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Copilot Coding Agent Instructions

Repository Overview

al-folio is a simple, clean, and responsive Jekyll theme for academics and researchers. It enables users to create professional portfolio and blog websites with minimal configuration. The repository serves both as a template and as a reference implementation.

  • Type: Jekyll static site generator template
  • Target Users: Academics, researchers, and professionals
  • Key Features: CV display, publication bibliography, blog posts, projects, news/announcements, course listings

Tech Stack & Versions

Core Technologies:

  • Jekyll: v4.x (Ruby static site generator)
  • Ruby: 3.3.5 (primary CI/CD version), 3.2.2 (some workflows)
  • Python: 3.13 (for nbconvert, jupyter notebook support)
  • Node.js: Latest (for purgecss and prettier)
  • Docker: Uses prebuilt image amirpourmand/al-folio:v0.16.3 (Ruby slim-based)

Build Dependencies (from Gemfile):

  • classifier-reborn – Related posts calculation
  • jekyll-archives-v2 – Archive page generation
  • jekyll-jupyter-notebook – Jupyter notebook embedding
  • jekyll-minifier – CSS/JS minification
  • jekyll-paginate-v2 – Pagination
  • jekyll-scholar – Bibliography management
  • jekyll-tabs – Tab UI components
  • jekyll-toc – Table of contents generation
  • jemoji – Emoji support
  • Multiple other specialized jekyll plugins

Code Quality Tools:

  • Prettier: v3.8.0+ with @shopify/prettier-plugin-liquid – Code formatter (mandatory for PRs)
  • Purgecss: CSS purification for production builds

Building & Local Development

Docker (Recommended Approach)

Always use Docker for local development. This ensures consistency with CI/CD and avoids Ruby/Python environment issues.

Initial Setup:

docker compose pull                    # Pull prebuilt image
docker compose up                      # Start development server
# Site runs at http://localhost:8080

Rebuilding with Updated Dependencies:

docker compose up --build              # Rebuilds Docker image from Dockerfile
docker compose up --force-recreate     # Forces complete rebuild

For slim Docker image (if image size is critical):

docker compose -f docker-compose-slim.yml up

If Docker build fails:

  • Check disk space and available RAM
  • Kill any existing jekyll processes: docker compose down
  • For M1/M2 Mac: Ensure Docker Desktop is up-to-date
  • Linux users may need Docker group permissions: sudo usermod -aG docker $USER (then logout/login)

Bundle/Jekyll (Legacy, Use Docker Instead)

bundle install                         # Install Ruby gems
pip install jupyter                    # Install Python dependencies
bundle exec jekyll serve --port 4000   # Run at http://localhost:4000

Important Build Requirements

  • ImageMagick must be installed – Required for image processing plugins
    • Docker: Installed automatically
    • Local: sudo apt-get install imagemagick (Linux) or brew install imagemagick (Mac)
  • nbconvert must be upgraded before build – pip3 install --upgrade nbconvert
  • Always set JEKYLL_ENV=production for production builds – Required for CSS/JS minification

Project Layout & Key Files

Root Directory Structure

  • _bibliography/papers.bib – BibTeX bibliography for publications
  • _config.yml – Primary configuration file (title, author, URLs, baseurl, feature flags)
  • _data/ – YAML data files (socials.yml, coauthors.yml, cv.yml, citations.yml, venues.yml, repositories.yml)
  • _includes/ – Reusable Liquid template components
  • _layouts/ – Page layout templates (about.liquid, post.liquid, bib.liquid, distill.liquid, cv.liquid, etc.)
  • _news/ – News/announcement entries
  • _pages/ – Static pages (about.md, cv.md, publications.md, projects.md, teaching.md, etc.)
  • _posts/ – Blog posts (format: YYYY-MM-DD-title.md)
  • _projects/ – Project showcase entries
  • _sass/ – SCSS stylesheets
  • _scripts/ – JavaScript files for functionality
  • _teachings/ – Course and teaching entries
  • assets/img/ – Images, profile pictures
  • docker-compose.yml – Docker compose configuration
  • Dockerfile – Docker image definition
  • Gemfile & Gemfile.lock – Ruby dependency specifications
  • package.json – Node.js dependencies (prettier only)
  • purgecss.config.js – PurgeCSS configuration for production CSS optimization

