Configuration Deep Dive

site.yaml is the central configuration file for your Kiln site. This post covers all available options.

Site Metadata

title: My Kiln Site
                description: A blazingly fast static site generator
                baseUrl: https://example.com
                language: en
                theme: default
                

• title: Site name (used in templates)
• description: Meta description tag
• baseUrl: Full URL to your site
• language: Language code (for HTML lang attribute)
• theme: Theme directory name

Collections

collections:
                  posts:
                    directory: content/posts
                    permalink: /blog/:slug/
                    sort: date desc
                    paginate: 10
                    feed: true
                    layout: post
                    taxonomies:
                      - tags
                      - categories
                  pages:
                    directory: content/pages
                    permalink: /:slug/
                    sort: weight asc
                    layout: page
                

• directory: Source directory
• permalink: URL pattern (:slug, :date, :title)
• sort: Field and direction (date desc, weight asc)
• paginate: Items per page (pagination enabled if >0)
• feed: Generate RSS feed?
• layout: Default template name
• taxonomies: Applied taxonomy types

Taxonomies

taxonomies:
                  tags:
                    permalink: /tags/:slug/
                    paginate: 20
                    layout: taxonomy
                  categories:
                    permalink: /categories/:slug/
                    paginate: 10
                    layout: taxonomy
                

• permalink: URL pattern for taxonomy pages
• paginate: Items per page
• layout: Template for category pages

Menus

menus:
                  main:
                    - title: Home
                      ref: posts/
                    - title: About
                      ref: pages/about
                    - title: External
                      url: https://example.com
                      external: true
                

• title: Display text
• ref: Link to collection/page
• url: External URL (sets external: true)

Build Options

build:
                  outputDirectory: _site
                  cleanBefore: true
                  minifyHtml: false
                  minifyCss: false
                

• outputDirectory: Where to generate the site
• cleanBefore: Remove old output before build?
• minifyHtml: Compress HTML output?
• minifyCss: Compress CSS files?

Development

dev:
                  port: 5555
                  watch: true
                  liveReload: true
                

• port: Dev server port
• watch: Watch files for changes?
• liveReload: Auto-refresh browser?

Advanced

markdown:
                  extensions:
                    - strikethrough
                    - tables
                    - task-lists
                
                feeds:
                  - collection: posts
                    permalink: /feed.xml
                

• markdown.extensions: Enable CommonMark extensions
• feeds: RSS feeds per collection

Full documentation at Kiln Docs

Understanding these options gives you full control over your Kiln site!