Quick start

mkdir my-app && cd my-app
npm init -y
npm i -D poops laxative
npx laxative init      # writes poops.json (poops + septic + a form) + the two pages the form needs
npx laxative dev       # http://localhost:3000 — site + /api, one origin

septic arrives as laxative's own dependency — you never install it separately. poops stays a peer you install yourself.

laxative init scaffolds a poops.json with:

a markup block (poops renders src/markup → dist), carrying includePaths: ["_partials"] so the page can include the generated form by name,
styles and scripts entries (src/styles/main.scss → dist/css/main.css, src/scripts/main.js → dist/js/main.js), with a top-level includePaths: ["node_modules"] so an @use "some-package" resolves without ceremony,
watch, serve and livereload, which is what lets dev hand the whole loop to poops,
a septic block with a public messages resource,
a build.forms block that generates the messages form and redirects a submit to /thanks.

Alongside it come the two pages that make the form work end to end — src/markup/index.html, which links the built CSS and JS and includes the form with {% include "messages-form.html" %}, and src/markup/thanks.html, where a submit lands — plus the two near-empty entry points, so the pipeline runs from the first dev.

It refuses to touch an existing poops.json — run it in an empty directory, or write the blocks yourself.

Run laxative build to produce dist/ (static site + generated form partials), then laxative serve to serve it with the API in one process.

Commands

Command	What it does
`laxative init`	scaffold a full-stack `poops.json` + pages + style/script entry points
`laxative dev`	serve site + `/api` on one origin; poops watches and live-reloads behind it
`laxative build`	`septic build` (DB → markup + forms) → poops compile → `dist/`
`laxative serve`	production: serve `dist/` + `/api` + `/uploads` from one process

Flags

Global — every command takes them, spelled the way poops spells them, so one project running 💩 and 💊 has one set to remember.

Flag	What it does
`-c, --config <path>`	read that file instead of `poops.json`. The poops `dev` conducts is handed the same file, so both halves stay on one config
`-p, --port <number>`	the port `dev` and `serve` listen on. Beats `PORT`, which beats the 3000 default. `0` asks the OS for a free port, and the one it bound is the one printed
`-q, --quiet`	hide the 💊 info lines. Warnings and errors still print — a build that degraded still says so
`-h, --help`	print the usage above
`-v, --version`	print the version

A value that is not a port — -p nope, -p 70000 — is named and refused rather than quietly serving 3000.

What laxative reads

Three keys of the shared config, and nothing of its own:

Key	Used for
`markup.out`	the directory served as the static site (default `dist`)
`markup.in`	the directory the fallback `dev` loop watches (conducted `dev` watches every `in` via poops)
`septic`	the backend to mount. Absent → frontend-only: laxative serves the static site and mounts no API

Every other key belongs to poops or septic, and laxative passes it through untouched.