Compiling content-only projects

.gitignore

@@ -421,3 +421,5 @@ FodyWeavers.xsd
 /merge-solution.txt
 /opencode-prompt.txt
 /test-home
+/reset-counter.ps1
+/update-counter.ps1

src/CloudNimble.DotNetDocs.Core/DocumentationManager.cs

@@ -115,15 +115,20 @@ public async Task ProcessAsync(IEnumerable<(string assemblyPath, string xmlPath)
             var assemblyList = assemblies.ToList();
             var hasReferences = projectContext.DocumentationReferences.Any();
 
-            // Documentation-only mode: only process references, no assemblies
+            // Documentation-only mode: process references and/or template without local assemblies
             if (assemblyList.Count == 0)
             {
-                if (hasReferences)
+                // Run pipeline if we have references OR a MintlifyTemplate
+                if (hasReferences || projectContext.HasMintlifyTemplate)
                 {
-                    // Process referenced documentation with format-specific handlers
-                    await ProcessDocumentationReferencesAsync();
+                    if (hasReferences)
+                    {
+                        // Process referenced documentation with format-specific handlers
+                        await ProcessDocumentationReferencesAsync();
+                    }
 
-                    // Renderers still need to run for navigation file processing (pass null model)
+                    // Renderers run for navigation file processing (pass null model)
+                    // For Mintlify: generates docs.json from template + discovers content files
                     foreach (var renderer in renderers)
                     {
                         await renderer.RenderAsync(null);

src/CloudNimble.DotNetDocs.Core/ProjectContext.cs

@@ -155,6 +155,15 @@ public class ProjectContext
         /// </value>
         public bool ConceptualDocsEnabled { get; set; } = true;
 
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Gets or sets whether a MintlifyTemplate is defined.
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <value>
+        /// When true, docs.json will be generated even without assemblies to document.
+        /// The presence of a template is an explicit signal that the user wants documentation output.
+        /// </value>
+        public bool HasMintlifyTemplate { get; set; } = false;
+
         /// <summary>
         /// Gets or sets the collection of external documentation references to combine into this documentation collection.
         /// </summary>

src/CloudNimble.DotNetDocs.Docs/CloudNimble.DotNetDocs.Docs.docsproj

@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
         <NamespaceMode>Folder</NamespaceMode>
         <ShowDocumentationStats>true</ShowDocumentationStats>
         <!-- Exclude test projects from documentation -->
-        <ExcludePatterns>Tests.Shared;*.Sdk</ExcludePatterns>
+        <ExcludePatterns>Tests.Shared;*.Sdk;test</ExcludePatterns>
 
         <ConceptualDocsEnabled>true</ConceptualDocsEnabled>
         <ShowPlaceholders>false</ShowPlaceholders>

src/CloudNimble.DotNetDocs.Docs/api-reference/CloudNimble/DotNetDocs/Core/ProjectContext.mdx

@@ -252,6 +252,22 @@ public CloudNimble.DotNetDocs.Core.Configuration.FileNamingOptions FileNamingOpt
 Type: `CloudNimble.DotNetDocs.Core.Configuration.FileNamingOptions`
 Configuration for how documentation files are named and organized.
 
+### <Icon icon="tag" iconType="duotone" color="#419AC5" size={24} className="mr-2" /> HasMintlifyTemplate
+
+Gets or sets whether a MintlifyTemplate is defined.
+
+#### Syntax
+
+```csharp
+public bool HasMintlifyTemplate { get; set; }
+```
+
+#### Property Value
+
+Type: `bool`
+When true, docs.json will be generated even without assemblies to document.
+            The presence of a template is an explicit signal that the user wants documentation output.
+
 ### <Icon icon="tag" iconType="duotone" color="#419AC5" size={24} className="mr-2" /> IncludedMembers
 
 Gets or sets the list of member accessibilities to include in documentation.

src/CloudNimble.DotNetDocs.Sdk.Tasks/GenerateDocumentationTask.cs

@@ -115,6 +115,15 @@ public class GenerateDocumentationTask : Task
         /// </summary>
         public ITaskItem[]? ResolvedDocumentationReferences { get; set; }
 
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Gets or sets whether a MintlifyTemplate is defined (inline or file-based).
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <value>
+        /// When true, always generate docs.json regardless of assemblies.
+        /// The presence of a template is an explicit signal that the user wants documentation output.
+        /// </value>
+        public bool HasMintlifyTemplate { get; set; } = false;
+
         #endregion
 
         #region Public Methods
@@ -186,6 +195,7 @@ public override bool Execute()
                     context.FileNamingOptions.NamespaceMode = Enum.TryParse<NamespaceMode>(NamespaceMode, true, out var mode) ? mode : Core.Configuration.NamespaceMode.Folder;
                     context.ConceptualDocsEnabled = ConceptualDocsEnabled;
                     context.ShowPlaceholders = ShowPlaceholders;
+                    context.HasMintlifyTemplate = HasMintlifyTemplate;
 
                     // Add the validated documentation references
                     foreach (var reference in documentationReferences)
@@ -333,15 +343,21 @@ public override bool Execute()
                 }
 
