Deploying Chirpy

Chirpy is a feature-rich Jekyll theme designed specifically for technical blogs and content creators. With an elegant dark mode, responsive design, syntax highlighting for code snippets, category and tag organization, and built-in SEO optimization, Chirpy provides everything you need to create a professional technical blog. It’s ideal for developers, engineers, and technical writers who want a fast, secure, and easy-to-maintain blogging platform.

This guide will walk you through deploying Chirpy on Klutch.sh, a modern cloud platform that simplifies containerized application deployment. By the end of this guide, you’ll have a fully functional technical blog running on reliable infrastructure.

Why Deploy Chirpy on Klutch.sh?

Klutch.sh provides an excellent platform for hosting Chirpy:

Docker-native deployment - Klutch.sh automatically detects and deploys Dockerized applications
Lightning-fast static content - Serve pre-built pages with minimal latency
Custom domains - Use your own domain for your technical blog
Environment configuration - Manage build and runtime settings through the dashboard
Built-in HTTPS - Secure your blog with automatic SSL certificates
Simple updates - Push new content via GitHub and redeploy automatically
Zero maintenance - Focus on content creation, not infrastructure management

Prerequisites

Before deploying Chirpy on Klutch.sh, you’ll need:

A Klutch.sh account (sign up for free)
Access to the Klutch.sh dashboard
A GitHub repository with your Chirpy blog
Ruby 3.0 or higher (for local development)
Basic understanding of Jekyll and markdown
A custom domain (optional but recommended for branded blogs)

Deployment Steps

Create a Dockerfile

Create a Dockerfile in the root of your repository to containerize Chirpy:

FROM ruby:3.2-alpine

# Install system dependencies
RUN apk add --no-cache \
    build-base \
    git \
    curl \
    nodejs \
    npm \
    bash

# Set working directory
WORKDIR /app

# Copy Gemfile and Gemfile.lock
COPY Gemfile Gemfile.lock ./

# Install Ruby dependencies
RUN bundle install --jobs 4 --retry 3

# Copy application files
COPY . .

# Build the Jekyll site
RUN bundle exec jekyll build

# Install a lightweight web server
RUN npm install -g http-server

# Expose port
EXPOSE 3000

# Health check
HEALTHCHECK --interval=30s --timeout=3s --start-period=5s --retries=3 \
    CMD curl -f http://localhost:3000/ || exit 1

# Start the application
CMD ["http-server", "_site", "-p", "3000", "-c-1"]

Create Environment Configuration File

Create a .env.example file to document environment variables for the Jekyll build:

# Chirpy Blog Environment Configuration

# Jekyll Build Settings
JEKYLL_ENV=production
JEKYLL_BASEURL=/
JEKYLL_URL=https://example-app.klutch.sh

# Site Configuration
SITE_TITLE=My Technical Blog
SITE_DESCRIPTION=A technical blog about software development
SITE_AUTHOR=Your Name
SITE_AVATAR=https://example-app.klutch.sh/assets/img/avatar.jpg

# Social Media
TWITTER_USERNAME=yourusername
GITHUB_USERNAME=yourusername
LINKEDIN_USERNAME=yourusername

# Analytics (Optional)
GOOGLE_ANALYTICS_ID=
HOTJAR_ID=

# Disqus Comments (Optional)
DISQUS_ENABLED=false
DISQUS_SHORTNAME=

# Paginate Settings
PAGINATE=10
PAGINATE_PATH=/page:num/

# Timezone
TZ=UTC

# Search Configuration
USE_LUNR_SEARCH=true

# Featured Tags
FEATURED_TAGS_MAX=10

# Archive Display
SHOW_ARCHIVE_YEAR=true

# Server Configuration
PORT=3000
HOST=0.0.0.0

# Build Configuration
JEKYLL_INCREMENTAL=false
JEKYLL_STRICT_FRONT_MATTER=true

# Permalink Structure
PERMALINK=/:categories/:year/:month/:day/:title/

Create _config.yml Configuration

Create or update your _config.yml file for Jekyll configuration:

# Chirpy Jekyll Configuration

# Site Settings
title: My Technical Blog
tagline: A blog about software development
description: >-
  A technical blog covering software development,
  programming tutorials, and tech insights.
url: "https://example-app.klutch.sh"
baseurl: ""
lang: en
timezone: UTC

