Configuration

Baybay runs with no config file at all. When you need to change a default, create baybay.config.js at the project root — every option on this page is optional.

The config file

Export a plain object. Baybay validates it on startup and fails fast with the exact key that is wrong:

javascript

// baybay.config.js
export default {
  srcDir: "src",
  outDir: "dist",
  base: "/",
  trailingSlash: true,

  markdown: {
    smartQuotes: true,
    anchors: "h2-h4",
    footnotes: true,
  },

  i18n: {
    defaultLocale: "en",
    locales: ["en", "fil", "de"],
  },

  dev:   { port: 8484, open: false },
  build: { minify: true, sitemap: true, cleanUrls: true },
};

Note

Both ESM (export default) and CommonJS (module.exports) are accepted. TypeScript configs (baybay.config.ts) work if typescript is installed locally.

Core options

Paths are resolved relative to the config file.

Option	Type	Default	Description
`srcDir`	`string`	`"src"`	Directory scanned for pages, layouts, and partials. Files prefixed with `_` are treated as templates and never emitted.
`outDir`	`string`	`"dist"`	Build output directory. Emptied before each production build unless `--no-clean` is passed.
`staticDir`	`string`	`"static"`	Copied to `outDir` verbatim, no processing. Set to `false` to disable.
`base`	`string`	`"/"`	Public base path, e.g. `"/docs/"` when serving from a sub-path. All generated links are prefixed with it.
`trailingSlash`	`boolean`	`true`	Emit `/about/index.html` (true) or `/about.html` (false). Affects generated links too.
`layout`	`string`	`"_layout.html"`	Default layout applied to every page. Override per page with the `layout` front-matter key.

Markdown options

All keys live under the markdown object.

Option	Type	Default	Description
`markdown.smartQuotes`	`boolean`	`true`	Convert straight quotes and dashes to typographic equivalents (`"` → `“ ”`, `--` → `–`). Code spans are never touched.
`markdown.anchors`	`string \| false`	`"h2-h4"`	Range of headings that get slugified `id` attributes and anchor links. Set `false` to disable.
`markdown.footnotes`	`boolean`	`true`	Enable GitHub-style footnote syntax (`[^1]`).
`markdown.externalLinks`	`"new-tab" \| "same-tab"`	`"same-tab"`	When `"new-tab"`, external links get `target="_blank" rel="noopener"` automatically.
`markdown.highlight`	`boolean`	`true`	Syntax-highlight fenced code blocks at build time. Zero client-side JS is shipped for this.

i18n options

Declaring more than one locale makes Baybay mirror your route tree per locale: src/about.md becomes /about/ and /fil/about/, with hreflang alternates injected into each page head.

Option	Type	Default	Description
`i18n.defaultLocale`	`string`	`"en"`	Locale served at the site root without a path prefix.
`i18n.locales`	`string[]`	`["en"]`	BCP 47 tags, e.g. `["en", "fil", "de-AT"]`. Each non-default locale is served under `/<locale>/`.
`i18n.translationsDir`	`string`	`"i18n"`	Folder of per-locale JSON dictionaries available in templates as `{{ t("key") }}`.
`i18n.fallback`	`boolean`	`true`	If a page has no translation for a locale, reuse the default-locale content instead of 404ing.

Dev & build options

Option	Type	Default	Description
`dev.port`	`number`	`8484`	Dev server port. If taken, Baybay increments until it finds a free one and tells you.
`dev.host`	`string`	`"localhost"`	Set to `"0.0.0.0"` to expose the server on your LAN (also printed as the Network URL).
`dev.open`	`boolean`	`false`	Open the browser automatically when the server starts.
`build.minify`	`boolean`	`true`	Minify emitted HTML and CSS. Your own JS files are copied untouched.
`build.sitemap`	`boolean`	`true`	Write `sitemap.xml` at the output root. Requires `site.url` to be set for absolute URLs.
`build.cleanUrls`	`boolean`	`true`	Strip `.html` from generated internal links (pairs with `trailingSlash`).
`build.drafts`	`boolean`	`false`	Include pages marked `draft: true` in front matter. The dev server always includes drafts.

Environment variables

A few settings can be supplied via the environment, which always wins over the config file. Useful in CI:

Variable	Equivalent	Example
`BAYBAY_OUT_DIR`	`outDir`	`BAYBAY_OUT_DIR=public baybay build`
`BAYBAY_BASE`	`base`	`BAYBAY_BASE=/docs/ baybay build`
`BAYBAY_PORT`	`dev.port`	`BAYBAY_PORT=3000 baybay dev`
`BAYBAY_TOKEN`	deploy credential	Read by `baybay deploy`; never stored on disk.

Precedence

CLI flags > environment variables > baybay.config.js > built-in defaults. The effective config is printed with baybay build --verbose.