Collections, a page tree, typed frontmatter and search, compiled into Next.js
docvia is a docs framework with a framework-agnostic core. Write Markdown and it becomes a typed content source with a page tree, search and highlighting, rendered by React or Svelte inside the app you already ship. No second site to host, no Markdown parser in production.
Docs that build, type-check and deploy like the rest of your app.
Your bundler turns every Markdown file into a module. Nothing parses Markdown in production.
import { defineConfig } from "@docvia/build/vite";
import { createReactRenderer } from "@docvia/core/react";
import { shiki } from "@docvia/plugin-shiki";
export default defineConfig({
renderer: createReactRenderer(),
plugins: [
shiki({ theme: "github-dark", langs: ["typescript", "bash", "json"] }),
],
});init detects your renderer and Shiki. Add a typed config file only when you want to change them.
Click a file to edit it.
Edit a page and only that page compiles again: under 70 ms at 300 pages.
import { loader } from "@docvia/core/source";
import { defineDocs } from "@docvia/core/source/macro";
import { z } from "zod";
const docs = defineDocs({
dir: "content/docs",
// Validated at compile time; page.data is typed from it.
docs: { schema: z.object({ publishedAt: z.coerce.date().optional() }) },
});
export const source = loader({ baseUrl: "/docs", source: docs.toDocviaSource() });Zod, Valibot or ArkType check frontmatter at build, and page.data is typed from the same schema.
One compiled tree, rendered by React or Svelte. The adapter contract is small enough to write your own.
import { Renderer } from "@docvia/core/react";
import { notFound } from "next/navigation";
import { source } from "@/lib/source";
export default async function DocPage({ params }) {
const page = source.getPage((await params).slug);
if (!page) notFound();
// No parser, no highlighter, just a compiled module.
const { content } = await page.data.load();
return <Renderer nodes={content} />;
}@docvia/core/react
<script lang="ts">
import { Renderer } from "@docvia/core/svelte";
import type { PageProps } from "./$types";
let { data }: PageProps = $props();
</script>
<!-- Same compiled IR the React adapter renders. -->
<article>
<Renderer nodes={data.content} />
</article>@docvia/core/svelte
docvia against fumadocs, VitePress, Starlight, Nextra and Docusaurus on the same Markdown pages, same machine, best of 2 runs. Lower is better.
No data.
| Tool |
|---|
| Starlight |
| docvia TanStack Start |
| docvia SvelteKit |
| docvia Next.js |
| VitePress |
| Nextra |
| Docusaurus |
Seconds to prerender every page.
No data.
| Tool |
|---|
| VitePress |
| docvia TanStack Start |
| docvia SvelteKit |
| Starlight |
| docvia Next.js |
| Docusaurus |
| Nextra |
Seconds until the page is visible in a browser.
No data.
| Tool |
|---|
| VitePress |
| docvia TanStack Start |
| docvia SvelteKit |
| docvia Next.js |
| Starlight |
| Nextra |
| Docusaurus |
Milliseconds from saving a page to the open tab showing it.
No data.
| Pages |
|---|
| 300 pages |
| 1,500 pages |
Seconds to build every page.
No data.
| Pages |
|---|
| 300 pages |
| 1,500 pages |
Milliseconds from saving a page to seeing it.
No data.
| Pages |
|---|
| 300 pages |
| 1,500 pages |
next build with Turbopack, seconds.
| Metric | fumadocs | docvia + React | docvia + Svelte |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dev server ready | 404 ms | 94 ms | 710 ms |
| Cold start to first page | 7.3 s | 4.0 s | 3.5 s |
| Edit to visible | 702 ms | 261 ms | 292 ms |
| Production SSR build | 21.8 s | 17.5 s | 16.8 s |
| Server bundle cold import | 97 ms | 89 ms | 32 ms |
| Heap after import | 13 MB | 10 MB | 9 MB |
| Render every page, warm | 365 ms | 72 ms | 78 ms |
| HTML for every page | 8,300 KB | 4,559 KB | 5,633 KB |
Vite 8.3.4 SSR. The best value in each row is highlighted.
fumadocs-mdx 15.4.7 + fumadocs-core 16.17.1, Next 16.4.0. VitePress 1.6.4, Starlight 0.42.6, Nextra 4.6.1, Docusaurus 3.10.2, SvelteKit 3.0.1, TanStack Start 1.168.61; search off and highlighting on for all. AMD Ryzen 7 7435HS, 16 GB, Node 22.20.0, 2026-10-10. Synthetic pages with headings, lists, tables and code.
Run init in an app you already have. It finds your framework, writes the docs routes and installs what they need.
npx @docvia/cli init framework Next.js
packages pnpm (lockfile)
content content/docs
routes app/docs/
13 file(s)
+ app/docs/[[...slug]]/page.tsx
+ content/docs/index.md
...
pnpm dev then open http://localhost:3000/docs
Output from a fresh create-next-app.
Rendered with React or Svelte.
A Worker isolate gets 128 MB and pays for every cold start. docvia keeps page bodies out of the startup path, so docs fit with room to spare.
startup
on request, one chunk per page
96 of 1,500 chunks shown
The server bundle eagerly loads a small frontmatter index. Each page body is its own chunk, loaded when that page is requested.
Heap after importing the server bundle, and the cold import time. Bars are to scale.
import { createFromSource, createSearchHandler } from "@docvia/search";
import { source } from "$lib/source";
// Built once per Worker isolate from compile-time data. No filesystem, no index file.
let handler: Promise<(request: Request) => Promise<Response>> | undefined;
export const GET = async ({ request }) =>
(await (handler ??= createFromSource(source).then(createSearchHandler)))(request);A standard Request handler. The index is built in memory from data compiled into the bundle.
Constraints in the design, not deploy-time workarounds.
8 packages on npm, each MIT licensed. Most apps install four, and init chooses them.
init picks these for your framework.
Run at build time; nothing ships to the browser.
No other docvia package needed.
Subpaths: an app bundles only what it imports.
Node only, at build time.
If yours is missing, open a discussion on GitHub.
One command adds routes, search and a typed content source to the app you already have.
npx @docvia/cli init