CLI Reference

HydeJS provides a clean command-line interface to build, serve, test, and scaffold projects.

Commands Cheat Sheet

Command Alias Description
hydejs new <path> — Scaffolds a new themed blog project at the target path.
hydejs build b Performs a one-off build compilation of your site.
hydejs serve s Launches a live dev server with chokidar file watchers.
hydejs clean — Empties all compiled assets inside the build directory.
hydejs doctor — Audits directory layouts and warns on Jekyll migration leftovers.
hydejs install — Converts and installs a theme from a git URL.
hydejs new-theme <name> — Generates a theme framework shell inside jekyll-themes/.

Global Options

The build, serve, and clean subcommands accept global options to customize directories:

--source <dir> (or -s <dir>)

Specifies the source root directory containing project files. Defaults to ..

hydejs build --source docs

--destination <dir> (or -d <dir>)

Overrides the target compilation output folder. Defaults to _site.

hydejs build --destination build_output

Command Details

hydejs new <path> [--blank]

Scaffolds a new project.

  • Themed Scaffold (Default): Copies layouts, includes, assets, and configs from the default minima theme.
  • Blank Scaffold: Specifies --blank to create empty folders (_posts/, _layouts/, _includes/, _data/, assets/) and a minimal config.

hydejs serve [--config <path>]

  • Serves compiled assets inside the destination folder on http://localhost:4000.
  • Monitors file changes inside source folders (excluding dotfiles, git, node_modules, and destination folders) and triggers rebuilds and hot reload refreshes on change.