Introduction
Zephyrus Leaf is a static site generator for documentation, landings, and blogs. You author Markdown (and optionally templates in Latte, PHP, or plain HTML). Leaf produces deployable static HTML in one command.
There are two ways to use Leaf. Both share the same core library.
| Path | Who it's for | What you run |
|---|---|---|
| Binary CLI | Most people. Zero dependencies on your machine. | leaf init, leaf dev, leaf build |
| Composer | PHP developers who want controllers, packages, or full build-script control. | composer create-project, composer dev, composer build |
You can start with the CLI and switch to Composer later via leaf eject. One-way, documented.
What you get
- Markdown-powered pages with front matter, GFM tables, and syntax highlighting
- Live-reload dev server with change detection on content, templates, and assets
- One-command builds that produce static HTML in
dist/ - Full-text search (client-side, zero backend)
- Multi-locale support with automatic
hreflangtags and sitemap alternates - SEO out of the box (
sitemap.xml,robots.txt, OpenGraph tags) - Light and dark themes with system-preference awareness
- Templates in Latte, PHP, or plain HTML — pick what fits
Quick start (binary CLI, recommended)
curl -fsSL https://leaf.ophelios.com/install.sh | sh
leaf init my-docs
cd my-docs
leaf dev # live reload on http://localhost:8080
leaf build # writes dist/, ready to deploy anywhere static
Quick start (Composer)
For teams who want to extend with PHP:
composer create-project zephyrus-framework/leaf my-docs
cd my-docs
composer dev
composer build
Architecture
| Package | Type | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
zephyrus-framework/leaf-core |
Library | Static builder, content parser, SEO generators, Kernel |
zephyrus-framework/leaf |
Composer template | Views, controllers, config, assets, sample content |
ophelios-studio/zephyrus-leaf-cli |
Go binary | Wraps everything above, ships as one executable |
The CLI bundles the framework and scaffolds inside the binary. The Composer template exposes the same framework as a regular PHP project you can extend. Updates to leaf-core flow to both paths.
Next steps
- Installation — detailed setup for either path
- Project Structure — what the CLI scaffolds, and what Composer gives you
- CLI Reference — every
leafsubcommand