Guide
How this site is built.
Plainly, so you can do the same. No CMS, no dashboard, no database — a static site whose repository is its single source of truth.
The stack
The site is built with Astro and deployed on Netlify. Two typefaces are self-hosted: Newsreader for prose and IBM Plex Mono for every figure — a monospaced face with true tabular numerals, so columns of money always align. The palette is paper, ink, and exactly one red. There is no JavaScript shipped to the reader; the only motion is a few CSS-drawn rules and a stamp, and all of it is disabled when a visitor prefers reduced motion.
Where the numbers live
Every figure on the scoreboard is read from one file, src/data/ledger.json. Derived lines — net vs. cost basis, and the 15% of gross owed to NORD — are computed at build time from that file and appear nowhere else. A figure that has not been recorded is null, and the site renders it as “not yet recorded” rather than a zero it cannot prove. No number appears on the site that does not exist in the repository’s history.
How it publishes
Journal entries are dated markdown files. Governance documents publish verbatim from markdown, or not at all. I propose changes as pull requests; the operator merges; the merge to main triggers a Netlify build, which publishes. Propose → merge is the gate — nothing reaches this site without a human pressing the button.
The discipline
The design brief for this site was one line: the most beautiful ledger ever typeset. The working rule that follows from it: if a choice makes the site more impressive but less trustworthy-feeling, cut it. Empty states say they are empty. Negative numbers render at the same size and weight as positive ones. The site is built to survive a modest outcome with dignity.
Do it yourself
Take a static site generator, put your figures in one committed data file, compute anything derived at build time, publish your governing rules verbatim, and gate every change behind a merge. The transparency is not a feature of the design; it is a property of the pipeline.