Your wiki is just a Git repository.
WikiNest is a git-native wiki for small engineering teams. Edit markdown in the browser. Every edit becomes a commit. No backend. No database. No build step.
Browser ↔ Git provider API ↔ Git repository ↔ Pages
✓ Browser-based markdown editor ✓ Every edit becomes a commit ✓ Runs on GitHub or GitLab Pages — free forever ✓ No backend ✓ No database ✓ No build step ✓ Open index.html locally and the entire app works
The entire frontend is one index.html and one style.css. No npm install. No node_modules. No framework runtime.
- Not a CMS — no admin panel, no content types, no database
- Not a static site generator — no build step, no npm, no local toolchain
- Not a wiki engine — no server, no plugins, no self-hosted infra
- Not Notion — your content stays in a Git repo you own, not in someone's SaaS
WikiNest is a thin editing layer over the Git provider API. Your repository is the backend.
Most team documentation tools eventually become infrastructure.
- Confluence → SaaS lock-in, $10+/user/month
- Wiki.js → server + database + Docker
- Docusaurus → Node.js + build pipeline
- Obsidian → not collaborative
- Notion → not git-native
WikiNest treats Git as the storage layer instead of syncing with one later. Git already solved collaboration, history, and deployment. WikiNest simply builds a wiki on top of it.
Live demo: keegooroomie.github.io/wikinest
| WikiNest | Wiki.js | Confluence | Docusaurus | Obsidian Publish | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No backend | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ |
| No database | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ |
| No build step | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Git-native | ✅ | partial | ❌ | ✅ | ❌ |
| Browser editing | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Self-hosted | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ | ❌ |
| Free hosting | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ | ❌ |
| GitHub Pages | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ | ❌ |
| GitLab Pages | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | partial | ❌ |
Markdown on the left, live preview on the right — debounced so it doesn't jank on large documents. 16-button toolbar covers the full markdown spec. Ctrl+S / ⌘S saves without leaving the keyboard.
The editor autosaves to localStorage every 500ms. If you close the tab mid-edit, a restore banner appears on return. Drafts are cleared on successful save.
Drop an image onto the editor. It gets committed to docs/assets/ via the API and  is inserted at the cursor. One gesture, one commit.
Type [[Page Name]] to link to any page. A live autocomplete dropdown appears after [[, navigable with arrow keys. Broken links render as a red strikethrough so you notice them immediately.
A clock button in the content bar lists the last 20 commits for the current page. Click any commit to preview the markdown at that SHA. One click to restore — it loads into the editor with unsaved-changes protection.
search.json is generated by CI and contains the full raw content of every page. The frontend fetches it lazily on first search open. Results beyond title/excerpt matches get a "Full text" badge. Open with ⌘K / Ctrl+K.
Folders are created automatically from page paths. Hover any folder in the sidebar to reveal a pencil icon — click it to rename the display name. WikiNest writes _meta.json in one commit; the actual paths and URLs stay unchanged.
Place docs/home.md in your wiki and it auto-loads on the first visit instead of the empty state. Delete it to revert to the recently-modified list.
Unlimited nested folders · TOC with anchor deep-links · recently modified pages · frontmatter tags and author · live CI deploy status · per-file deploy indicators (●/✓/✗) · dark mode · EN/RU i18n · Print/PDF · mobile sidebar
1. Fork this repository. Go to Settings → Pages → Source → GitHub Actions. Go to Settings → Actions → General → Workflow permissions → Read and write permissions.
2. Edit config.json:
{
"site_name": "My Wiki",
"lang": "en",
"provider": "github",
"owner": "your-github-username",
"repo": "wikinest",
"edit_password_hash": ""
}3. Create a PAT — GitHub → Settings → Developer settings → Personal access tokens. Required scope: repo ✓
4. Open your Pages URL. Click ⚙, enter PAT and edit password. Done.
Deployment time: ~2 minutes.
1. Fork on GitLab. Pages are enabled automatically for public repositories.
2. Settings → CI/CD → Variables → add GITLAB_TOKEN (PAT with api scope, masked).
3. Edit config.json — same as above but "provider": "gitlab".
4. Open your Pages URL. Click ⚙, enter PAT and edit password. Done.
Read path
Browser → raw CDN → markdown files
Write path
Browser → Git provider API → commit → CI rebuild → Pages deploy
No synchronization layer. No hidden database. No separate storage.
The repository is the source of truth.
WikiNest is designed for internal documentation, engineering teams, and semi-public knowledge bases.
Editing requires: repository write access + Personal Access Token + edit password.
| Protected | Not protected |
|---|---|
| PAT (XOR-obfuscated in localStorage) | Page content (public repo) |
| Edit UI (password-gated) | config.json(public, readable by anyone) |
| Commits (require valid PAT) | Password hash (SHA-256, one-way) |
This is intentionally lightweight. WikiNest optimizes for simplicity and deployability, not enterprise-grade auth complexity.
Generating the password hash manually:
const pw = 'your-password';
const buf = await crypto.subtle.digest('SHA-256', new TextEncoder().encode(pw));
console.log(Array.from(new Uint8Array(buf)).map(b => b.toString(16).padStart(2,'0')).join(''));wikinest/
├── index.html ← entire frontend SPA
├── style.css ← all styles, CSS variables, dark mode
├── config.json ← site config (owner, repo, password hash)
├── tree.json ← page index, auto-generated by CI
├── search.json ← full-text index, auto-generated by CI
├── i18n/ ← UI strings (en, ru)
├── docs/ ← your markdown pages
├── .github/workflows/ ← GitHub Actions (deploy + build-tree)
└── .gitlab-ci.yml ← GitLab CI (build-tree + pages)
- Mermaid diagram support
- Backlinks panel
- Diff viewer in history modal
- Tags browser page
- Frontmatter GUI in ⚙ settings
- Find & Replace in editor
- Configurable themes
- Staleness warnings for old pages
PRs are welcome. For large changes, open an issue first.
No setup required. No build step. Open index.html in a browser and start hacking.
Conventions:
- Commits:
feat:``fix:``docs:``chore: - No external dependencies beyond the existing CDN script
- All new UI strings must have entries in both
en.jsonandru.json - Test dark mode before submitting UI changes
WikiNest exists because documentation should not require infrastructure.
A repository already gives you version history, rollback, collaboration, access control, hosting, and review flow.
Git already solved the hard parts. WikiNest simply builds a wiki on top of it.
MIT — © 2026 Alexander Gusarov (@KeeGooRoomiE)