How Jamdesk Works
How Jamdesk builds and deploys your documentation. Understand the pipeline from git push to live site.
Unlike static site generators that require build pipelines and CI/CD configuration, or hosted platforms that store content in proprietary formats, Jamdesk works directly from your MDX files in GitHub. Push your changes, and Jamdesk handles building, optimizing, and deploying to a global CDN — typically in under 60 seconds.
Architecture Overview
The Build Pipeline
Jamdesk monitors your connected GitHub branch. When you push changes, a webhook triggers the build pipeline automatically. You can also trigger builds manually from the dashboard.
The build service clones your repository and locates your documentation—either at the root or in a subdirectory for monorepo setups.
Before building, Jamdesk validates your configuration:
docs.jsonsyntax and schema- All pages referenced in navigation exist
- MDX syntax is valid
- OpenAPI specs parse correctly (if configured)
MDX files are compiled to optimized HTML with:
- React components rendered to static HTML
- Syntax highlighting applied via Shiki
- Search index generated
- AI chat embeddings indexed
- Meta tags and Open Graph images created
The built site uploads to Cloudflare R2, then propagates to edge locations globally.
What Triggers a Build
Builds are triggered by git push or the dashboard Rebuild button. Consecutive pushes are debounced into a single build.
For operational details—status monitoring, rollbacks, environment variables, and branch deployments—see Build & Deploy Lifecycle.
Security & Infrastructure
Performance
| Metric | Typical Value |
|---|---|
| Build time | 30-60 seconds |
| Deploy propagation | < 30 seconds |
| First byte (edge) | < 50ms |
| Full page load | < 500ms |