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,
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 includes the form with {% include "messages-form.html" %}, and src/markup/thanks.html, where a submit lands.

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` + a page
`laxative dev`	build once, serve site + `/api` on one origin, rebuild on markup change
`laxative build`	`septic build` (DB → markup + forms) → poops compile → `dist/`
`laxative serve`	production: serve `dist/` + `/api` + `/uploads` from one process

PORT overrides the port for dev and serve; it defaults to 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 `dev` watches for changes
`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.