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Book Binder CLI

The Book Binder is a self-contained, lightning-fast development CLI for the MLSysBook project. It provides streamlined commands for building, previewing, and managing the book in both HTML and PDF formats.

Public API Policy

Binder is the public automation interface for this repository.

  • Use ./binder ... commands in local workflows, CI, and editor integrations.
  • Scripts under book/tools/scripts/ are internal implementation details.
  • Direct script invocation is soft-deprecated for workflows now covered by Binder.
  • The VS Code extension should call Binder subcommands, not scripts directly.

Quick Start

# First time setup
./binder setup

# Welcome and overview
./binder hello

# Build a single chapter (HTML)
./binder build intro

# Build multiple chapters together (HTML)
./binder build intro,ml_systems

# Preview a chapter (builds and opens in browser)
./binder preview intro

# Build the complete book (HTML)
./binder build

# Build the complete book (PDF)
./binder build pdf

# Build a single chapter (PDF) - SELECTIVE BUILD
./binder build pdf intro
# ↳ Automatically comments out all chapters except index.qmd and introduction.qmd

# Publish the book
./binder publish

# Get help
./binder help

# Run native validation suite
./binder validate all

# Run maintenance namespace
./binder maintain repo-health

Installation

The binder is a Python script located in the project root. Make sure it's executable:

chmod +x binder

Dependencies: Python 3.6+ (uses only standard library modules)

Command Reference

⚡ Core Commands

Intuitive commands that work on both individual chapters and the entire book.

Command Description Example
build [chapter[,ch2,...]] Build book or chapter(s) in HTML ./binder build intro,ml_systems
preview [chapter[,ch2,...]] Preview book or chapter(s) ./binder preview ops
build pdf [chapter[,ch2,...]] Build book or chapter(s) in PDF ./binder build pdf intro

Smart defaults: No target = entire book, with target = specific chapter(s)

📚 Full Book Examples

Command Description Example
build Build complete book (HTML) ./binder build
preview Preview complete book ./binder preview
build pdf Build complete book (PDF) ./binder build pdf
publish Build and publish book ./binder publish

🔧 Management Commands

Command Description Example
validate <subcommand> Run Binder-native validation checks ./binder validate inline-refs
maintain <topic> ... Run Binder-native maintenance utilities ./binder maintain glossary build
setup Configure environment ./binder setup
clean Clean configs & artifacts ./binder clean
switch <format> Switch active config ./binder switch pdf
status Show current status ./binder status
list List available chapters ./binder list
doctor Run comprehensive health check ./binder doctor
about Show project information ./binder about
help Show help information ./binder help

✅ Validation Namespace

Use Binder-native checks instead of direct script calls:

  • ./binder validate inline-python
  • ./binder validate refs
  • ./binder validate citations
  • ./binder validate references — validate .bib entries vs academic DBs (hallucinator; install: pip install -e ".[reference-check]" or pip install -r book/tools/dependencies/requirements.txt)
    • -f BIB / --file BIB — .bib file(s) to check (can repeat)
    • -o FILE / --output FILE — write report to FILE
    • --limit N — check only first N refs (quick test)
  • ./binder validate duplicate-labels
  • ./binder validate unreferenced-labels
  • ./binder validate inline-refs
  • ./binder validate all

Machine-readable output is available for editor/CI integration:

./binder validate all --json

Exit semantics:

  • 0 success (no issues)
  • 1 validation failures or command failure

🧰 Maintenance Namespace

  • ./binder maintain glossary build [--vol1|--vol2]
  • ./binder maintain images compress [-f <file> ... | --all] [--smart-compression] [--apply]
  • ./binder maintain repo-health [--json] [--min-size-mb N]

🚀 Shortcuts

All commands have convenient shortcuts:

Shortcut Command
b build
p preview
pdf build pdf
epub build epub
l list
s status
d doctor
h help

Chapter Names

Chapters can be referenced by their short names. Common examples:

  • intro → Introduction chapter
  • ml_systems → Machine Learning Systems chapter
  • nn_computation → Neural Computation chapter
  • training → Training chapter
  • ops → MLOps chapter

Use ./binder list to see all available chapters.