                 // Handle different scenarios based on what we have
-                if (assemblyPairs.Count == 0 && !hasReferences)
-                {
-                    Log.LogMessage(MessageImportance.High, "No assemblies or documentation references found. Nothing to process.");
-                    return true;
-                }
-
-                if (assemblyPairs.Count == 0 && hasReferences)
+                if (assemblyPairs.Count == 0)
                 {
-                    Log.LogMessage(MessageImportance.High, "📚 Documentation-only mode: Processing DocumentationReferences without local assemblies");
+                    if (hasReferences)
+                    {
+                        Log.LogMessage(MessageImportance.High, "📚 Documentation-only mode: Processing DocumentationReferences without local assemblies");
+                    }
+                    else if (HasMintlifyTemplate)
+                    {
+                        Log.LogMessage(MessageImportance.High, "📄 Template mode: Generating docs.json from MintlifyTemplate without assemblies");
+                    }
+                    else
+                    {
+                        Log.LogMessage(MessageImportance.High, "No assemblies, documentation references, or template found. Nothing to process.");
+                        return true;
+                    }
                 }
 
                 // Process all assemblies together to properly merge navigation

src/CloudNimble.DotNetDocs.Sdk/Sdk/Sdk.targets

@@ -78,18 +78,32 @@
         </CloudNimble.DotNetDocs.Sdk.Tasks.DiscoverDocumentedProjectsTask>
 
         <Message Text="📚 Found @(DocumentedProjects->Count()) documented projects for documentation" Importance="high" />
-        
+
         <!-- Show the list of projects that will be documented -->
         <ItemGroup>
             <_ProjectNames Include="@(DocumentedProjects->'%(Filename)')" />
         </ItemGroup>
         <Message Text="   Projects: @(_ProjectNames, ', ')" Importance="normal" />
     </Target>
 
+    <!-- Detect if MintlifyTemplate is present - if so, always run the pipeline -->
+    <Target Name="DetectMintlifyTemplateMode"
+            Condition="'$(GenerateDocumentation)' == 'true' AND '$(DocumentationType)' == 'Mintlify'"
+            AfterTargets="DiscoverDocumentedProjects">
+
+        <PropertyGroup>
+            <!-- If MintlifyTemplate (inline XML) or DocsJsonTemplatePath (external file) is defined -->
+            <HasMintlifyTemplate Condition="'$(MintlifyTemplate)' != '' OR '$(DocsJsonTemplatePath)' != ''">true</HasMintlifyTemplate>
+            <HasMintlifyTemplate Condition="'$(HasMintlifyTemplate)' == ''">false</HasMintlifyTemplate>
+        </PropertyGroup>
+
+        <Message Text="📄 MintlifyTemplate detected: $(HasMintlifyTemplate)" Importance="high" Condition="'$(HasMintlifyTemplate)' == 'true'" />
+    </Target>
+
     <!-- Generate documentation from existing assemblies -->
     <Target Name="GenerateDocumentation"
             Condition="'$(GenerateDocumentation)' == 'true'"
-            DependsOnTargets="DiscoverDocumentedProjects">
+            DependsOnTargets="DiscoverDocumentedProjects;DetectMintlifyTemplateMode">
         <Message Text="🚀 Generating documentation from existing assemblies..." Importance="high" />
 
         <!-- Extract assembly paths from built projects (only main project assemblies) -->
@@ -134,6 +148,7 @@
             SolutionName="$(_SolutionName)"
             ConceptualDocsEnabled="$(ConceptualDocsEnabled)"
             ShowPlaceholders="$(ShowPlaceholders)"
+            HasMintlifyTemplate="$(HasMintlifyTemplate)"
             ResolvedDocumentationReferences="@(ResolvedDocumentationReference)">
             <Output TaskParameter="GeneratedFiles" ItemName="GeneratedDocumentationFiles" />
         </CloudNimble.DotNetDocs.Sdk.Tasks.GenerateDocumentationTask>

src/CloudNimble.DotNetDocs.slnx

@@ -31,12 +31,6 @@
     <File Path="dotnet.config" />
     <File Path="global.json" />
   </Folder>
-  <Folder Name="/Solution Items/Build/">
-    <File Path="../.github/dependabot.yml" />
-    <File Path="../.github/workflows/build-and-deploy.yml" />
-    <File Path="../.github/workflows/pr-validation.yml" />
-    <File Path="../.github/workflows/README.md" />
-  </Folder>
   <Folder Name="/Solution Items/Specs/">
     <File Path="../specs/core-documentation-fixes.md" />
     <File Path="../specs/core-documentation-spec.md" />

src/Directory.Build.props

@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@
         <PackageId>$(MSBuildProjectName.Replace('CloudNimble.', ''))</PackageId>
         <Product>DotNetDocs</Product>
         <AssemblyVersion>1.1.0.0</AssemblyVersion>
-        <PackageVersion Condition="'$(PackageVersion)' == ''">1.2.0-preview.5</PackageVersion>
+        <PackageVersion Condition="'$(PackageVersion)' == ''">1.3.0-preview.1</PackageVersion>
         <Authors>CloudNimble</Authors>
         <Company>CloudNimble, Inc.</Company>
         <RpmPackageVendor>CloudNimble</RpmPackageVendor>