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You can build a lightweight, version-controlled publishing system by storing Markdown, templates, metadata, and assets in Git; using Metalsmith to transform those source files into a static site; and deploying the generated directory with Cloudflare Pages. GitHub Actions can run the build and deployment when you need explicit CI checks. This is a Git-based static publishing workflow—not a browser editor, database-backed content API, or role-management system.
What you are building
Metalsmith describes itself as “an extremely simple, pluggable static site generator for NodeJS.” It reads files from a source directory, passes their contents and metadata through plugins, and writes the transformed files to a destination directory (Metalsmith getting started). Markdown files can contain front matter such as a title, date, and template name. Plugins can convert Markdown, build collections, create permalinks, apply layouts, and modify file metadata.
The resulting directory contains ordinary HTML, CSS, JavaScript, images, and other assets. Cloudflare Pages serves that output. Editors publish by committing changes and opening a pull request or pushing to the configured branch; they do not edit through a supplied Metalsmith dashboard.
Choose who runs the build and deploy
| Workflow | Build and deployment owner | Previews and branch behavior | Best fit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cloudflare Pages Git integration | Pages installs dependencies, runs the configured build command, and publishes the configured output directory. | Pages connects to GitHub or GitLab, uses a production branch, and can create preview deployments for other branches. | The simplest setup with minimal custom CI. |
| GitHub Actions plus Cloudflare deployment tooling | Your workflow installs dependencies, runs Metalsmith, performs checks, and invokes a supported Cloudflare deployment route such as Wrangler. | You define the checks, branch gates, and deployment conditions in workflow files; preview behavior must be configured deliberately. | Teams that need explicit CI steps, approvals, or custom deployment logic. |
Do not configure both systems to deploy the same commit unless you intentionally want duplicate deployments. Pages’ Git integration is documented at Cloudflare’s Git integration guide. Cloudflare separately documents static-asset deployment and CI/CD use of Wrangler at Get Started: Static Assets and Workers. Confirm whether your target is Cloudflare Pages or a Workers static-assets project before adapting deployment commands.
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Create the Metalsmith project
Recommended repository layout
site-repo/
├── content/ # Markdown and other source files
├── templates/ # Layouts used by your Metalsmith plugins
├── assets/ # CSS, JavaScript, images, fonts
├── metalsmith.js # Build configuration
├── package.json
└── package-lock.jsonThe names are conventions. What matters is that the source and destination paths in your configuration agree with the paths used by your deployment target.
Define source, destination, and plugins
Install Metalsmith and the plugins appropriate to your site, then expose one build command in package.json. A typical script is:
{
"scripts": {
"build": "node metalsmith.js"
}
}Your metalsmith.js should select the content directory as the source, select a clean generated directory as the destination, and add the Markdown, collection, permalink, and layout plugins your templates require. The exact plugin chain depends on your content model; Metalsmith’s official deployment guidance explains the source-to-destination build concept at metalsmith.io/docs/deployment/.
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Keep generated output out of the authored source directories. A predictable destination such as build/ or public/ is useful, but Pages will not infer a Metalsmith destination from a framework preset.
Use front matter for editorial metadata
---
title: "A first post"
date: 2026-09-30
template: article
---
Your Markdown content starts here.Configure the front-matter and layout plugins to read these fields. Decide how missing titles, invalid dates, drafts, and unknown templates should fail; a CI build that stops on malformed metadata is safer than silently publishing incomplete pages.
Build locally before connecting Cloudflare
- Commit
package.jsonandpackage-lock.jsonso CI can reproduce dependency installation. - Run
npm ciin a clean checkout. - Run
npm run build. - Inspect the generated destination directory and open its entry page locally with a static server.
- Check that links, asset paths, permalinks, metadata, and any collections match the URLs your site expects.
The build is successful only when the directory you inspect is the same directory you will configure Cloudflare to publish.
