From 78e3c34d8d4c17c2b7e6461ad6e20af8081e9f88 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: disqualifier <dev@disqualifier.me>
Date: Mon, 29 Jun 2026 20:57:45 -0400
Subject: [PATCH] add README

Signed-off-by: disqualifier <dev@disqualifier.me>
---
 README.md | 36 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 1 file changed, 36 insertions(+)
 create mode 100644 README.md

diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
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+# handbook
+
+The Rethink Studios handbook — our public reference for the shared library suite,
+coding standards, the dev workflow, Python environments, and how to deploy on our
+network.
+
+Live at **[docs.rethinkstudios.io](https://docs.rethinkstudios.io)**.
+
+## What this is
+
+A static documentation site built with [MkDocs](https://www.mkdocs.org/) +
+[Material for MkDocs](https://squidfunk.github.io/mkdocs-material/). Markdown lives
+under `docs/`, builds to a static `site/`, and is served by the reverse proxy at
+the subdomain — no app process, just static HTML/CSS/JS.
+
+The **Libraries** page is the one dynamic part: it fetches the `rethink-public`
+repo list from the Gitea API client-side at view time, so new libraries appear on
+the next page load with no rebuild. Everything else is static markdown.
+
+## Build
+
+```bash
+python -m venv .venv
+source .venv/bin/activate
+pip install -r requirements.txt
+mkdocs build            # -> static site/
+mkdocs serve            # local preview at http://127.0.0.1:8000
+```
+
+## Contributing
+
+- One topic per page, grouped under `docs/`, wired into the nav in `mkdocs.yml`.
+- **Public — sanitize:** no real hostnames, internal IPs, secrets, or exact
+  topology. Use placeholders (`<dev>`, `<project>`, `/srv/...`).
+- Markdown: trailing newline, no trailing whitespace, LF line endings.
+- Commits signed (`git commit -s`).