Generate an index of numbered records

Use recordIndexes to build a Markdown table from numbered files in a directory. ZeroSite generates the configured source in memory, so you do not need to maintain a duplicate index file. Existing source Markdown is never rewritten.

Add the records

Create docs/decisions/001-cache-policy.md:

# Cache policy

- **Status**: Accepted
- **Date**: 2026-08-14

Cache immutable responses for one hour.

Create docs/decisions/002-search-index.md:

# Search index

- **Status**: Proposed
- **Date**: 2026-09-02

Build a compact index for published guides.

Each listed filename must match NNN-name.md, where NNN is a three-digit number other than 000. The first H1 is the record title. Metadata uses a single-item Markdown list: - **Field:** value. The configured required keys must be present and nonempty. Duplicate record numbers in one directory fail the build.

Configure the generated page

Add this object to the site's configuration. The source path must match an include pattern and not match exclude. This example assumes there is no physical docs/decisions/README.md; ZeroSite supplies that virtual Markdown page and routes it as the directory index.

{
  "recordIndexes": [
    {
      "source": "docs/decisions/README.md",
      "directory": "docs/decisions",
      "title": "Decisions",
      "introduction": "Accepted and proposed decisions for this project.",
      "columns": [
        { "title": "Decision", "field": "Title" },
        { "title": "Status", "field": "Status" },
        { "title": "Date", "field": "Date" }
      ],
      "required": ["Status", "Date"]
    }
  ],
  "sections": [
    {
      "title": "Decisions",
      "match": ["docs/decisions/**"],
      "index": "docs/decisions/README.md"
    }
  ]
}

directory defaults to the directory containing source; use "." to index the repository root. columns controls both labels and values. The special Title field links each row to its record. Other fields come from the metadata list items. The optional template is a basename in the records directory. It does not contribute its file contents; when that named record template is selected for publication, templateText is appended as a Markdown footer. If template is omitted, templateText is appended unconditionally.

Publication and routes

The index is a virtual Markdown page. Its front matter, matching defaults, permalink, aliases and links use the normal page rules. It does not create or modify a source file. A record appears only when it is included and passes the same publication rules as other pages: file exclusions, publish: false, and draft settings are honored. A 000 template file is omitted from the numbered list. If records use custom permalinks, generated links resolve through their source paths and still lead to the published routes.

To place the index first among equal-weight pages in its navigation group, set that group's index field to the same virtual source path. Validate the configuration with zerosite -check (or the equivalent go run command in the first-site tutorial) before building the site.

The generated Markdown table contains the two records in numeric order:

| Decision | Status | Date |
|:--|:--|:--|
| [Cache policy](001-cache-policy.md) | Accepted | 2026-08-14 |
| [Search index](002-search-index.md) | Proposed | 2026-09-02 |