Planning Data Service Handbook

A handbook for people working on the Planning Data service.

Installation

1. Install Node.js v18.17 or later.
2. Clone or download this repository.
3. In the service-handbook directory, run make init.
4. Run make serve.

Publishing Updates

Updates are published automatically through GitHub Actions.

Any commit pushed to main triggers the deploy workflow (in /service-handbook/.github/workflows/deploy-documentation.yml). This includes pull requests that are merged into main.

The workflow builds the handbook and publishes it to GitHub Pages, so changes appear on the live site after the workflow completes.

Using GitHub Codespaces

If you want to contribute using GitHub Codespaces, follow these steps:

1. Open the Repository in GitHub
   Go to the repository page on GitHub.

2. Create a Codespace
   Click the green Code button, then select Create codespace on main (or your chosen branch).

3. Wait for Setup
   GitHub will automatically set up your development environment. This may take a few minutes.

4. Install Dependencies
   In the Codespaces terminal, run:

   make init
   

5. Start the Development Server
   In the terminal, run:

   make serve
   

6. Make Contributions

   • Edit files as needed.
   • Use git commands in the terminal to commit and push your changes.
   • Open a Pull Request on GitHub to propose your changes.

Tip: Codespaces comes with Node.js pre-installed, so you don't need to install it manually.