# Site Avatar and Image
avatar: /assets/img/avatar.jpg
avatar_dark: /assets/img/avatar-dark.jpg

# Author Information
author:
  name: Your Name
  email: your-email@example.com
  links:
    - https://twitter.com/yourusername
    - https://github.com/yourusername
    - https://linkedin.com/in/yourusername

# Social Media Links
social:
  name: Your Name
  email: your-email@example.com
  links:
    - https://twitter.com/yourusername
    - https://github.com/yourusername

# Favicon
favicon: /assets/img/favicon.ico

# Permalink Structure
permalink: /:categories/:year/:month/:day/:title/

# Pagination
paginate: 10
paginate_path: /page:num/

# Archives Display
archives:
  enabled:
    - name: 'Categories'
      field: 'categories'
    - name: 'Tags'
      field: 'tags'

# Collections
collections:
  tabs:
    output: true
    sort_by: order

# Defaults
defaults:
  - scope:
      path: ''
      type: 'posts'
    values:
      layout: post
      comments: true
      toc: true
      categories: [Blog]
      tags: []
  - scope:
      path: '_drafts'
    values:
      comments: false
  - scope:
      path: ''
      type: 'tabs'
    values:
      layout: page

# CDN Configuration
cdn:
  jsdelivr: 'https://cdn.jsdelivr.net'

# Markdown Processing
markdown: kramdown
highlighter: rouge

# Markdown Options
kramdown:
  input: GFM
  hard_wrap: false
  footnote_backlink: '&#8617;&#xfe0e;'
  syntax_highlighter: rouge
  syntax_highlighter_opts:
    css_class: highlight

# Rouge Syntax Highlighting
rouge:
  css_class: highlight
  span:
    line_numbers: false
  block:
    line_numbers: true

# Plugins
plugins:
  - jekyll-paginate-v2
  - jekyll-include-cache
  - jekyll-feed
  - jekyll-archives
  - jekyll-seo-tag
  - jekyll-sitemap

# Exclude from Processing
exclude:
  - .git
  - .github
  - .gitignore
  - Gemfile
  - Gemfile.lock
  - docker-compose.yml
  - Dockerfile
  - .env
  - .env.example
  - node_modules
  - vendor/
  - .editorconfig

# Include in Processing
include:
  - .htaccess
  - .nojekyll

# Build Settings
keep_files:
  - .git
  - .gitignore

Update Gemfile

Create or update your Gemfile with required dependencies:

source 'https://rubygems.org'

# Jekyll and dependencies
gem 'jekyll', '~> 4.3.0'
gem 'jekyll-paginate-v2', '~> 3.0'
gem 'jekyll-include-cache'
gem 'jekyll-feed'
gem 'jekyll-archives'
gem 'jekyll-seo-tag'
gem 'jekyll-sitemap'

# Markdown and syntax highlighting
gem 'kramdown'
gem 'kramdown-parser-gfm'
gem 'rouge'

# Performance
gem 'liquid-c'

# Development dependencies
group :development do
  gem 'bundler'
  gem 'wdm', '~> 0.1.1', :platforms => [:mingw, :x64_mingw, :mswin]
  gem 'webrick', '~> 1.8'
end

# Security
gem 'rexml'

After creating Gemfile, run:

bundle install

Create Post Structure

Create sample posts to verify deployment:

mkdir -p _posts _drafts _tabs

Create a sample post at _posts/2024-01-01-welcome.md:

---
title: Welcome to My Technical Blog
date: 2024-01-01 12:00:00 +0000
categories: [Blog, Welcome]
tags: [jekyll, chirpy]
pin: true
---

# Welcome to Chirpy

This is your first blog post. Here you can share your thoughts, tutorials, and insights about technology and development.

## Getting Started

1. Create new posts in the `_posts` directory
2. Use the format `YYYY-MM-DD-title.md`
3. Add YAML front matter at the top of each post

## Features

- **Dark Mode**: Automatic theme switching
- **Responsive Design**: Works on all devices
- **Code Highlighting**: Beautiful syntax highlighting
- **Categories and Tags**: Organize your content
- **Comments**: Built-in comment support

Start writing and share your knowledge with the world!

