Nanoc + ZSH = Awesomeness

Static blogging engines are the only way to go, not just for the reduction of server resources, but also for the unlimited ability for customization (and not being beholden to a behemoth like WordPress). This blog - and indeed this whole site, is built with the totally awesome Nanoc static site generator. Setting up and using Nanoc’s tools is already super easy, but I wanted to make them even easier and more enjoyable to use - so I’ve created a simple ZSH plugin that includes autocompletion and aliases for common tasks.

Autocompletion is invoked like all ZSH completions, type “nanoc “ and then hit Tab - you then use Tab to cycle through available functions and Return to make a selection.

Nanoc autocompletion in ZSH

On top of the autocompletion, aliases provide even easier access to common tasks. At the time of writing they include:

  • n = “nanoc”
  • na = “nanoc autocompile”
  • nco = “nanoc compile”
  • nci = “nanoc create_item”
  • ncl = “nanoc create_layout”
  • ncs = “nanoc create_site”
  • nd = “nanoc deploy”
  • nv = “nanoc view”
  • nw = “nanoc watch”

So, for example - to autocompile a site, you need only type “na”.

I use the Oh-My-Zsh framework for managing my shell configuration, so I’ve forked that and added the plugin to my fork.

Unfortunately, after a month my pull request still hasn’t been accepted - the project currently has 432 open pull requests so this is hardly surprising. If you’re already running Oh-My-Zsh, the best way to download the plugin is to fetch it from my fork and merge it into your current configuration:

git remote add josh git://github.com/josh-/oh-my-zsh.git
git fetch josh
git merge josh/master

These commands will download the changes in my fork and merge them into your custom Oh-My-Zsh directory, keeping all changes you’ve made intact. Then just add nanoc to your .zshrc plugins.

I hope to continue improving this plugin - if you have any suggestions, comments or questions, please feel free to contact me.

Update: The plugin has been merged into the master branch of Oh-My-Zsh, so all you have to do now is update your Oh-My-Zsh config with:

cd ~/.oh-my-zsh
git pull origin master

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