Gatsby Starter Breeze is a free, open-source Gatsby starter that scaffolds an elegant Chinese-language blog with a two-column layout, tag-based organization, comments, and a table of contents.
What is Gatsby Starter Breeze?
Gatsby Starter Breeze (theme name in Chinese: 清风朗月) is a Gatsby blog starter created by keithnull as a port of two earlier static-site themes: Diary by AmazingRise (originally a Hugo theme) and Journal by SumiMakito (originally a Hexo theme). The starter takes a Gatsby project skeleton and outputs a configured blog with a post list, tag pages, detail pages, and an archive. It includes the standard Gatsby APIs through gatsby-browser.js, gatsby-node.js, and gatsby-ssr.js.
Key Features
- Responsive centered layout — The design shifts from the original full-screen three-column layout to a centered two-column layout that works on small-screen devices.
- Table of contents — Individual post pages include an automatically generated table of contents for longer articles.
- Comment support — Comment functionality is included, though the README does not specify which comment service is integrated.
- Tags only — The
categoryconcept is removed; all organization is throughtag. - Compact, unpaginated archives — Archive and tag pages are compact and not paginated, so readers can use Ctrl+F to find content on a single page.
- Post and Page distinction — The starter separates
Postcontent (shown in the blog feed) fromPagecontent (like an about page, kept out of the feed). - Gatsby configuration — Site metadata and plugins are edited in
gatsby-config.js; code formatting is handled by Prettier via.prettierrc. - GraphiQL during development — Running
gatsby developopens a query explorer athttp://localhost:8000/___graphql.
Who is it for?
- Chinese-language bloggers — They get a blog design made for graceful Chinese text, with tag and archive pages adapted for quick scanning.
- Gatsby learners — Developers can study a real-world Gatsby starter that uses the browser, node, and SSR APIs while porting a theme between frameworks.
- Former Diary or Journal users — Bloggers using the Hugo or Hexo versions of this design can move to Gatsby while keeping a familiar visual style.
What can you do with it?
- New bloggers: Launch a blog by running
gatsby new my-blog-starter https://github.com/keithnull/gatsby-starter-breeze, thengatsby developto preview athttp://localhost:8000. - Gatsby developers: Customize the home page and metadata by editing
src/pages/index.jsandgatsby-config.js. - Site deployers: Deploy to Netlify or Vercel using the one-click deploy buttons linked from the starter's README.
How does it work?
The starter follows Gatsby's standard workflow: scaffold with the CLI, run gatsby develop for a local preview and GraphiQL access at http://localhost:8000/___graphql, make edits under src/, and use gatsby build for a production build. The project includes gatsby-browser.js, gatsby-node.js, and gatsby-ssr.js for API-level customization.
Pros and cons
Pros
- Free and open source — Released under the 0BSD license with no usage restrictions.
- Portable design — Brings the aesthetics of the Hugo Diary and Hexo Journal themes to Gatsby.
- Complete basic blog features — Includes post lists, tag pages, TOC, comments, and responsive layout.
Cons
- No dark mode — Explicitly listed as not implemented and not planned.
- No categories — Tag-only organization is a deliberate choice; categories are not supported.
Pricing
Gatsby Starter Breeze is free and open source under the 0BSD license, so it can be used, modified, and redistributed without restriction.
FAQ
Is Gatsby Starter Breeze free?
Yes. The project is released under the 0BSD license, which places no restrictions on use, copying, modification, or redistribution.
Does it support dark mode?
No. The README lists dark mode as a feature that is intentionally not implemented at this time, with no plan for it in the short term.
What static site generator is it built on?
It is built on Gatsby (Gatsby.js), a React-based static site generator. The starter makes use of Gatsby's browser, node, and server-side rendering APIs through the respective files in the project root.
How do I start a site from this starter?
Run gatsby new my-blog-starter https://github.com/keithnull/gatsby-starter-breeze with the Gatsby CLI, then navigate into the directory and run gatsby develop. Your site will appear at http://localhost:8000.
Does it support categories?
No. Categories were intentionally removed to leave only tag-based organization. If you need categories, you would need to add that functionality yourself.