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Option A: let Cloudflare Pages build from Git
- In Cloudflare, create a Pages project and connect the GitHub or GitLab repository.
- Select the production branch.
- Set the build command to
npm run build. - Set the output directory to the exact Metalsmith destination, such as
buildorpublic. - Save the project and push a change. Pages installs dependencies, runs the command, and uploads that output directory.
Cloudflare states that “You do not need a framework to deploy with Cloudflare Pages.” The Pages configuration still needs an explicit command and output directory for a Metalsmith project (official Git integration guide). Branches other than production can receive preview deployments when the project settings and repository integration allow them.
Option B: run the build in GitHub Actions
Use Actions when you want linting, link checks, approvals, scheduled builds, or deployment rules that are easier to express in a workflow. The essential sequence is:
- Check out the repository.
- Install the locked dependencies with
npm ci. - Run
npm run build. - Run tests or validation against the generated directory.
- Deploy that directory with a currently supported Cloudflare route, such as Wrangler, using credentials stored as repository secrets or another short-lived authentication mechanism.
A conceptual workflow step looks like this:
- run: npm ci
- run: npm run build
- run: npx wrangler deployThis is intentionally illustrative rather than a copy-and-paste production file: action versions, Wrangler authentication, the account/project settings, and whether the destination is Pages or Workers static assets change over time. Cloudflare’s current static-assets documentation describes wrangler deploy from CI/CD; verify the command, configuration, and target product in that documentation before enabling a production workflow (Cloudflare static assets and Workers).
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Do not place API tokens in the repository or print them in logs. Restrict deployment credentials to the environment and branches that are allowed to publish.
Keep the publishing workflow predictable
Separate authored and generated files
- Review Markdown, front matter, templates, and assets as source.
- Do not hand-edit generated HTML; rebuild it from Git.
- Ignore the destination directory unless your chosen deployment process explicitly requires committing generated output.
Make failures visible
- Fail the build when required metadata is missing.
- Check that every referenced layout and asset exists.
- Use a preview deployment or a staging branch to inspect navigation and URLs before merging to production.
- Record the Node.js version and dependency lockfile policy so local and CI builds use the same toolchain.
What this setup does—and does not—provide
| Provided | Not provided by Metalsmith alone |
|---|---|
| Git history, pull-request review, repeatable builds, front matter, templates, plugin-based transformations, and static hosting. | Browser-based authoring, user accounts, editorial roles, database queries, content API endpoints, media-library management, or real-time editing. |
If nontechnical authors need a graphical editor, you must add a separate interface that writes to the repository or introduce a different CMS architecture. If you need dynamic request handling on Cloudflare, evaluate a Workers application rather than treating Pages’ static output as a database-backed service.
Troubleshoot the common failures
Pages reports that no output was found
The configured output directory does not match Metalsmith’s destination, or the build wrote files somewhere else. Run the build locally, confirm the directory name and case, and use that exact path in Pages settings.
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The build works locally but fails in CI
Check that the lockfile is committed, the CI Node.js version is supported by your dependencies, and the workflow runs from the repository root. Use npm ci rather than an unconstrained install for reproducibility.
Pages and Actions publish twice
Disable one deployment owner for the affected branch, or clearly assign Pages previews and Actions production releases to separate branches and responsibilities.
Wrangler deploys the wrong target
Pages and Workers static assets are distinct products. Recheck the project configuration and follow the deployment instructions for the product you actually created instead of copying a command from the other product’s guide.
Quick Recap
Operational checklist
- Source files, templates, configuration, and package metadata are committed to Git.
- Front matter and plugin behavior are defined for every content type.
- The local build produces the expected static destination.
- Exactly one system owns each production deployment.
- Cloudflare’s output-directory setting matches the Metalsmith destination exactly.
- Preview, validation, and credential rules are tested on a nonproduction branch.
- Documentation links and commands are rechecked when Cloudflare or Wrangler changes its deployment model.
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