Build Outputs

Format Output Location Description
HTML build/html/ Website format with navigation
PDF build/pdf/ Academic book format

🚀 Publishing

The publish command provides two modes based on how you call it:

1. Interactive Mode (Default)

When called without arguments, publish runs the interactive wizard:

# Interactive publishing wizard
./binder publish

What interactive mode does:

  1. 🔍 Pre-flight checks - Verifies git status and branch
  2. 🧹 Cleans - Removes previous builds
  3. 📚 Builds HTML - Creates web version
  4. 📄 Builds PDF - Creates downloadable version
  5. 📦 Copies PDF - Moves PDF to assets directory
  6. 💾 Commits - Adds PDF to git
  7. 🚀 Pushes - Triggers GitHub Actions deployment

2. Command-Line Trigger Mode

When called with arguments, publish triggers the GitHub Actions workflow directly:

# Trigger GitHub Actions workflow
./binder publish "Description" [COMMIT_HASH]

# With options
./binder publish "Add new chapter" abc123def --type patch --no-ai

What command-line mode does:

  1. 🔍 Validates environment - Checks GitHub CLI, authentication, branch
  2. ✅ Validates commit - Ensures the dev commit exists (if provided)
  3. 🚀 Triggers workflow - Uses GitHub CLI to trigger the publish-live workflow
  4. 📊 Provides feedback - Shows monitoring links and next steps

Options:

  • --type patch|minor|major - Release type (default: minor)
  • --no-ai - Disable AI release notes
  • --yes - Skip confirmation prompts

Requirements:

  • GitHub CLI installed and authenticated (gh auth login)
  • Must be on main or dev branch
  • Dev commit must exist (if provided)

Publishing Workflow:

# Development workflow
./binder preview intro          # Preview a chapter
./binder build                  # Build complete HTML
./binder build pdf              # Build complete PDF
./binder publish                # Publish to the world

After Publishing:

Requirements:

  • Must be on main branch
  • No uncommitted changes
  • Git repository properly configured

Advanced Features

Unified Multi-Chapter Builds

The binder supports building multiple chapters together in a single Quarto render command:

# Build multiple chapters together (HTML)
./binder build intro,ml_systems

# Build multiple chapters together (PDF)
./binder build pdf intro,ml_systems

# Preview multiple chapters together
./binder preview intro,ml_systems

Benefits:

  • ✅ Faster builds: Single Quarto process instead of multiple
  • ✅ Shared context: Dependencies loaded once
  • ✅ Unified processing: Cross-references and quizzes processed together
  • ✅ Better UX: Single browser window opens with complete site

Fast Build Mode

Fast builds use selective rendering to only build essential files plus target chapters:

HTML Fast Build (project.render):

render:
  - index.qmd
  - 404.qmd
  - contents/frontmatter/
  - contents/core/target-chapter.qmd

PDF Fast Build (comments out unused chapters):

chapters:
  - index.qmd
  - contents/frontmatter/foreword.qmd
  - contents/core/target-chapter.qmd
  # - contents/core/other-chapter.qmd  # Commented for fast build

Selective PDF Chapter Building

When you run ./binder build pdf intro, the system automatically:

  1. Creates a backup of the original PDF configuration
  2. Comments out all chapters except the target chapter and essential files
  3. Builds only the selected content:
    • ✅ index.qmd (always included)
    • ✅ contents/core/introduction/introduction.qmd (target chapter)
    • ❌ contents/backmatter/glossary/glossary.qmd (commented out)
    • ❌ contents/backmatter/references.qmd (commented out)
  4. Restores the original configuration after build completion

Example output:

./binder build pdf intro

📄 Building chapter(s) as PDF: intro
🚀 Building 1 chapters (pdf)
⚡ Setting up fast build mode...
📋 Files to build: 2 files
✓ - index.qmd
✓ - contents/core/introduction/introduction.qmd
✓ Fast build mode configured (PDF/EPUB)

This ensures that in Binder environments, you get exactly what you need: a PDF containing only the index and your target chapter, with all other chapters automatically commented out during the build process.

