# A first build

> Turn the pages into a site, look at it, and read it back for dead links.

<Skill name="Module progress" level={100} color="#10b981">
  Lesson 3 of 3 — the last one of this module.
</Skill>

## Three commands

<Columns>
  <Column>
    <Card style={{ height: '100%' }}>
      <CardHeader>Build</CardHeader>
      <CardBody>`npx docpensieve build` writes the site into `dist/`.</CardBody>
    </Card>
  </Column>
  <Column>
    <Card style={{ height: '100%' }}>
      <CardHeader>Serve</CardHeader>
      <CardBody>`npx docpensieve dev` serves it, and rebuilds on every save.</CardBody>
    </Card>
  </Column>
  <Column>
    <Card style={{ height: '100%' }}>
      <CardHeader>Check</CardHeader>
      <CardBody>`npx docpensieve check` reads it back for dead links.</CardBody>
    </Card>
  </Column>
</Columns>

## What comes out

<Tree>
  <TreeItem label="dist" open>
    <TreeItem label="index.html — sends the reader to the current version" />
    <TreeItem label="versions.json — the versions, for the switcher" />
    <TreeItem label="versions" open>
      <TreeItem label="v1.0" open>
        <TreeItem label="index.html — the home page" />
        <TreeItem label="guide — one folder per page, each with its index.html" />
        <TreeItem label="assets — the stylesheet, the images, the search index" />
        <TreeItem label="search — the only page carrying a script" />
      </TreeItem>
    </TreeItem>
  </TreeItem>
</Tree>

Each page is a complete file, served as it is. A page is a **folder** holding
an `index.html`, which is what gives it an address ending in a slash and
needs no rule on the server. The <Tooltip text="The only stylesheet of the site, compiled from the classes the pages use.">stylesheet</Tooltip> comes along; no script does.

## When something is wrong

`build` stops on what it cannot do — a missing file, a component used wrongly —
and names it. It says nothing about a link pointing at a page you renamed:
that page compiled perfectly, it simply is not there any more.

```bash
npx docpensieve check
```

<Admonition type="tip" title="Run it every time">
  `check` reads the built site back and exits with an error if a link leads nowhere. It costs a
  second, and it is the difference between finding a dead link yourself and having a reader find it.
</Admonition>

## While you write

```bash
npx docpensieve dev
```

It serves the site and rebuilds on every save — including when you change the
configuration or a file of the `theme/` folder. Leave it running in a second
terminal: the loop between writing a sentence and seeing it is what makes a
documentation get written.

## Well done

You have finished **First steps**. The next module shows how to organise pages
and use components.

<Card href="/versions/beta/examples/writing/" elevated>
  <CardHeader>Next module: Writing well</CardHeader>
  <CardBody>Structure, series, and components in a real page.</CardBody>
</Card>