DAX Documentation

DAX Documentation

Complete guide for DAX - Pure C# Static Site Generator. Zero dependency, blazing fast, bento-ready.

DAX - Dotnet by AXcora

The fastest static starter. Clean bento grid, pure HTML + Axcora CSS. No build step required.

DAX is a pure C# Static Site Generator (SSG) inspired by Eleventy (11ty), Jekyll, and Astro. Zero Node.js, zero webpack, build hundreds of pages in milliseconds.

  • Repo: https://dax.axcora.com
  • Version: 1.0.0
  • License: Open Source Forever

    • Quick Start

    Use dotnet slim version

    git clone https://github.com/mesinkasir/dax

    cd dax
    

    dotnet run -- build
    

    dotnet run -- start
    

    open http://localhost:8080/

    Use dax version

    git clone https://github.com/mesinkasir/dax

    cd dax
    

    dotnet publish -c Release -o .
    

    dax build
    

    dax start
    

    open http://localhost:8080/

    Folder Structure

    /

    ├── _data/              # Global data (JSON/YAML)
    

    │   ├── metadata.json
    

    │   ├── config.yaml
    

    │   └── nav.json
    

    ├── content/            # Markdown content
    

    │   ├── index.md
    

    │   ├── posts.md        # Collection controller
    

    │   ├── tags.md
    

    │   └── posts/
    

    │       ├── hello.md
    

    │       └── ...
    

    ├── templates/
    

    │   ├── layouts/        # Layouts (base, home, post, etc)
    

    │   │   ├── base.dax
    

    │   │   ├── minimal/
    

    │   │   │   ├── page.dax
    

    │   │   │   ├── post.dax
    

    │   │   │   └── blog.dax
    

    │   └── partials/       # Partials (header, footer, seo)
    

    │       ├── header.dax
    

    │       ├── footer.dax
    

    │       └── minimal/
    

    │           ├── bento1.dax
    

    │           ├── bento2.dax
    

    │           └── bento3.dax
    

    ├── public/             # Static assets (copied to site/)
    

    │   ├── css/
    

    │   ├── img/logo/
    

    │   └── img/icon/
    

    └── site/               # Generated output

    Frontmatter

    Every .md file supports YAML frontmatter:

    ---

    layout: minimal/page.dax
    

    title: My Page
    

    description: SEO description
    

    image: /img/og.jpg
    

    date: 2026-08-06
    

    tags: [csharp, dax, ssg]

    Supported keys:

  • layout - Layout file in templates/layouts/
  • title, description, image - SEO
  • date - For sorting collections
  • tags - Array or string [a, b] or a, b
  • collection - Mark file as collection controller
  • pagination - Items per page (e.g. 6)

    • Layouts vs Partials

    IMPORTANT - They are separated!

    // Layout - used via frontmatter

    layout: minimal/blog.dax
    

    -> loads from templates/layouts/minimal/blog.dax
    

    // Partial - used via include
    

    { % include minimal/bento1.dax % }
    

    -> loads from templates/partials/minimal/bento1.dax

    Even if names are same (minimal/blog.dax), they never collide.

    Templating Engine

    DAX uses Liquid-like syntax:

    Variables

    { { title } }

    { { metadata.title } }
    

    { { config.site_name } }
    

    { { page.url } }
    

    { { content } }

    Fallback:

    { { image or metadata.image } }

    Includes

    { % include header.dax % }

    { % include minimal/bento1.dax % }

    If / Else

    { % if title % }

    <h1>{ { title } }</h1>
    

    { % endif % }
    

    { % if pagination.has_prev % }
    

    <a href="{ { pagination.prev_url } }">Prev</a>
    

    { % endif % }
    

    { % if prev_post % }
    

    <a href="{ { prev_post.url } }">{ { prev_post.title } }</a>
    

    { % endif % }

    Supports nested if:

    { % if prev_post % }

      { % if prev_post.image % }
    

        <img src="{ { prev_post.image } }" />
    

      { % endif % }
    

      <h3>{ { prev_post.title } }</h3>
    

    { % endif % }

    Operators: ==, !=, or, and, ||, &&

    For Loop

    { % for post in collections.posts % }

    <a href="{ { post.url } }">{ { post.title } }</a>
    

    { % endfor % }
    

    { % for post in collections.posts limit:3 % }
    

    { % for t in all_tags % }
    

    { { t.name } } ({ { t.count } })
    

    { % endfor % }

    Collections

    Any folder inside content/ becomes a collection.

    content/posts/my-post.md -> collection posts

    Create controller content/posts.md:

    ---

    layout: posts-list.dax
    

    title: Blog
    

    collection: posts
    

    pagination: 6

    Access in template:

    { { collections.posts } }

    { { pagination.items } }
    

    { { pagination.current_page } }
    

    { { pagination.total_pages } }
    

    { { pagination.has_prev } }
    

    { { pagination.has_next } }
    

    { { pagination.prev_url } }
    

    { { pagination.next_url } }

    Pagination Template (Safe)

    { % for post in pagination.items % }

    <div><a href="{ { post.url } }">{ { post.title } }</a></div>
    

    { % endfor % }
    

    <div>
    

    { % if pagination.has_prev % }<a href="{ { pagination.prev_url } }">Prev</a>{ % endif % }
    

    Page { { pagination.current_page } }/{ { pagination.total_pages } }
    

    { % if pagination.has_next % }<a href="{ { pagination.next_url } }">Next</a>{ % endif % }
    

    </div>

    Prev / Next Post

    In post.dax layout:

    { % if has_prev % }

    <a href="{ { prev_post.url } }">Prev { { prev_post.title } }</a>
    

    { % endif % }
    

    { % if has_next % }
    

    <a href="{ { next_post.url } }">{ { next_post.title } } Next</a>
    

    { % endif % }

    Or full card:

    <div class="row">

    <div class="col-6">
    

    { % if prev_post % }
    

    <a href="{ { prev_post.url } }">
    

    { % if prev_post.image % }<img src="{ { prev_post.image or metadata.image } }" />{ % endif % }
    

    <h3>{ { prev_post.title } }</h3>
    

    </a>
    

    { % endif % }
    

    </div>
    

    <div class="col-6">
    

    { % if next_post % }
    

    <a href="{ { next_post.url } }">
    

    { % if next_post.image % }<img src="{ { next_post.image or metadata.image } }" />{ % endif % }
    

    <h3>{ { next_post.title } }</h3>
    

    </a>
    

    { % endif % }
    

    </div>
    

    </div>

    Tags

    Add tags in frontmatter:

    tags: [csharp, dax, tutorial]

    Templates:

    { % for tag in tags % }{ { tag } }{ % endfor % }

    { % for t in all_tags % }
    

    <a href="{ { t.url } }">{ { t.name } } ({ { t.count } })</a>
    

    { % endfor % }

    Auto generates:

  • /tags/ - All tags list
  • /tags/{slug}/ - Tag pages

    • Global Data

    Files in _data/ are auto-loaded:

    _data/config.yaml:

    site_name: DAX

    pagination_default: 6
    

    list:
    

      - title: Blog
    

        url: /blog/

    Use:

    { { config.site_name } }

    { % for c in config.list % }{ { c.title } }{ % endfor % }

    _data/metadata.json:

    {"site":{"title":"DAX","url":"http://localhost:8080"}}


    { { metadata.title } }

    { { site.url } }

    SEO

    seo.dax partial auto included:

    <title>{ { title } } - { { metadata.title } }</title>

    <meta name="description" content="{ { description } }">
    

    <link rel="canonical" href="{ { site.url } }{ { url } }">

    Auto generates:

  • /sitemap.xml
  • /robots.txt
  • /rss.xml

    • Public Assets

    Everything in public/ is copied to site/:

    public/img/logo/logo.webp -> site/img/logo/logo.webp

    public/css/style.css -> site/css/style.css

    IMPORTANT: Always place images in public/img/... not site/.

    Supported MIME types in dev server:

  • .css, .js, .json, .svg, .webp, .png, .jpg, .gif, .ico, .woff2

    • Bento Grid Example

    content/minimal.md:

    ---

    layout: minimal.dax
    

    bento1:
    

      title: Launch in 30 Seconds
    

      image: /img/logo/dax-csharp-2.webp
    

    bento3:
    

      item:
    

        - icon: /img/icon/fast.svg
    

          title: Blazing Fast

    CLI Commands

    dotnet run -- init   # create starter structure

    dotnet run -- build  # build to site/
    

    dotnet run -- start  # build + serve at :8080 with watcher

    Troubleshooting

    Image not loading?

  • Check file exists in public/img/...
  • Check MIME type in DaxServer.cs GetMimeType()
  • Rename files without #, spaces, ( )

    • Icon not showing?

  • Check site/img/icon/fast.svg exists after build
  • Ensure public/img/icon/ has files

    • { % endif % } leaking?

  • Update DaxEngine.RenderIfs to nested-safe version

    • Layout vs Partial collision?

  • Layouts load from templates/layouts/
  • Partials load from templates/partials/
  • Engine now separated: LoadLayout() vs LoadPartial()

    • Pagination prev/next broken on first/last?

  • Use has_prev / has_next boolean, not prev_url != ""

{ % if pagination.has_prev % }...{ % endif % }

Credits

Built with pure .NET by AXcora.

CSS by Axcora CSS - Bento Grid System.

Inspired by 11ty and Jekyll.

Support: https://github.com/sponsors/mesinkasir