Buildaburger

A static site, no build step, no framework, no database. Add a burger by editing a JSON file and dropping a markdown file. That's it.

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File map

buildaburger/
├── index.html          # Home — lists all burgers by state
├── burger.html         # Template for individual burger pages
├── css/style.css       # All styling
├── js/
│   ├── home.js         # Renders the home page
│   └── viewer.js       # Renders a single burger
└── burgers/
    ├── manifest.json   # Index of all burgers (source of truth for metadata)
    └── *.md            # One markdown file per burger (body content)

The three states

State	What it means
raw	Early, loose, in the puzzle space. Ingredients on the counter.
grill	Actively cooking. Real progress, not finished.
served	Plated. Conclusion reached, artifact shipped, or decision made.

A burger can move between states. Edit its state in manifest.json.

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Adding a burger

1. Add an entry to burgers/manifest.json:

   {
     "slug": "my-new-burger",
     "title": "My New Burger",
     "state": "raw",
     "started": "Jun 2026",
     "summary": "One sentence on what's coming together here.",
     "tags": ["tag1", "tag2"],
     "links": [
       { "label": "GitHub repo", "url": "https://github.com/..." }
     ]
   }

2. Create a markdown file at burgers/<slug>.md with the body content. Plain markdown — headings, paragraphs, lists, links, blockquotes all render.

3. Push.

When a burger gets served, add a "served": "Mon Year" field and flip its state to "served". The home page resorts itself.

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Field reference (manifest.json)

Field	Required	Notes
slug	yes	URL-safe identifier. Must match the markdown filename.
title	yes	Display title.
state	yes	"raw", "grill", or "served".
started	optional	Free-form date string, e.g. "Mar 2026".
served	optional	Same format. Only meaningful when state === "served".
summary	yes	One-line summary for the card.
tags	optional	Array of strings.
links	optional	Array of {label, url} objects. Renders at the foot of the burger page.

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Running it

Locally

Because the site fetches manifest.json and .md files, opening index.html directly from your file system will not work (browsers block local fetch() calls). Run a simple local server instead:

# from inside the buildaburger/ directory
python3 -m http.server 8000

Then visit http://localhost:8000/.

Public (GitHub Pages)

1. Create a public GitHub repo and push this folder.
2. In repo Settings → Pages, set Source to main branch, root.
3. Wait a minute, then visit https://<username>.github.io/<repo-name>/.

That's the whole deploy.

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The private burger problem (read me)

The architecture decision: public static site, no private backend. That means anything on this site is genuinely public. If you have a burger that shouldn't be visible yet — unlaunched IP, sensitive interior work — keep it out of manifest.json until you're ready to launch it. The "launch event" is the moment you add the entry.

For tracking the private burgers themselves, keep a parallel manifest.json in a private repo or local-only folder using the same schema. When one is ready to plate, move it over.

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Design notes

• Fonts: Archivo Black (display), Familjen Grotesk (UI), Source Serif 4 (body), JetBrains Mono (data). All from Google Fonts.
• Colors live as CSS custom properties at the top of css/style.css. Change one variable to retheme.
• The doneness stamp is the signature element. If you ever change states, the stamp colors are in the same custom-property block.
• No analytics, no third-party scripts except the marked.js markdown parser (CDN).
• Responsive, keyboard-focusable, respects prefers-reduced-motion.

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What this site is not

• Not a portfolio. State is a verdict on the work, not a claim about you.
• Not a wiki. There's no expectation of comprehensive coverage.
• Not serious. Until it is.