One builder, and tools around it

Ecosystem

HERON builds the site. Around it are tools that publish it, keep it up to date, report in Telegram, show what works and serve open data. Each one is optional and works on its own; the Agent and the Bot are paid add-ons.

The map below is live: click a block, or follow one change below from a file on your computer to a live page.

Click through the ecosystem

HERON builds the site. The rest of the ecosystem keeps it running and tells you how it performs. Use only what you need.

Click a block, or watch the story play

HERON CMS

The builder. It creates the folder of a site and turns its text pages, theme and settings into a finished site. Free and open source.

What it does: Pages, search markup, languages, images, sitemap, llms.txt and the nginx config, in one build.
Where it runs: On your computer, on GitHub or on your server: one Docker image or one pip package.
Try it: heron new my-site -y creates a site with demo pages in a minute; heron serve . shows it at localhost:8000.
Checks itself: heron check . lists what is missing: empty descriptions, broken links, pages without translation.
Docs inside: heron docs prints the documentation for exactly the version you run.
Read more: How a site folder works

HERON Botbot

Today

One change, from a file to a live page

01 / 07

HERON creates the structure

heron new my-site -y takes the latest HERON image, and the image makes the folder of your site: demo pages, a theme and site.yaml. Every page is a text file in content/, in the folder of its language.

02 / 07

You look at a page

Open a page file, for example services.md: settings for search at the top, then the text in sections. Run heron serve . and see how each section shows on the site.

03 / 07

You copy it under a new name

A new page is a copy of a file: services.md becomes implants.md. The file name becomes the address, /implants/.

04 / 07

You fill it in

Write the title, the description and the text yourself, or ask an AI agent to do it. The agent changes only the content, not the theme.

05 / 07

HERON turns it into a page

On the next build the new .md file becomes an HTML page: each section is read by the contract and drawn as its block of the theme, and the page appears in its section, the sitemap and llms.txt.

06 / 07

You check it on your computer

The site rebuilds on every save at localhost:8000. The strict build stops on an empty description or a broken link.

07 / 07

You publish

When everything is ready, publish the finished site the way you chose: files on a hosting, or an image stored in GitHub, Docker Hub or your own registry. With the paid Agent your server updates by itself.

Questions

Do I need all of it?

No. HERON CMS works alone, and a folder of static files is a complete site. Add git when you want history and automatic builds, the Agent or the Bot when you want updates and alerts without manual work.

Which parts are paid?

HERON CMS is open source and free. HERON Agent and HERON Bot are paid add-ons by subscription. You can also set up your own Telegram bot for the Agent yourself.

Where do my keys live?

With the Agent, on your server. The bot key and the GitHub or Docker Hub key never leave it. With the Bot, the keys are stored in your account and used only to read your images and check your sites.

Who sees my analytics?

Only you. Every site gets its own key bound to the owner, and analytics stay off until you switch them on.

What is ODIN?

A separate data service for open portals, catalogs and public offers. It has its own API and dashboard, and HERON sites can show its data.

HERON AgentA paid add-on that updates your HERON sites on your server from every new image, checks them, rolls back on failure and takes orders in Telegram.HERON BotA paid Telegram bot that watches your HERON sites, reports every release and updates them, with no server of your own to set up.