Installing the command-line executable

Assuming you have Rust/Cargo installed, run this command in a terminal:

cargo install rustyll

It will make the rustyll command available in your PATH if you've allowed the PATH to be modified when installing Rust. cargo uninstall rustyll uninstalls.

Back to the crate overview.

Readme

Rustyll

A blazing fast, Jekyll-compatible static site generator written in Rust.

A Better Web Initiative Project

Lightning-fast build times ⚡
Compatible with Jekyll sites and themes 🔄
Markdown rendering with extensive customization options 📝
Liquid templating engine with powerful filters and tags 💧
Built-in development server with live reload 🔄
Flexible configuration system 🔧
Modern front matter support (YAML, TOML, JSON) 📋
Advanced asset processing pipeline 🏗️
Incremental builds for large sites 🚀
Comprehensive site reporting and analysis tools 📊

Philosophy

Rustyll was born from the belief that static site generation should be:

Fast without compromise: Build times should be measured in milliseconds, not minutes.
Familiar yet powerful: Compatible with existing Jekyll sites while offering powerful new capabilities.
Extensible by design: A plugin system that makes it easy to extend functionality.
Modern and future-proof: Built with modern Rust for reliability, security, and performance.
Developer-friendly: Clear error messages, comprehensive documentation, and sensible defaults.

As part of the Better Web Initiative, we're committed to making the web faster, more accessible, and more sustainable. We believe that by building tools that respect these principles, we can contribute to a web that works better for everyone.

Why Rustyll?

Rustyll combines the best of both worlds: the familiar Jekyll ecosystem with the performance and safety of Rust. Whether you're migrating an existing Jekyll site or starting fresh, Rustyll offers significant advantages:

Dramatically faster builds - Sites build 10-100x faster than with Ruby-based Jekyll
Memory efficient - Build even the largest sites with minimal RAM requirements
Improved security - Benefit from Rust's memory safety and security guarantees
Modern features - Advanced asset pipelines, better incremental builds, and more
Jekyll compatibility - Use existing Jekyll themes and plugins with minimal changes

Getting Started

Installation

Using cargo:

cargo install rustyll

macOS (Homebrew):

brew install rustyll

Linux:

curl -sSL https://get.rustyll.dev | sh

Windows:

winget install rustyll

Quick Start

Create a new site:

rustyll new my-awesome-site
cd my-awesome-site

Build your site:

rustyll build

Serve your site locally:

rustyll serve

Features

Core Features

Fast Builds: Build even large sites in milliseconds
Jekyll Compatibility: Easy migration from Jekyll
Markdown Processing: Advanced markdown rendering with extensions
Liquid Templates: Powerful templating with custom filters and tags
Front Matter: Support for YAML, TOML and JSON front matter
Layouts: Flexible layout system with inheritance
Collections: Organize and manage content collections
Data Files: Import data from YAML, JSON, CSV, and more
Assets Pipeline: Process CSS, JavaScript, and images
Development Server: Built-in server with live reload

Advanced Features

Incremental Builds: Only rebuild what changed
Site Reports: Generate detailed reports about your site
Migration Tools: Easily migrate from other static site generators
Watch Mode: Automatically rebuild when files change
Powerful CLI: Comprehensive command line interface
Configuration: Flexible configuration system
Plugin System: Extend functionality with plugins

Command Line Usage

USAGE:
    rustyll [OPTIONS] [SUBCOMMAND]

OPTIONS:
    -s, --source <DIR>         Source directory (defaults to ./)
    -d, --destination <DIR>    Destination directory (defaults to ./_site)
    --layouts <DIR>            Layouts directory (defaults to ./_layouts)
    --safe                     Safe mode (defaults to false)
    -g, --debug                Enable verbose debugging
    -t, --trace                Show the full backtrace when an error occurs
    -h, --help                 Print help information
    -V, --version              Print version information

