Gatsby Starter: Minimal Blog Portfolio is a minimal developer blog and portfolio starter built on the Gatsby framework that provides a project showcase, resume page, and blog with MDX-based code blocks.
What is Gatsby Starter: Minimal Blog Portfolio?
This starter is a Gatsby-based template designed for developers who want a minimalist online presence. It takes a Gatsby project scaffold and produces a static site with pages for projects, a resume, and blog posts, all styled with a minimal aesthetic. The starter is available on GitHub under the repository @schwabthedeck/gatsby-min-dev-blog-portfolio and includes a live demo at https://gatsby-min-dev-blog-portfolio.netlify.app/. It is built on Gatsby, meaning the output is a fast static site that can be deployed to any static host.
Key Features
- MDX support — Blog posts and pages are written in MDX, allowing JSX components and interactive content inside Markdown.
- Code highlighting — Uses prism-react-renderer and react-live to highlight code, with options for line numbers, line highlighting, language tabs, and file titles.
- Google Analytics — Built-in support for Google Analytics, so you can plug in your tracking ID in the Gatsby config.
- SEO-ready — Includes a sitemap, OpenGraph tags, and Twitter tags to improve search and social sharing.
- Minimal style — A clean, uncluttered design focused on content, with no heavy CSS framework required.
- Pages included — The starter ships with a projects page, a resume page, and a blog listing with individual post templates.
Who is it for?
- Developers who want a simple portfolio and blog without learning a complex CMS, as the content is managed through Markdown/MDX files.
- Freelancers looking to showcase their work and writing in a single, fast static site.
- Technical writers who write code-heavy tutorials, benefiting from the advanced code block features like line highlighting and language tabs.
What can you do with it?
- Developers: Publish project case studies with code snippets, using MDX to embed interactive examples and highlighted syntax.
- Freelancers: Build a personal brand site that lists your resume, past projects, and blog posts, deployed free on Netlify or Vercel.
- Tech bloggers: Write posts with runnable React components via react-live, enabling readers to experiment with code inline.
How does it work?
This is a Gatsby starter, so you begin by running gatsby new your-site-name https://github.com/schwabthedeck/gatsby-min-dev-blog-portfolio to scaffold a project. Then gatsby develop runs a local dev server at http://localhost:8000, and you can edit source files in the src directory; changes hot-reload in the browser. The site also exposes a GraphQL playground at http://localhost:8000/___graphql during development for querying content.
FAQ
Is the Gatsby Starter: Minimal Blog Portfolio free?
Yes, the starter is released under the 0BSD license, which is a permissive open-source license with no restrictions on use.
Does the template include Google Analytics?
Yes, it has built-in Google Analytics support. You add your tracking ID to the Gatsby config file, and the starter will handle the rest.
Can I customize the code blocks?
Yes, code blocks support line numbers, line highlighting, language tabs, and file titles through the integration with prism-react-renderer and react-live.
What is the recommended deployment method?
The README includes one-click deploy buttons for Netlify and Vercel, so you can deploy directly from the GitHub repository to either host.
