diff --git a/tools/generate-index.mjs b/tools/generate-index.mjs
index ac832f4..46af349 100644
--- a/tools/generate-index.mjs
+++ b/tools/generate-index.mjs
@@ -4,61 +4,102 @@ import { fileURLToPath } from "url";
 
 const __dirname = path.dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url));
 const PUBLIC = path.resolve(__dirname, "../public");
-const ROOTS = ["pinned", "posts"];
-const exts = [".html", ".md"];
+const ROOTS  = ["pinned","posts"];
+const ALLOWED = new Set([".md",".html"]);
+const MAX_BYTES = 64 * 1024; // read head for title parse
 
-async function walk(dir, base) {
-  const entries = await fs.readdir(dir, { withFileTypes: true });
-  const nodes = [];
-  for (const e of entries) {
+// --- helpers ------------------------------------------------------
+async function statSafe(p){ try{ return await fs.stat(p); }catch{ return null; } }
+
+function posixJoin(...xs){ return path.posix.join(...xs); }
+
+function dateFromName(name){
+  const m = name.match(/^(\d{4}-\d{2}-\d{2})/);
+  if (!m) return null;
+  const d = new Date(m[1]); const t = d.getTime();
+  return Number.isFinite(t) ? t : null;
+}
+
+async function readHead(abs){
+  const fh = await fs.open(abs,"r");
+  const buf = Buffer.alloc(MAX_BYTES);
+  const { bytesRead } = await fh.read(buf, 0, MAX_BYTES, 0);
+  await fh.close();
+  return buf.slice(0, bytesRead).toString("utf8");
+}
+
+function parseTitle(raw, ext){
+  if (ext===".md"){
+    const m = raw.match(/^\s*#\s+(.+?)\s*$/m);
+    if (m) return m[1].trim();
+  } else if (ext===".html"){
+    const m = raw.match(/<title[^>]*>([^<]+)<\/title>/i);
+    if (m) return m[1].trim();
+  }
+  return null;
+}
+
+// --- walker -------------------------------------------------------
+async function walk(absDir, relBase){
+  const out = [];
+  const ents = await fs.readdir(absDir, { withFileTypes: true });
+  for (const e of ents){
     if (e.name.startsWith(".")) continue;
-    const abs = path.join(dir, e.name);
-    const rel = path.posix.join(base, e.name);
+    const abs = path.join(absDir, e.name);
+    const rel = posixJoin(relBase, e.name);
     const st = await fs.stat(abs);
 
-    if (e.isDirectory()) {
+    if (e.isDirectory()){
       const children = await walk(abs, rel);
-      nodes.push({ type: "dir", name: e.name, path: rel, children });
+      out.push({ type:"dir", name:e.name, path:rel, children });
     } else {
       const ext = path.extname(e.name);
-      if (!exts.includes(ext)) continue;
-      nodes.push({
-        type: "file",
-        name: e.name,
-        path: rel,
+      if (!ALLOWED.has(ext)) continue;
+
+      const raw = await readHead(abs);
+      const title = parseTitle(raw, ext) || e.name;
+      const dated = dateFromName(e.name);
+      out.push({
+        type:"file",
+        name:e.name,
+        title,
+        path:rel,
         ext,
-        pinned: base.startsWith("pinned"),
-        mtime: st.mtimeMs
+        pinned: relBase.startsWith("pinned"),
+        mtime: dated ?? st.mtimeMs
       });
     }
   }
-  return nodes;
+  return out;
 }
 
-async function buildIndex() {
+function flatten(node, list){
+  if (node.type==="file") list.push(node);
+  else node.children.forEach(c=>flatten(c,list));
+}
+
+// --- build --------------------------------------------------------
+async function build(){
   const tree = [];
   const flat = [];
 
-  for (const root of ROOTS) {
+  for (const root of ROOTS){
     const abs = path.join(PUBLIC, root);
-    try {
-      const children = await walk(abs, root);
-      const node = { type: "dir", name: root, path: root, children };
-      tree.push(node);
-      for (const c of children) flatten(c, flat);
-    } catch {
-      console.warn(`Skipping missing ${root}/`);
+    const st = await statSafe(abs);
+    if (!st?.isDirectory()){
+      console.warn(`Warning: skipping missing ${root}/`);
+      continue;
     }
+    const children = await walk(abs, root);
+    const dirNode = { type:"dir", name:root, path:root, children };
+    tree.push(dirNode);
+    flatten(dirNode, flat);
   }
 
   const data = { generatedAt: Date.now(), tree, flat };
-  await fs.writeFile(path.join(PUBLIC, "index.json"), JSON.stringify(data, null, 2));
-  console.log("✅ index.json generated:", flat.length, "files.");
+  const outPath = path.join(PUBLIC, "index.json");
+  await fs.writeFile(outPath, JSON.stringify(data, null, 2));
+  console.log(`✅ index.json generated (${flat.length} files)`);
 }
 
-function flatten(node, arr) {
-  if (node.type === "file") arr.push(node);
-  else node.children.forEach(c => flatten(c, arr));
-}
-
-await buildIndex();
\ No newline at end of file
+await build();
\ No newline at end of file