Create Docker Compose for Local Development

Create a docker-compose.yml file for local development and testing (not used for Klutch.sh deployment):

version: '3.8'

services:
  chirpy:
    build: .
    container_name: chirpy-blog-dev
    ports:
      - "3000:3000"
    environment:
      - JEKYLL_ENV=development
      - JEKYLL_BASEURL=/
      - JEKYLL_URL=http://localhost:3000
      - SITE_TITLE=My Technical Blog
      - SITE_DESCRIPTION=A technical blog about software development
    volumes:
      - .:/app
      - bundle:/usr/local/bundle
    command: |
      sh -c 'bundle install && \
             bundle exec jekyll serve --host 0.0.0.0 --port 3000 --livereload'
    networks:
      - chirpy-network

volumes:
  bundle:

networks:
  chirpy-network:
    driver: bridge

To run locally:

docker-compose up

Then visit http://localhost:3000 in your browser.

Create .gitignore File

Create a .gitignore file to exclude build artifacts and dependencies:

# Jekyll
_site/
.jekyll-cache/
.jekyll-metadata

# Ruby
*.gem
*.gemspec
Gemfile.lock
bundle/

# Node.js
node_modules/
npm-debug.log
yarn-error.log

# Build artifacts
dist/
build/

# Environment files
.env
.env.local
.env.*.local

# IDE
.vscode/
.idea/
*.swp
*.swo
*~
.DS_Store

# OS
.DS_Store
Thumbs.db

# Logs
logs/
*.log

# Cache
.cache/
.turbo/

# Temporary files
temp/
tmp/
.tmp/

Push Configuration to GitHub

Push your repository to GitHub with all configuration files:

git add Dockerfile _config.yml Gemfile .env.example \
  docker-compose.yml .gitignore _posts/
git commit -m "Initial Chirpy blog deployment configuration for Klutch.sh"
git push origin main

Deploy on Klutch.sh
1. Navigate to klutch.sh/app and log in to your dashboard
2. Click Create New App
3. Connect your GitHub repository containing your Chirpy blog (the Dockerfile will be automatically detected)
4. Configure your application settings:
  - Set your preferred app name
  - Review the detected Dockerfile configuration
  - Select a region for deployment
5. Click Deploy to start the deployment process
6. Monitor the deployment progress in the dashboard
7. Wait for the deployment to complete and your blog to become active
Configure Environment Variables
1. In your app dashboard, navigate to Environment Variables section
2. Add the configuration variables from your .env.example file:
  - JEKYLL_ENV: Set to production
  - JEKYLL_URL: Set to https://example-app.klutch.sh (or your custom domain)
  - SITE_TITLE: Your blog’s title
  - SITE_DESCRIPTION: Your blog’s description
  - SITE_AUTHOR: Your name
  - TWITTER_USERNAME: Your Twitter handle (optional)
  - GITHUB_USERNAME: Your GitHub username (optional)
  - LINKEDIN_USERNAME: Your LinkedIn username (optional)
  - GOOGLE_ANALYTICS_ID: Your analytics ID (optional)
3. Click Save to apply the environment variables
4. Your application will automatically rebuild and redeploy
Configure Traffic Routes
1. In your app dashboard, navigate to Traffic settings
2. Select HTTP as the traffic type
3. Set the internal port to 3000 (Chirpy web server default)
4. Configure any custom domain settings if you have a domain
5. Save your traffic configuration
Deploy Your Blog
Your Chirpy blog is now live! To update your blog with new content:
1. Create new posts in the _posts directory with the format YYYY-MM-DD-title.md
2. Add proper YAML front matter to each post
3. Commit your changes to GitHub:
  Terminal window
```
git add _posts/
git commit -m "Add new blog post: Title"
git push origin main
```
4. Your blog will automatically rebuild and deploy on Klutch.sh
Your blog will now be accessible at your configured domain or at example-app.klutch.sh.

Blog Post Structure and Best Practices

Creating Blog Posts

Each blog post should follow this structure:

---
title: Your Post Title
date: 2024-01-15 12:00:00 +0000
categories: [Category1, Category2]
tags: [tag1, tag2, tag3]
author: author_id
pin: false
toc: true
comments: true
---

# Post Content Here

Your content goes here...

