Git Workflow

Thu, 06 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The repository

The entire site lives in one public GitHub repository, gary-dalton/public-documents. Git provides three things here: versioning for every document, transfer between working machines and the host, and the trigger for deployment. Every push to master causes a fresh build of the live site (see Hosting).

If you need to install git first, see the development environment instructions.

The working cycle

Routine work is a short loop:

Edit content in content/en/.

Preview locally with drafts visible:

hugo server -D --watch --poll 700ms --bind 0.0.0.0 --liveReloadPort=1313

Commit with a message that says what changed and why.
Push to master. The host then builds and deploys automatically.

Publication is controlled entirely by the front matter: a page with draft: true renders in the local preview (because of the -D flag) but is excluded from the production build. Flipping draft: false and pushing is the act of publishing.

Research and Publishing Workflow

Thu, 06 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Two paths to publication

Most articles are written directly on this site. A page starts as draft: true in the content tree, gets written and revised in place, and publishes when the flag flips. A second path exists for complex or in-depth work: a private research repository holds the piece until it is ready, and it arrives here only at publication. Which path a piece takes depends on one question: does it matter if someone reads the work before it is finished?

Git on Werk Space

Git Workflow

The repository

The working cycle

Research and Publishing Workflow

Two paths to publication