Configuration Priority

When making changes:

  1. Always start with _config.yml for site-wide settings
  2. Feature flags are in _config.yml – Look for enabled: true/false options
  3. Social media links: _data/socials.yml
  4. Content data: Respective _data/*.yml files
  5. Styling: _sass/ directory (uses SCSS)

CI/CD Pipeline & Validation

GitHub Workflows (in .github/workflows/)

  • deploy.yml – Main deployment workflow (runs on push/PR to main/master)
    • Sets up Ruby 3.3.5, Python 3.13
    • Installs imagemagick, nbconvert
    • Runs bundle exec jekyll build with JEKYLL_ENV=production
    • Runs purgecss for CSS optimization
    • Commits built site to gh-pages branch
    • Triggers on: Changes to site files, assets, config (NOT documentation files alone)
  • prettier.yml – Code formatting validation (mandatory)
    • Runs prettier on all files
    • Fails PRs if code is not properly formatted
    • Generates HTML diff artifact on failure
    • Must install prettier locally to avoid failures: npm install prettier @shopify/prettier-plugin-liquid
  • broken-links.yml, broken-links-site.yml – Link validation
  • axe.yml – Accessibility testing
  • codeql.yml – Security scanning
  • update-citations.yml – Automatic citation updates
  • render-cv.yml – CV rendering from RenderCV format

Pre-commit Requirements

You must run these locally before pushing:

  1. Prettier formatting (mandatory):
npm install --save-dev prettier @shopify/prettier-plugin-liquid
npx prettier . --write
  1. Local build test with Jekyll:
docker compose pull && docker compose up
# Let it build (wait 30-60 seconds)
# Visit http://localhost:8080 and verify site renders correctly
# Exit with Ctrl+C
  1. Or run full build simulation:
docker compose up --build
bundle exec jekyll build
# Check for errors in output

Common Pitfalls & Workarounds

YAML Syntax Errors in _config.yml

  • Problem: Special characters (:, &, #) in values cause parse errors
  • Solution: Quote string values: title: "My: Cool Site"
  • Debug: Run locally to see detailed error: bundle exec jekyll build

"Unknown tag 'toc'" Error on Deployment

  • Problem: Deploy succeeds locally but fails on GitHub Actions
  • Cause: Jekyll plugins don't load properly
  • Solution: Verify gh-pages branch is set as deployment source in Settings → Pages

CSS/JS Not Loading After Deploy

  • Problem: Site loads but has no styling
  • Cause: Incorrect url and baseurl in _config.yml
  • Fix:
    • Personal site: url: https://username.github.io, baseurl: (empty)
    • Project site: url: https://username.github.io, baseurl: /repo-name/
    • Clear browser cache (Ctrl+Shift+Del or private browsing)

Prettier Formatting Failures

  • Problem: PR fails prettier check after local builds passed
  • Solution: Run prettier before committing: 
    npx prettier . --write
git add . && git commit -m "Format code with prettier"

Port 8080 or 4000 Already in Use

  • Docker: docker compose down then docker compose up
  • Ruby: Kill process: lsof -i :4000 | grep LISTEN | awk '{print $2}' | xargs kill

Related Posts Errors ("Zero vectors cannot be normalized")

  • Cause: Empty blog posts or posts with only stop words confuse classifier-reborn
  • Solution: Add meaningful content to posts, or set related_posts: false in post frontmatter

File Format Specifications

Blog Post Frontmatter (_posts/)

---
layout: post
title: Post Title
date: YYYY-MM-DD
categories: category-name
---

Project Frontmatter (_projects/)

---
layout: page
title: Project Name
description: Short description
img: /assets/img/project-image.jpg
importance: 1
---

BibTeX Format (papers.bib)

  • Standard BibTeX format
  • al-folio supports custom keywords: pdf, code, preview, doi, etc.
  • Check CUSTOMIZE.md for custom bibtex keyword documentation

Trust These Instructions

This guidance documents the tested, working build process and project structure. Trust these instructions and only perform additional searches if:

  1. Specific information contradicts what you observe in the codebase
  2. You need implementation details beyond what's documented
  3. Error messages reference features or files not mentioned here

The instructions are designed to reduce unnecessary exploration and allow you to focus on code changes.