src('*.hbs')
.pipe(app.renderfile('txt')) //<= use engine `txt`
.pipe(app.dest('foo'));
Assemble has the following methods for running tasks and controlling workflows:
Define a task to be run when the task is called.
Params
name {String}: Task namefn {Function}: function that is called when the task is run.Example
app.task('default', function() {
app.src('templates/*.hbs')
.pipe(app.dest('site/'));
});
Run one or more tasks.
Params
tasks {Array|String}: Task name or array of task names.cb {Function}: callback function that exposes errExample
app.build(['foo', 'bar'], function(err) {
if (err) throw err;
console.log('done!');
});
Watch files, run one or more tasks when a watched file changes.
Params
glob {String|Array}: Filepaths or glob patterns.tasks {Array}: Task(s) to watch.Example
app.task('watch', function() {
app.watch('docs/*.md', ['docs']);
});
Plugins from any applications built on base should work with Assemble and can be used in your assemblefile.js:
baseplugin keywordassembleplugin keywordgenerateplugin keywordtemplatesplugin keywordupdateplugin keywordverbplugin keywordVisit the plugin documentation guide to learn how to use, author and publish plugins.
Get in touch!
Have questions, suggestions, or want to discuss assemble? Join the conversation on gitter or give us a shout on twitter. The assemble team and community are always happy to help!
Website is outdated and being refactored!
Assemble's website, assemble.io, only has information related to gulp-assemble. We're working hard to update the site with information about the latest release.
In the meantime, you might find the WIP docs useful. The unit tests are also great examples!
Is the assemble website up-to-date?
No, as mentioned above, it's completely out-of-date. If you're using grunt-assemble, some of the documentation at assemble.io might still be useful. If you're using assemble v0.6.0 and higher, the documentation is probably wrong in almost every way.
We're actively (daily) working on a refactor and it's a very high priority.
What's the difference between assemble-core and assemble?
Assemble adds a CLI, a few built-in view collections: pages, layouts, and partials, middleware for parsing front-matter, and a few other basic defaults that we've found many users expect. If you'd prefer different defaults, assemble-core is a great starting point.
If you want something that handles templates, rendering, engines, helpers, collections, etc. but you don't need to run tasks or work with the file system, then consider using templates instead of assemble-core.
I use gulp, why is it recommended to use assemble directly, instead of running assemble with gulp?
You can run gulp plugins with assemble, but it won't always work the other way around. This is because, as a build system, assemble does things that gulp doesn't do, like handle middleware.
For example, assemble's .src and .dest methods have built-in .onStream, .preWrite, and .postWrite middleware handlers. If you still wish to use gulp and your build cycle includes middleware that requires these handlers, you can use the assemble-handle plugin with gulp to ensure that the handlers are still called as needed.
This is a long way of saying, you can find ways to make gulp work, but you would just be adding an extra dependency to your project to do things that assemble already does.
What is the relationship between gulp and assemble?
Please read our gulp FAQ for more information.
Get updates on Assemble's development and chat with the project maintainers and community members.
Follow @assemblejs on Twitter.
If you like Assemble and want to tweet about it, please feel free to mention @assemblejs or use the #assemble hashtag
Read and subscribe to The Official Assemble Blog.
Join the official Slack room.
Join the conversation on Gitter
Tell us about your assemble project
Show your love by starring Assemble!
Get implementation help on StackOverflow (please use the assembleassemble tag in questions)
Gitter Discuss Assemble with us on Gitter
For maximum discoverability, plugin developers should use the keyword assembleplugin on packages which modify or add to the functionality of Assemble when distributing through npm or similar delivery mechanisms.
Contributing
Please read our contributing guide if you'd like to learn more about contributing to this project.
You might also be interested in these projects from @doowb and @jonschlinkert:
If assemble doesn't do what you need, there are some other great open source projects you might be interested in, created by our friends on GitHub (in alphabetical order):
Static site generators
Blog frameworks
Changelog entries are classified using the following labels (from keep-a-changelog):
added: for new featureschanged: for changes in existing functionalitydeprecated: for once-stable features removed in upcoming releasesremoved: for deprecated features removed in this releasefixed: for any bug fixesCustom labels used in this changelog:
dependencies: bumps dependencieshousekeeping: code re-organization, minor edits, or other changes that don't fit in one of the other categories.added
fixed
isbinaryfile was trying to read from a file that didn't exist.dependencies
view is decorated with .toStream() when created by app (versus a collection).dependencies
fixed
view.stat to be null in some cases after view.path changedview.base was not always correct on views that were not created from the file systemdependencies
dest handlingdependencies
listsDependencies
Dependencies
.log() method, which also exposes additional methods, like .log.info(), .log.success(), etc.support/docs, so that markdown docs can be built to the docs directoryrenameKey option from the .data method. Use the namespace option instead.Bumps assemble-core to v0.22.0 to take advantage of fixes and improvements to lookup methods: .find and getView. No API changes were made. Please let us know if regressions occur.
List bug that was caused collection helpers to explodeapp.getView() and app.find()queue property was removed on collections. See assemble-core for additional details.file.base, causing dest directory to be relative to cwd instead of glob parent in some cases.renameKey to not always be used when defined on collection loader options.debug methods and related code have been removednode_modules and reinstall all dependencies to avoid errors such as isRegistered is not a function.watch method in favor of using the base-watch plugin.(Changelog generated by helper-changelog)
Pull requests and stars are always welcome. For bugs and feature requests, please create an issue.
Please read the contributing guide for advice on opening issues, pull requests, and coding standards.
If Assemble doesn't do what you need, please let us know
Jon Schlinkert
Brian Woodward
Copyright © 2017, Jon Schlinkert. MIT
This file was generated by verb-generate-readme, v0.6.0, on May 19, 2017.
FAQs
Get the rocks out of your socks! Assemble makes you fast at creating web projects. Assemble is used by thousands of projects for rapid prototyping, creating themes, scaffolds, boilerplates, e-books, UI components, API documentation, blogs, building websit
The npm package assemble receives a total of 1,373 weekly downloads. As such, assemble popularity was classified as popular.
We found that assemble demonstrated a not healthy version release cadence and project activity because the last version was released a year ago. It has 1 open source maintainer collaborating on the project.
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