CV Generator

A modern, modular CV generation system that creates professional HTML and PDF CVs from structured Markdown and YAML content. Features a VS Code dark theme aesthetic with print-optimized styling.

Project Structure

cv/
├── build_html.sh          # Script to generate HTML CV from content files
├── Makefile               # Build targets for HTML, PDF, Docker image, and cleanup
├── README.md              # This documentation
├── content/               # CV content files
│   ├── meta.yml           # Basic metadata (title, avatar path)
│   ├── contacts.yml       # Personal information (name, role, location, contacts)
│   ├── skills.yml         # Skills organized in categories
│   ├── summary.md         # Professional summary
│   ├── achievements.md    # Key achievements and highlights
│   ├── responsibilities.md # Professional responsibilities and duties
│   ├── strengths.md       # Core professional strengths and capabilities
│   ├── experience.md      # Work experience history
│   ├── education.md       # Education background
│   ├── languages.md       # Language proficiencies
│   └── avatar.webp        # Profile picture
├── docker/                # Docker setup for containerized generation
│   ├── Dockerfile         # Docker image definition
│   └── scripts/
│       ├── build.sh       # Build Docker image
│       └── generate.sh    # Generate CV using Docker
├── pdf/                   # PDF generation tools
│   └── generate-pdf.js    # Node.js script using Puppeteer for PDF creation
└── template/              # HTML template and styling
    ├── cv.html            # Pandoc HTML template
    └── style.css          # CSS styles (screen + print media queries)

CV Content Structure

The CV content is organized into modular files for easy maintenance and updates:

Core Metadata Files (YAML)

• meta.yml: Contains basic page metadata
  • title: Browser tab title
  • avatar: Path to profile image
• contacts.yml: Personal and contact information
  • name: Full name
  • role: Professional title
  • location: City and country
  • email, phone: Contact details
  • github, linkedin: Professional profiles (without https://)
• skills.yml: Technical and professional skills organized in categories
  • Structured as skill_categories with name and items arrays

Content Sections (Markdown)

• summary.md: Brief professional summary (plain text)
• achievements.md: Key accomplishments and highlights (Markdown formatted)
• responsibilities.md: Key professional responsibilities and duties (Markdown formatted)
• strengths.md: Core professional strengths and capabilities (Markdown formatted)
• experience.md: Work experience with job titles, companies, dates, and descriptions (Markdown formatted)
• education.md: Educational background and qualifications (Markdown formatted)
• languages.md: Language proficiencies and levels (Markdown formatted)

Assets

• avatar.webp: Profile picture (WebP format recommended for smaller file size)

How to Generate CV

Prerequisites

For HTML Generation

• Pandoc: Required for converting Markdown to HTML

  # macOS
  brew install pandoc
  
  # Ubuntu/Debian
  sudo apt install pandoc
  
  # Windows (with Chocolatey)
  choco install pandoc

For PDF Generation (Local)

• Node.js (v14+): Required for PDF generation

• Puppeteer: Install dependencies

  npm install puppeteer

For PDF Generation (Docker - Recommended)

• Docker: For containerized PDF generation (includes all dependencies)

Generate HTML CV

Option 1: Direct script execution

./build_html.sh

• Generates dist/cv.html with current date
• Optional: Add --open flag to automatically open in browser

Option 2: Using Makefile

make html

Generate PDF CV

Option 1: Using Docker (Recommended)

# Build Docker image (one-time setup)
make image

# Generate both HTML and PDF
make pdf

Option 2: Local generation

# First generate HTML
./build_html.sh

# Then generate PDF
node pdf/generate-pdf.js

Preview and Print

• Web preview: Open dist/cv.html in any modern browser
• Print preview: Use browser's print function (Ctrl+P/Cmd+P) for A4 PDF layout
• Direct PDF: Generated files are saved in dist/ directory

GitHub Actions Automation

This repository includes automated CV generation and release publishing using GitHub Actions.

Creating Releases

Method 1: Git Tags (Recommended)

git tag v1.0
git push origin v1.0

Method 2: Manual Trigger

1. Go to Actions tab in your repository
2. Select "Generate CV and Create Release"
3. Click "Run workflow"

What You Get

• Automatic PDF generation using your Docker setup
• GitHub release with downloadable dzmitry_kalianchuk_cv.pdf
• Direct download link: https://github.com/USER/REPO/releases/latest/download/dzmitry_kalianchuk_cv.pdf

Testing

• Pull requests automatically test CV generation
• All pushes to main/master trigger build validation
• Build artifacts available for download from Actions tab## Maintenance Guide

Updating Content

1. Personal Information: Edit content/contacts.yml
2. Skills: Modify content/skills.yml (add/remove categories or items)
3. Professional Summary: Update content/summary.md
4. Achievements: Update content/achievements.md
5. Responsibilities: Edit content/responsibilities.md
6. Strengths: Modify content/strengths.md
7. Experience: Edit content/experience.md with new positions or updates
8. Education: Modify content/education.md
9. Languages: Edit content/languages.md
10. Profile Picture: Replace content/avatar.webp

File Organization Best Practices

• Keep content files focused on their specific sections
• Use Markdown formatting for rich text in experience, education, and achievements
• Maintain consistent date formats (e.g., "2020 - Present" or "2018 - 2022")
• Update the generation date automatically via build scripts

Build System

• HTML Generation: Uses Pandoc with custom template and variable injection
• PDF Generation: Leverages Puppeteer for headless Chrome rendering with background preservation
• Docker: Provides consistent environment across different systems
• Makefile: Offers convenient targets for common operations

Dependencies

• Runtime: Pandoc for HTML, Node.js/Puppeteer for PDF
• Development: Docker for containerized builds
• Assets: WebP images for optimized file sizes

Troubleshooting

• HTML generation fails: Ensure Pandoc is installed and all content files exist
• PDF generation fails: Check Node.js version and Puppeteer installation
• Docker issues: Verify Docker is running and image is built
• Styling issues: Check browser compatibility and print CSS

Version Control

• Commit content changes separately from build artifacts
• The dist/ folder is typically gitignored (generated files)
• Keep template and build scripts under version control

Features

• Modular Content: Separate files for easy maintenance and updates
• VS Code Theme: Dark theme for screen, professional for print
• Responsive Design: Works on desktop and mobile devices
• Print Optimized: A4 format with proper margins and print-friendly styling
• Automated Builds: Scripts and Makefile for consistent generation
• Docker Support: Containerized PDF generation for reproducibility
• Background Preservation: PDF generation maintains all visual styling
• Semantic HTML: Proper HTML5 structure for accessibility