# Zola — Fast Static Site Generator in a Single Rust Binary

> Zola is a fast static site generator built as a single Rust binary with everything built in: Sass compilation, syntax highlighting, table of contents, search index, image processing, and shortcodes. No external dependencies or plugins needed.

## Install

Save the content below to `.claude/skills/` or append to your `CLAUDE.md`:

## Quick Use

```bash
brew install zola                           # macOS
snap install zola                           # Linux
scoop install zola                          # Windows

zola init mysite
cd mysite
zola serve                                  # Dev server at :1111
zola build                                  # Build to public/
```

Content `content/blog/hello.md`:
```markdown
+++
title = "Hello World"
date = 2026-04-12
[taxonomies]
tags = ["intro"]
+++

Welcome to my Zola-powered site.

<!-- more -->

This content appears after the summary.
```

## Intro

Zola is a fast static site generator built as a single Rust binary with everything built in. No external dependencies, no plugins to install, no Node.js. Sass compilation, syntax highlighting, table of contents, search index, image resizing, shortcodes, taxonomies, and multilingual support — all in one binary. Created by Vincent Prouillet.

- **Repo**: https://github.com/getzola/zola
- **Stars**: 16K+
- **Language**: Rust
- **License**: MIT

## What Zola Does

- **Single binary** — everything built in, no plugins needed
- **Tera templates** — Jinja2-like templating
- **Sass compilation** — built in
- **Syntax highlighting** — via syntect
- **Search index** — generates Elasticlunr.js index
- **Image processing** — resize, crop, format conversion
- **Shortcodes** — reusable content snippets
- **Taxonomies** — tags, categories, custom
- **Multilingual** — i18n support
- **Table of contents** — auto-generated per page
- **Anchors** — auto-generated heading anchors
- **RSS/Atom feeds** — built in

## Comparison

| Generator | Binary | Sass | Search | Images |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zola | Single | Built-in | Built-in | Built-in |
| Hugo | Single | Via pipe | External | Built-in |
| Jekyll | Ruby + gems | Via gem | Plugin | Plugin |
| Eleventy | Node.js | Plugin | Plugin | Plugin |

## FAQ

**Q: Zola vs Hugo?**
A: Hugo has a larger ecosystem (400+ themes, bigger community) and faster builds (for extremely large sites). Zola has more built-in features (Sass, search, image processing with no extra setup) and simpler configuration. For small-to-medium sites, pick Zola; for large sites, Hugo.

**Q: Themes?**
A: https://www.getzola.org/themes/ has 100+ themes. You can also start from scratch with Tera templates.

## Sources

- Docs: https://www.getzola.org/documentation
- GitHub: https://github.com/getzola/zola
- License: MIT

---
Source: https://tokrepo.com/en/workflows/zola-fast-static-site-generator-single-rust-binary-ce6e1f4f
Author: AI Open Source