Combining Tokens

SSI processes steps in order. Each step’s output becomes the next step’s input. This page demonstrates two patterns: key construction (earlier steps build keys that later steps look up) and two-pass resolution (blocks inject tokens that a second pass of the same sources then resolves).

Day/Night Theme (Two Levels)

This page's body element has a theme class selected at build time. The step chain: datetime resolves the AM/PM token, then data looks up the corresponding theme name (light or dark).

  1. Datetime step: am_pm token resolves to AM or PM
  2. Data step: theme_AM or theme_PM resolves to light or dark
  3. Result: class="theme-light" or class="theme-dark"

The theme indicator in the header shows which was applied.

Time-Selected Hero (Three Levels)

The hero section below was selected by a three-step token chain. The page template has a single token that chains through datetime, then data, then blocks — selecting a completely different section at build time.

Good Evening!

The day is winding down. Review what you built today.

20:58:34 — 2026-06-08

Branch + Time Greeting (Three Levels)

Good evening! Production is live.

The greeting above is constructed from three inputs: git provides the branch name, datetime provides AM/PM, and data maps the combination to text. On main or dev branches the greeting resolves fully. On other branches it shows the constructed key — which is itself educational.

Build Info (Simple, No Composition)

Built from main (4915a3ae16) on 2026-06-08 at 20:58:34

No composition needed here — just git and datetime tokens used directly. These resolve in the early pass, before blocks even run.

The Pipeline Config

The step ordering is the key to token composition. Here is the actual ssi-config.toml for this site — eight steps in two passes: 

# Pipeline: Pages → Git(🔧) → DateTime1(🕐) → Data1(📊) → Blocks(🪩)
  #                            → DateTime2(⏰) → Data2(📈) → Assets
  
  [[step]]
  emoji = "📄"
  processing = "page"
  path = "pages/"
  options = ["leftovers-okay"]
  
  [[step]]
  emoji = "🎨"
  processing = "copy"
  path = "assets/"
  
  # === EARLY PASS ===
  [[step]]
  emoji = "🔧"
  processing = "include"
  type = "git"
  path = "../../../.git/"
  options = ["inline", "allow-external-paths"]
  
  [[step]]
  emoji = "🕐"
  processing = "include"
  type = "datetime"
  options = ["inline"]
  
  [[step]]
  emoji = "📊"
  processing = "include"
  type = "plain"
  path = "data/content.toml"
  options = ["inline", "leftovers-okay"]
  
  [[step]]
  emoji = "🪩"
  processing = "include"
  type = "html"
  path = "blocks/"
  options = ["leftovers-okay"]
  
  # === LATE PASS ===
  [[step]]
  emoji = "⏰"
  processing = "include"
  type = "datetime"
  options = ["inline"]
  
  [[step]]
  emoji = "📈"
  processing = "include"
  type = "plain"
  path = "data/content.toml"
  options = ["inline", "leftovers-okay"]

The Data File

All token composition happens through data/content.toml. Earlier steps produce values that become keys in this file; two data steps (one early, one late) look up those keys and replace them with the mapped values: 

[_]
  
  # Day/night theme selection
  theme_AM = "light"
  theme_PM = "dark"
  
  # Hero block selection — value becomes a block token name
  hero_AM = "hero-sunrise"
  hero_PM = "hero-sunset"
  
  # Crazy-town: card style selection
  card_style_AM = "card-bright"
  card_style_PM = "card-muted"
  
  # Branch + time greeting (key constructed from branch + am_pm)
  greeting_mainAM = "Good morning! Production is live."
  greeting_mainPM = "Good evening! Production is live."
  
  # Daily tip for each day of week (resolved in late pass from block content)
  tip_title_Mon = "Monday: Start fresh."
  tip_content_Mon = "Begin the week with a clear plan."
  # ... (one entry per day)