Render Puzzle Docs

Render the jigsawR Quarto documentation site.

When to Use

• Building the full documentation site after content changes
• Rendering a single page during iterative editing
• Preparing documentation for a release or PR
• Debugging render errors in Quarto .qmd files

Inputs

• Required: Render mode (fresh, cached, or single)
• Optional: Specific .qmd file path (for single-page mode)
• Optional: Whether to open the result in a browser

Procedure

Step 1: Choose Render Mode

Mode	Command	Duration	Use when
Fresh	bash inst/scripts/render_quarto.sh	~5-7 min	Content changed, cache stale
Cached	bash inst/scripts/render_quarto.sh --cached	~1-2 min	Minor edits, cache valid
Single	Direct quarto.exe	~30s	Iterating on one page

Expected: Render mode selected based on the current situation: fresh for content changes or stale cache, cached for minor edits, single for iterating on one page.

On failure: If unsure whether the cache is stale, default to fresh render. It takes longer but guarantees correct output.

Step 2: Execute Render

Fresh render (clears _freeze and _site, re-executes all R code):

cd /mnt/d/dev/p/jigsawR && bash inst/scripts/render_quarto.sh

Cached render (uses existing _freeze files):

cd /mnt/d/dev/p/jigsawR && bash inst/scripts/render_quarto.sh --cached

Single page (render one .qmd file directly):

QUARTO_EXE="/mnt/c/Program Files/RStudio/resources/app/bin/quarto/bin/quarto.exe"
"$QUARTO_EXE" render quarto/getting-started.qmd

Expected: Render completes without errors. Output in quarto/_site/.

On failure:

• Check for R code errors in .qmd chunks (look for #| label: markers)
• Verify pandoc is available via RSTUDIO_PANDOC env var
• Try clearing cache: rm -rf quarto/_freeze quarto/_site
• Check that all R packages used in .qmd files are installed

Step 3: Verify Output

ls -la /mnt/d/dev/p/jigsawR/quarto/_site/index.html

Confirm the site structure:

• quarto/_site/index.html exists
• Navigation links resolve correctly
• Images and SVG files render properly

Expected: index.html exists and is non-empty. Navigation links resolve, and images/SVGs render correctly in the browser.

On failure: If index.html is missing, the render likely failed silently. Re-run with verbose output and check for R code errors in .qmd chunks. If only some pages are missing, verify those .qmd files are listed in _quarto.yml.

Step 4: Preview (Optional)

Open in Windows browser:

cmd.exe /c start "" "D:\\dev\\p\\jigsawR\\quarto\\_site\\index.html"

Expected: The documentation site opens in the Windows default browser for visual inspection.

On failure: If the cmd.exe /c start command fails from WSL, try explorer.exe "D:\\dev\\p\\jigsawR\\quarto\\_site\\index.html" instead. Alternatively, navigate to the file manually in the browser.

Validation

• quarto/_site/index.html exists and is non-empty
• No render errors in console output
• All R code chunks executed successfully (check for error messages)
• Navigation between pages works
• All .qmd files have #| label: on code chunks for clean output

Common Pitfalls

• Stale freeze cache: If R code changed, use fresh render to regenerate _freeze files
• Missing R packages: Quarto .qmd files may use packages not in renv; install them first
• Pandoc not found: Ensure RSTUDIO_PANDOC is set in .Renviron
• Long render times: Fresh render takes 5-7 minutes (14 pages with R execution); use cached mode during iteration
• Code chunk labels: All R code chunks should have #| label: for clean rendering

Related Skills

• generate-puzzle — generate puzzle output referenced in documentation
• run-puzzle-tests — ensure code examples in docs are correct
• create-quarto-report — general Quarto document creation