GSoC 2025 Final Term: Build Retooling of jenkins.io
This post marks the successful completion of my Google Summer of Code 2025 project: Complete Build Retooling of jenkins.io. Over the past months, we’ve transformed the Jenkins documentation infrastructure from legacy systems to a modern, performant, and well-organized platform.
Project Recap
The initiative set out to achieve three core objectives for the Jenkins documentation system:
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Modernization: Transitioning from legacy tools to contemporary solutions (Antora + Vite.js)
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Performance: Implementing faster build processes and better user experience
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Organization: Establishing clear separation between versioned content (LTS releases) and non-versioned content (general documentation)
By midterm, we had successfully laid the foundation with Antora for versioned documentation and Vite.js for non-versioned content, having migrated several core pages and established the basic architecture.
Post-Midterm Achievements
The second half of GSoC focused on completing the migration of all remaining components and polishing the user experience.
Non-Versioned Site (Vite.js) Completion
The Vite.js site saw comprehensive completion with the migration of all critical components:
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Home Page: Fully implemented with dynamic content integration
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Blog System: Complete migration with proper date handling and categorization
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Security Advisories: Full security folder with all advisories and individual issue pages
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Changelogs: Both LTS and weekly changelog pages implemented
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UI/UX Polish:
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System-aware dark/light mode throughout
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Proper note icons and warning elements across all pages
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Consistent header and footer using jenkins-io-components
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Mobile-responsive design improvements
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Key merged PRs include:
Versioned Site (Antora) Enhancements
The documentation repository received significant improvements:
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UI Modernization: Updated styling and component consistency
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Content Cleanup: Removal of redundant security folder (now in Vite.js site)
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Navigation Improvements: Enhanced sidebar and navigation elements
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SEO Foundation: Meta tags and search engine optimization setup
Key contributions:
Technical Implementation Deep Dive
The migration employed several sophisticated technical approaches:
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Content Transformation: Automated conversion of AsciiDoc to structured JSON/YAML for dynamic rendering in Vite.js
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Component Architecture: Reusable React components for consistent UI across both platforms
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Progressive Migration: Incremental page-by-page migration ensuring zero downtime
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Visual Parity: Pixel-perfect matching with existing jenkins.io design language
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Build Optimization: Streamlined build processes with proper asset handling
Challenges & Learnings
This journey presented numerous learning opportunities:
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Content Scale: Managing thousands of documentation pages and blog posts required careful orchestration
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Tooling Integration: Smooth coordination between Antora and Vite.js ecosystems
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UI Consistency: Maintaining visual parity while modernizing the underlying technology
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Community Collaboration: Learning to effectively communicate and coordinate with the Jenkins infrastructure team
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Personal Resilience: Overcoming technical hurdles, hardware failures, and scheduling challenges
The experience strengthened not only my technical skills in modern web technologies and documentation systems but also my abilities in project management, communication, and open-source collaboration.
Future Roadmap
While the core migration is complete, several enhancements remain for future contributors:
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Search Integration: Algolia search implementation for both sites
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Performance Optimization: Image compression and build time improvements
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Progressive Web App: Enhanced mobile experience and offline capabilities
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Accessibility: Comprehensive accessibility audit and improvements
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More UI Enhancements: Continue modernizing the Antora (versioned) site with consistent components and improved user navigation.
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Community Contribution: Streamlined processes for community documentation contributions
Acknowledgments
This project’s success is a testament to the incredible support and guidance from my mentors: Kris Stern, Bruno Verachten, Kevin Martens, and Rajiv Singh. Their technical expertise, strategic guidance, and unwavering support were instrumental throughout this complex migration.
Special thanks to the entire Jenkins infrastructure team for their support and review, and to Alexander Brandes for guidance on search integration. The Jenkins GSoC org admins created a nurturing environment that made this learning journey possible.
For me, this has been more than a summer project; it’s been a transformative experience in open-source contribution, technical architecture, and professional growth.
Final Presentation
The final project presentation delivered a comprehensive overview of the completed work and technical achievements. You can view all GSoC 2025 presentations on the Jenkins in Google Summer of Code page.
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