Cloud Binder Compatibility

The selective PDF build system works seamlessly in cloud environments like mybinder.org:

For cloud Binder users:

# In a Jupyter terminal or notebook cell
!./binder build pdf intro

# Or using the Python CLI directly
!python binder build pdf intro

Key benefits for cloud environments:

  • ✅ Reduced memory usage - Only builds essential chapters
  • ✅ Faster build times - Skips unnecessary content
  • ✅ Automatic cleanup - Restores configuration after build
  • ✅ No manual editing - Everything is automated

What gets built:

  • Always includes index.qmd for proper book structure
  • Includes your target chapter (e.g., introduction.qmd)
  • Comments out all other chapters automatically
  • Comments out backmatter (glossary, references) for minimal builds

Configuration Management

The binder automatically manages Quarto configurations:

  • _quarto-html.yml: Website build configuration
  • _quarto-pdf.yml: Academic PDF build configuration
  • _quarto.yml: Symlink to active configuration (currently → config/_quarto-html.yml)

Important: The _quarto.yml file is a symlink that points to the active configuration. This allows the binder to quickly switch between HTML and PDF build modes without copying files.

Quarto Executable: The system quarto executable (/Applications/quarto/bin/quarto) is NOT a symlink - it's a regular executable file.

Use ./binder switch <format> to change the active configuration symlink.

Development Workflow

Typical Chapter Development

# 1. Start development on a chapter
./binder preview intro

# 2. Make edits, save files (auto-rebuild in preview mode)

# 3. Build multiple related chapters together
./binder build intro,ml_systems html

# 4. Check full book before committing
./binder build * pdf

Before Committing

# Clean up any build artifacts
./binder clean

# Run health check
./binder doctor

# Build full book to ensure everything works
./binder build
./binder build pdf

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

"Chapter not found"

  • Use ./binder list to see available chapters
  • Check that the chapter QMD file exists
  • Verify the chapter path in configuration files

"Build artifacts detected"

  • Run ./binder clean to remove temporary files
  • Use ./binder doctor to verify system health

"Config not clean"

  • The binder detected a previous fast build configuration
  • Run ./binder clean to restore normal configuration

"Symlink issues"

  • If _quarto.yml is not a symlink: ln -sf config/_quarto-html.yml book/_quarto.yml
  • Check current symlink target: ls -la book/_quarto.yml
  • The symlink should point to either config/_quarto-html.yml or config/_quarto-pdf.yml

Performance Tips

  • Use fast builds (./binder build chapter html) for development
  • Use unified builds (./binder build ch1,ch2 html) for multiple chapters
  • Only use full builds (./binder build * format) for final verification
  • Preview mode auto-rebuilds on file changes

🚀 Publishing

The publish command provides a complete publishing workflow:

# One-command publishing
./binder publish

What it does:

  1. Validates environment - Checks Git status, tools, and dependencies
  2. Manages branches - Merges dev to main with confirmation
  3. Plans release - Suggests version bump (patch/minor/major)
  4. Builds everything - PDF first, then HTML (ensures PDF is available)
  5. Creates release - Git tag, AI-generated release notes, GitHub release
  6. Deploys - Copies PDF to assets, commits, pushes to production

Features:

  • 🤖 AI-powered release notes (requires Ollama)
  • 📊 Smart version suggestions based on changes
  • 🛡️ Safety checks and confirmations
  • 🎯 Step-by-step wizard with clear progress

For more details, see:

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