Front Matter Fields

title: The post title (required)
date: Publication date in ISO 8601 format (required)
categories: Array of post categories (optional)
tags: Array of post tags (optional)
author: Author ID (optional)
pin: Pin post to top of blog (optional, default: false)
toc: Show table of contents (optional, default: true)
comments: Enable comments (optional, default: true)

Writing Tips

Use markdown formatting for easy content creation
Include code blocks with language specification for syntax highlighting
Add images to the assets/img/ directory and reference them
Use categories to organize posts by topic
Use tags for cross-cutting concerns
Pin important posts to the top
Write descriptive titles for SEO

Managing Your Blog

Adding Authors

Create an _data/authors.yml file:

author_id:
  name: Author Name
  twitter: twitter_username
  email: author@example.com

Customizing Appearance

Edit _config.yml to customize:

Blog title and description
Author information
Social media links
Colors and theme (in _sass/ files)
Header logo and favicon

Enabling Comments

Chirpy supports multiple comment systems:

Disqus: Set comments.active: disqus in _config.yml
Giscus: Use GitHub discussions for comments
Utterances: Lightweight comment system using GitHub issues

Adding Custom Pages

Create pages in the root directory:

---
layout: page
title: About
permalink: /about/
---

# About This Blog

Content about your blog and yourself.

Search and Discovery

Sitemap

Chirpy automatically generates a sitemap.xml for search engines. Ensure it’s submitted to:

RSS Feed

Your blog automatically generates an RSS feed at /feed.xml. Share this with:

RSS aggregators
Social media
Newsletter services

SEO Optimization

Chirpy includes built-in SEO features:

Meta tags and structured data
Automatic sitemap generation
Open Graph tags for social sharing
Schema.org markup for search engines

Search Console Setup

Add your blog to Google Search Console
Submit your sitemap at /sitemap.xml
Monitor search performance and queries
Fix any indexing issues

Deployment Best Practices

Keeping Content Safe

Commit regularly to GitHub
Use meaningful commit messages
Tag major releases or milestones
Consider automated backups of your GitHub repository

Performance Optimization

Optimize images before uploading (use tools like TinyPNG)
Use lazy loading for images
Minimize CSS and JavaScript (Chirpy does this automatically)
Cache static assets (handled by Klutch.sh)

Content Management

Plan your content calendar
Write in drafts before publishing
Schedule posts using the date field
Review posts before publishing for quality

Analytics and Monitoring

Set up Google Analytics for traffic insights
Monitor search console for SEO issues
Track popular posts and topics
Review reader engagement metrics

Troubleshooting Deployment Issues

Build Failures

Check the following:

Verify all Gems in Gemfile are compatible
Ensure _config.yml YAML is valid
Check for syntax errors in markdown files
Review deployment logs in the dashboard

Blog Not Displaying

Possible solutions:

Verify JEKYLL_URL environment variable is correct
Check that _site/ directory is being generated
Ensure Dockerfile is building Jekyll correctly
Review application logs for errors

Post Not Appearing

Steps to resolve:

Verify post filename format: YYYY-MM-DD-title.md
Check post date is not in the future
Ensure YAML front matter is valid
Verify post is in _posts/ directory

Performance Issues

Optimization steps:

Archive old posts to reduce build time
Optimize images and assets
Minimize plugin count
Use incremental builds for faster deployments

Advanced Configuration

Custom Domain Setup

To use a custom domain with your Chirpy blog:

In your Klutch.sh dashboard, navigate to Domains
Add your custom domain
Follow the DNS configuration instructions
Update your _config.yml:
```
url: "https://your-domain.com"
```
Save and redeploy your blog

Adding Custom Plugins

You can extend Chirpy with additional Jekyll plugins:

Add plugins to your Gemfile
Add plugins list to _config.yml
Rebuild and deploy

Custom Styling

Create _sass/custom.scss to add custom CSS:

// Custom styling for your blog
.custom-class {
  // Your styles here
}

Environment-Specific Configuration

Use different configurations for development and production:

# Development build
JEKYLL_ENV=development bundle exec jekyll build

# Production build
JEKYLL_ENV=production bundle exec jekyll build

Additional Resources

Learn more about Chirpy and Jekyll:

Chirpy GitHub Repository - Source code and theme documentation
Jekyll Official Documentation - Complete Jekyll guide
Chirpy Demo Site - See Chirpy in action
Klutch.sh Official Website - Learn more about the deployment platform
Klutch.sh Documentation - Platform guides and API reference

Conclusion

You now have a fully functional Chirpy blog running on Klutch.sh! Your technical blog is ready to share your knowledge with the world.

With the elegant design of Chirpy and the robust infrastructure of Klutch.sh, you have everything needed to run a professional technical blog. Remember to:

Write quality content consistently
Engage with your readers through comments
Monitor your blog’s performance and SEO
Keep Jekyll and plugins updated
Share your posts across social media

For additional support or questions about deploying Chirpy on Klutch.sh, refer to the documentation and community resources linked above.