# Zensical — Modern Static Site Generator by the MkDocs Team

> A next-generation static site generator built in Rust by the creators of Material for MkDocs delivering fast builds and modern defaults.

## Install

Save in your project root:

# Zensical — Modern Static Site Generator by the MkDocs Team

## Quick Use
```bash
pip install zensical
zensical new my-site
cd my-site
zensical serve
# Site available at http://localhost:8000
```

## Introduction
Zensical is a modern static site generator built in Rust by the team behind Material for MkDocs. It combines the content authoring experience of MkDocs with dramatically faster build times, native search, and a modern plugin architecture designed for documentation sites and technical blogs.

## What Zensical Does
- Generates static sites from Markdown with sub-second build times
- Provides built-in search without external JavaScript libraries
- Supports content from Markdown, MDX, and reStructuredText sources
- Offers a theme system compatible with Material for MkDocs designs
- Includes live reload development server with instant updates

## Architecture Overview
Zensical is written in Rust for maximum build performance. It uses a parallel processing pipeline where pages are parsed, transformed, and rendered concurrently. The template engine supports Jinja2-compatible syntax for familiarity. Plugins hook into well-defined lifecycle events and can be written in Python or compiled Rust for performance-critical extensions.

## Self-Hosting & Configuration
- Install via pip, cargo, or standalone binary download
- Configure via zensical.yml with MkDocs-compatible syntax
- Deploy output to any static hosting (GitHub Pages, Netlify, S3)
- Custom themes via standard HTML/CSS templates
- CI integration with GitHub Actions and GitLab CI examples provided

## Key Features
- 10-50x faster builds compared to Python-based generators
- Built-in full-text search with no client-side JavaScript dependencies
- Incremental builds that only regenerate changed pages
- First-class support for versioned documentation
- Migration path from existing MkDocs projects

## Comparison with Similar Tools
- **MkDocs** — Python-based, slower builds; Zensical is Rust-native with compatible config
- **Hugo** — fast but Go templates; Zensical uses familiar Jinja2 syntax
- **Docusaurus** — React-based, heavier; Zensical outputs pure static HTML
- **Astro** — general web framework; Zensical is purpose-built for documentation

## FAQ
**Q: Can I migrate from MkDocs?**
A: Yes. Zensical reads mkdocs.yml and most Material for MkDocs themes work with minimal changes.

**Q: Does it support custom plugins?**
A: Yes, plugins can be written in Python (for familiarity) or Rust (for performance).

**Q: How fast are builds?**
A: A 1000-page documentation site builds in under 2 seconds on modern hardware.

**Q: Is there a hosted version?**
A: No, it is a local tool. Deploy the output to any static hosting provider.

## Sources
- https://github.com/zensical/zensical


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Source: https://tokrepo.com/en/workflows/asset-c4fd9fa8
Author: AI Open Source