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Abc.web.id
Jekyll CLI Cheatsheet

Jekyll CLI Cheatsheet

Essential commands for Jekyll static site generator

Static Site Generators

Jekyll CLI Cheatsheet

Essential commands for Jekyll static site generator.

Installation

# Install Ruby (prerequisite)
# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt-get install ruby-full build-essential zlib1g-dev

# macOS
brew install ruby

# Install Jekyll and Bundler
gem install jekyll bundler

# Check version
jekyll --version

Project Setup

Create New Site

# Create new Jekyll site
jekyll new my-site

# Create in current directory
jekyll new .

# Create with specific version
jekyll _4.3.2_ new my-site

# Create blank site (minimal)
jekyll new my-site --blank

# Skip bundle install
jekyll new my-site --skip-bundle

Initialize Existing Project

# Install dependencies
bundle install

# Update dependencies
bundle update

# Install specific gem
bundle add jekyll-seo-tag

Development Server

Basic Server

# Start development server
jekyll serve

# Serve with live reload
jekyll serve --livereload

# Serve on specific port
jekyll serve --port 4001

# Serve on all interfaces
jekyll serve --host 0.0.0.0

# Serve with drafts
jekyll serve --drafts

# Serve with future posts
jekyll serve --future

# Serve with unpublished posts
jekyll serve --unpublished

Advanced Server Options

# Incremental build
jekyll serve --incremental

# Force polling (for Docker/VM)
jekyll serve --force_polling

# Detach server
jekyll serve --detach

# Skip initial build
jekyll serve --skip-initial-build

# Show directory listing
jekyll serve --show-dir-listing

# Disable disk cache
jekyll serve --disable-disk-cache

# Enable verbose output
jekyll serve --verbose

# Quiet mode
jekyll serve --quiet

Building

Basic Build

# Build site
jekyll build

# Build to custom destination
jekyll build --destination /path/to/output

# Build with drafts
jekyll build --drafts

# Build with future posts
jekyll build --future

# Watch for changes
jekyll build --watch

# Incremental build
jekyll build --incremental

Production Build

# Build for production
JEKYLL_ENV=production jekyll build

# Build with specific config
jekyll build --config _config.yml,_config_prod.yml

# Build with profile
jekyll build --profile

# Build with trace
jekyll build --trace

Content Management

Posts

# Create new post (manual)
touch _posts/$(date +%Y-%m-%d)-my-post.md

# Post filename format
_posts/YYYY-MM-DD-title.md

Drafts

# Create draft
mkdir -p _drafts
touch _drafts/my-draft.md

# Preview drafts
jekyll serve --drafts

# Publish draft (move to _posts)
mv _drafts/my-draft.md _posts/$(date +%Y-%m-%d)-my-draft.md

Pages

# Create page
touch about.md

# Create page in subdirectory
mkdir -p pages
touch pages/contact.md

Collections

# Create collection directory
mkdir -p _my_collection

# Add to _config.yml
collections:
  my_collection:
    output: true

Themes

Install Theme

# Add theme to Gemfile
bundle add minima

# Or add to _config.yml
theme: minima

# Install theme
bundle install

Remote Themes (GitHub Pages)

# Add to Gemfile
gem "jekyll-remote-theme"

# Add to _config.yml plugins
plugins:
  - jekyll-remote-theme

# Set remote theme
remote_theme: owner/repo

# Install
bundle install

Theme Customization

# Show theme location
bundle info minima

# Copy theme files to override
cp -r $(bundle info minima --path)/_layouts .
cp -r $(bundle info minima --path)/_includes .
cp -r $(bundle info minima --path)/_sass .

