diff --git a/doc/properties.toml b/doc/properties.toml
index 8d8a3ac3..fd8d75b3 100644
--- a/doc/properties.toml
+++ b/doc/properties.toml
@@ -1,12 +1,9 @@
-# general properties/settings
-
 modid = "hexcasting"
 book = "hexcasting:thehexbook"
 url = "https://gamma-delta.github.io/HexMod"
 default_lang = "en_us"
 
-# top takes priority
-resource_dirs = [
+resource_dirs = [  # top takes priority
     { path = "src/hexdoc/_export/resources", reexport = false },
     "{_common.src}/main/resources",
     "{_common.src}/generated/resources",
@@ -36,6 +33,7 @@ hexcasting = "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/gamma-delta/HexMod/main/Common/s
 
 [template]
 main = "main.html.jinja"
+static_dir = "static"
 packages = [
     "hexdoc",
 ]
diff --git a/doc/src/hexdoc/__version__.py b/doc/src/hexdoc/__version__.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..2c2b3e31
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc/src/hexdoc/__version__.py
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+__version__ = "1.0.dev0"
diff --git a/doc/src/hexdoc/hexdoc.py b/doc/src/hexdoc/hexdoc.py
index 0e10b6f9..665e56c4 100644
--- a/doc/src/hexdoc/hexdoc.py
+++ b/doc/src/hexdoc/hexdoc.py
@@ -150,8 +150,8 @@ def main(args: Args | None = None) -> None:
         subprocess.run(["git", "clean", "-fdX", args.output_dir])
         args.output_dir.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
 
-        static_dir = Path("static")
-        if static_dir.is_dir():
+        static_dir = props.template.static_dir
+        if static_dir and static_dir.is_dir():
             shutil.copytree(static_dir, args.output_dir, dirs_exist_ok=True)
 
         (args.output_dir / "index.html").write_text(docs, "utf-8")
diff --git a/doc/src/hexdoc/utils/properties.py b/doc/src/hexdoc/utils/properties.py
index 4e3bc959..f41526fa 100644
--- a/doc/src/hexdoc/utils/properties.py
+++ b/doc/src/hexdoc/utils/properties.py
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ class PatternStubProps(StripHiddenModel):
 
 class TemplateProps(StripHiddenModel):
     main: str
+    static_dir: Path | None = None
     dirs: list[Path] = Field(default_factory=list)
     packages: list[tuple[str, Path]]
     args: dict[str, Any]
@@ -49,12 +50,12 @@ class Properties(StripHiddenModel):
     the text color to the default."""
 
     resource_dirs: list[ResourceDir]
-    export_dir: Path
-
-    entry_id_blacklist: set[ResourceLocation] = Field(default_factory=set)
+    export_dir: Path | None = None
 
     pattern_stubs: list[PatternStubProps]
 
+    entry_id_blacklist: set[ResourceLocation] = Field(default_factory=set)
+
     base_asset_urls: dict[str, NoTrailingSlashHttpUrl]
     """Mapping from modid to the url of that mod's `resources` directory on GitHub."""
 
diff --git a/doc/src/hexdoc/utils/resource_loader.py b/doc/src/hexdoc/utils/resource_loader.py
index 2b473440..06332905 100644
--- a/doc/src/hexdoc/utils/resource_loader.py
+++ b/doc/src/hexdoc/utils/resource_loader.py
@@ -43,7 +43,8 @@ class ModResourceLoader:
     @contextmanager
     def clean_and_load_all(cls, props: Properties) -> Iterator[Self]:
         # clear the export dir so we start with a clean slate
-        subprocess.run(["git", "clean", "-fdX", props.export_dir])
+        if props.export_dir:
+            subprocess.run(["git", "clean", "-fdX", props.export_dir])
 
         with ExitStack() as stack:
             loader = cls(
@@ -328,6 +329,8 @@ class ModResourceLoader:
         decode: Callable[[str], _T] = decode_json_dict,
         export: ExportFn[_T] | None = None,
     ) -> None:
+        if not self.props.export_dir:
+            return
         out_path = self.props.export_dir / path
 
         logging.getLogger(__name__).debug(f"Exporting {path} to {out_path}")
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 6aefe065..1332a7c1 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 [build-system]
-requires = ["hatchling", "hatch-gradle-version>=0.2.1"]
+requires = ["hatchling", "hatch-gradle-version>=0.3.0"]
 build-backend = "hatchling.build"
 
 # project metadata
@@ -38,8 +38,9 @@ hexdoc = "hexdoc.hexdoc:main"
 # Gradle version/deps
 
 [tool.hatch.version]
+scheme = "gradle"
 source = "gradle-properties"
-py-version = "1.0"
+py-path = "doc/src/hexdoc/__version__.py"
 
 # directory inclusion