Progressive Web App (PWA)

Docboot supports Progressive Web App (PWA) features for offline reading and standalone installation on mobile and desktop devices.

Enabling PWA Support #

PWA features are disabled by default. You can enable them via configuration or CLI flag:

Via Configuration #

docboot.config.js

JAVASCRIPT

export default {
  pwa: true
};

Via CLI Flag #

BASH

docboot build --pwa

What Docboot Generates #

When PWA mode is enabled, the production build automatically generates:

dist/manifest.webmanifest: Configures app name, description, start URL, theme colors, and standalone display mode.
dist/sw.js (Service Worker): Implements a lightweight Stale-While-Revalidate caching strategy.
Precached Core Assets: HTML pages, CSS stylesheets, client scripts, search index, and SVG favicon are pre-cached during service worker installation.

Auto-Update Lifecycle #

Docboot features an automated Service Worker lifecycle with dynamic cache versioning (docboot-cache-v...) and prompt notification toasts:

Auto-Update Modes #

docboot.config.js

JAVASCRIPT

export default {
  pwa: {
    enabled: true,
    autoUpdate: 'prompt', // 'prompt' (toast notification) | 'immediate' (auto-reload) | false
    checkInterval: 60 * 60 * 1000 // Periodic check in milliseconds (default: 1 hour)
  }
};

prompt (default): When a new build is detected, a sleek floating notification toast appears: "Update Available — New documentation version is ready [Refresh]". Clicking Refresh applies the update and reloads the page.
immediate: Automatically activates the new Service Worker and reloads open tabs seamlessly.
Tab Focus & Visibility Triggers: Docboot automatically checks for updates whenever visitors return to the browser tab (visibilitychange / window.focus).

Offline Caching Behavior #

Fast Offline Navigation: Once loaded, visitors can continue browsing previously cached documentation pages even when offline or in airplane mode.
Background Updates: When an active internet connection is available, the service worker fetches fresh content in the background and updates the local cache for subsequent visits.
Base-Path Aware: Pre-cached URLs and manifest start paths automatically respect custom subdirectories (e.g. /docboot/).

Next Steps #

Analytics Integration — Connecting privacy-friendly analytics
Production Assets — Generating favicons and social banners
GitHub Pages Setup — Automated CI/CD workflow setup