Plugins

Install Plugins

# Add to Gemfile
gem "jekyll-sitemap"
gem "jekyll-seo-tag"
gem "jekyll-feed"

# Install
bundle install

# Add to _config.yml
plugins:
  - jekyll-sitemap
  - jekyll-seo-tag
  - jekyll-feed

Common Plugins

# SEO
bundle add jekyll-seo-tag

# Sitemap
bundle add jekyll-sitemap

# RSS Feed
bundle add jekyll-feed

# Pagination
bundle add jekyll-paginate

# Archives
bundle add jekyll-archives

# GitHub Pages
bundle add github-pages

Configuration

Multiple Configs

# Use multiple config files
jekyll serve --config _config.yml,_config_dev.yml

# Production config
jekyll build --config _config.yml,_config_prod.yml

Environment Variables

# Set environment
JEKYLL_ENV=production jekyll build

# Custom variables
MY_VAR=value jekyll build

# Use in templates
{{ site.environment }}

Data Files

Working with Data

# Create data directory
mkdir -p _data

# Add YAML data
touch _data/members.yml

# Add JSON data
touch _data/products.json

# Add CSV data
touch _data/items.csv

# Access in templates
{{ site.data.members }}

Assets & Static Files

Asset Pipeline

# Create assets directory
mkdir -p assets/{css,js,images}

# Using Sass
mkdir -p _sass
touch assets/css/main.scss

Minification

# Install jekyll-minifier
bundle add jekyll-minifier

# Add to _config.yml
plugins:
  - jekyll-minifier

Deployment

GitHub Pages

# Add GitHub Pages gem
bundle add github-pages

# Build for GitHub Pages
JEKYLL_ENV=production bundle exec jekyll build

# Push to GitHub
git add .
git commit -m "Update site"
git push origin main

Netlify

# Create netlify.toml
cat > netlify.toml << EOF
[build]
  command = "jekyll build"
  publish = "_site"

[build.environment]
  JEKYLL_ENV = "production"
EOF

Custom Server

# Build site
JEKYLL_ENV=production jekyll build

# Copy to server
rsync -avz _site/ user@server:/var/www/html/

# Or use SCP
scp -r _site/* user@server:/var/www/html/

Testing & Debugging

HTML Proofer

# Install
bundle add html-proofer

# Test site
bundle exec htmlproofer ./_site

# Test with options
bundle exec htmlproofer ./_site --disable-external --allow-hash-href

Debug Mode

# Verbose output
jekyll build --verbose

# Show full trace
jekyll build --trace

# Profile build time
jekyll build --profile

# Liquid profiler
jekyll build --profile --liquid-profile

Maintenance

Clean

# Clean generated files
jekyll clean

# Clean and build
jekyll clean && jekyll build

Update

# Update all gems
bundle update

# Update Jekyll only
bundle update jekyll

# Update specific gem
bundle update jekyll-seo-tag

# Check outdated gems
bundle outdated

Common Workflows

New Blog Post

# Create post
touch _posts/$(date +%Y-%m-%d)-my-new-post.md

# Add frontmatter
cat > _posts/$(date +%Y-%m-%d)-my-new-post.md << EOF
---
layout: post
title: "My New Post"
date: $(date +%Y-%m-%d)
categories: blog
---

Content here...
EOF

# Preview
jekyll serve --drafts

Local Development

# Start with live reload
bundle exec jekyll serve --livereload --drafts

# In another terminal, watch for changes
# (automatic with --livereload)

Production Build

# Clean old files
jekyll clean

# Build for production
JEKYLL_ENV=production bundle exec jekyll build

# Test build
bundle exec htmlproofer ./_site --disable-external

# Deploy
# (copy _site/ to server)

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

# Dependency errors
bundle install
bundle update

# Permission errors
gem install jekyll --user-install

# Port already in use
jekyll serve --port 4001

# Regeneration not working
jekyll serve --force_polling

# Clear cache
jekyll clean
rm -rf .jekyll-cache

Gemfile.lock Issues

# Remove lock file
rm Gemfile.lock

# Reinstall
bundle install

Useful Aliases

# Add to .bashrc or .zshrc
alias jk='bundle exec jekyll'
alias jks='bundle exec jekyll serve --livereload'
alias jkb='JEKYLL_ENV=production bundle exec jekyll build'
alias jkc='bundle exec jekyll clean'
alias jkd='bundle exec jekyll serve --drafts --livereload'

Configuration Examples

Basic _config.yml

title: My Site
description: Site description
baseurl: ""
url: "https://example.com"

markdown: kramdown
theme: minima

plugins:
  - jekyll-feed
  - jekyll-seo-tag
  - jekyll-sitemap

exclude:
  - Gemfile
  - Gemfile.lock
  - node_modules
  - vendor

Useful Resources

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