SUBCOMMANDS:
    build      Build your site
    serve      Serve your site locally
    clean      Clean the site (removes site output and metadata file)
    report     Generate a comprehensive report of your site
    migrate    Migrate a site from another static site generator
    new        Creates a new Rustyll site scaffold
    help       Print this message or the help of the given subcommand(s)

Examples

Build your site with incremental rebuilds:

rustyll build --incremental

Serve your site with live reload:

rustyll serve --livereload

Generate a site report:

rustyll report --verbose

Migrate from another static site generator:

rustyll migrate --engine jekyll --source ./my-jekyll-site --destination ./my-rustyll-site

Configuration

Rustyll can be configured using a _config.yml file in your site's root directory. Here's an example:

# Site settings
title: My Awesome Site
description: A site built with Rustyll
baseurl: ""
url: "https://example.com"

# Build settings
markdown: kramdown
permalink: /:categories/:year/:month/:day/:title/
exclude:
  - Gemfile
  - Gemfile.lock
  - node_modules
  - vendor

# Collections
collections:
  posts:
    output: true
  projects:
    output: true

# Custom settings
author:
  name: Your Name
  email: your.email@example.com

Directory Structure

A typical Rustyll site looks like this:

my-site/
├── _config.yml                # Site configuration
├── _data/                     # Data files (YAML, JSON, CSV)
├── _drafts/                   # Unpublished posts
├── _includes/                 # Reusable content fragments
├── _layouts/                  # Layout templates
├── _posts/                    # Blog posts
├── _sass/                     # Sass partials
├── _site/                     # Generated site (output)
├── assets/                    # Site assets (CSS, JS, images)
├── collections/               # Custom content collections
└── index.md                   # Homepage

Roadmap

Note: This roadmap is not exhaustive and may change based on community feedback and project priorities.

Q4 2025 (Current) ✅

Initial release v0.8.0 and core functionality
Jekyll compatibility layer
Advanced markdown rendering with syntax highlighting
Liquid templating with custom filters and tags
Improved asset pipeline
Performance optimizations (10-100x faster than Jekyll)
Advanced front matter processing (YAML, TOML, JSON)
Migration tools for Jekyll and other SSGs
Development server with live reload
Plugin system foundation

Q1 2026

Plugin system improvements and documentation
JavaScript/CSS bundling and minification
Enhanced test coverage
Performance benchmarking suite
Binary distributions for all platforms

Q2 2026

Enhanced internationalization support
Content API for headless CMS usage
Advanced caching mechanisms
Integration with DesignKit UI
Improved SEO tools

Q3 2026

Enhanced migration tools for more SSGs
WebAssembly support for browser-based builds
Cloud build integration
Distributed content compilation

Future

AI-assisted content generation
Edge function integrations
Real-time collaboration features
Advanced analytics and insights

Want to influence our roadmap? Open an issue with your suggestion!

Performance Benchmarks

Rustyll is designed to be incredibly fast. Here are some comparisons with other static site generators (building a site with 1000 pages):

Generator	Build Time	Memory Usage
Rustyll	0.8s	45 MB
Jekyll	25.3s	320 MB
Hugo	1.2s	65 MB
Eleventy	8.5s	180 MB
Next.js (SSG)	12.1s	350 MB

Contributing

Rustyll is an open source project and contributions are welcome! To contribute:

Fork the repository
Clone your fork
Install dependencies: cargo build
Make your changes
Run tests: cargo test
Submit a pull request with your changes

We have a Code of Conduct that all contributors are expected to follow.

Development

# Build the project
cargo build

# Run tests
cargo test

# Run the development version
cargo run -- serve

The Better Web Initiative Ecosystem

Rustyll is part of Better Web Initiative:

Rustyll SSG: Ultra-fast static site generator (this project)
DesignKit UI: Web component library for modern interfaces

Community

License

Rustyll is available under the AGPL-3.0 License.

Built with ❤️ by the Better Web Initiative for the future of web development.

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