# Nift

Dependency-aware command-line build tool and template language that generates websites from HTML, content and data files.


Source: https://findsoftware.frbit.cloud/nift/
Last reviewed: 2026-10-23
Listed since: 2026-10-23

## Record

### Links

- home: https://nift.dev/
- repository: https://github.com/nift-dev/nift
- docs: https://nift.dev/docs.html

### Identity

- status: active
- maintainer: Nicholas Ham
- maintainerType: unknown
- parent: unknown
- firstRelease: 2026
- hqCountry: unknown

### Kind

- category: ssg
- hosting: static
- language: cpp
- runtime: unknown
- runtimeMin: unknown
- basedOn: unknown

### Content

- contentStore: flat-file
- databases: unknown
- adminUi: unknown
- headlessApi: unknown
- templating: Nift template language
- i18n: unknown

### Rendering and deploy

- runsAs: static, local
- renderingModes: static
- installMethod: shell install script (curl)

### License

- licenseModel: open-source
- license: MIT

### Releases

- currentMajor: 4
- latestReleaseDate: 2026-10-15

### Adoption

- githubStargazers: 1
- packagistDownloads: not applicable
- npmWeeklyDownloads: not applicable
- contributors: 4
- pluginCount: unknown
- packagistMonthlyDownloads: unknown
- ecosystemsMonthlyDownloads: unknown
- httpArchiveSites: unknown
- wordpressActiveInstalls: unknown
- dependentRepos: unknown
- dependentPackages: unknown

### Sources

- urls: https://nift.dev/ (read 2026-10-23)
- urls: https://nift.dev/docs/installing.html (read 2026-10-23)
- urls: https://api.github.com/repos/nift-dev/nift (read 2026-10-23)
- urls: https://nift.dev/docs.html (read 2026-10-23)
- maintainer: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nift-dev/nift/main/LICENSE (read 2026-10-23)
- language: https://api.github.com/repos/nift-dev/nift (read 2026-10-23)
- category: https://nift.dev/about.html (read 2026-10-23)
- templating: https://nift.dev/about.html (read 2026-10-23)
- contentStore: https://nift.dev/about.html (read 2026-10-23)
- installMethod: https://nift.dev/docs/installing.html (read 2026-10-23)
- installMethod: https://nift.dev/docs/installing.html (read 2026-10-23)
- installMethod: https://nift.dev/docs/installing.html (read 2026-10-23)
- installMethod: https://nift.dev/docs/installing.html (read 2026-10-23)
- installMethod: https://nift.dev/docs/installing.html (read 2026-10-23)
- installMethod: https://nift.dev/docs/installing.html (read 2026-10-23)
- installMethod: https://nift.dev/docs/installing.html (read 2026-10-23)
- installMethod: https://nift.dev/docs/installing.html (read 2026-10-23)
- runsAs: https://nift.dev/docs/hosting.html (read 2026-10-23)
- runsAs: https://nift.dev/privacy.html (read 2026-10-23)
- renderingModes: https://nift.dev/docs/hosting.html (read 2026-10-23)
- license: https://api.github.com/repos/nift-dev/nift (read 2026-10-23)
- licenseModel: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nift-dev/nift/main/LICENSE (read 2026-10-23)
- currentMajor: https://api.github.com/repos/nift-dev/nift/releases (read 2026-10-23)
- latestReleaseDate: https://api.github.com/repos/nift-dev/nift/releases (read 2026-10-23)
- githubStargazers: https://api.github.com/repos/nift-dev/nift (read 2026-10-23)
- contributors: https://api.github.com/repos/nift-dev/nift/contributors (read 2026-10-23)
- firstRelease: https://api.github.com/repos/nift-dev/nift/releases (read 2026-10-23)

## Notes

Nift is a command-line build tool for websites with its own template language. It is a native C++ program that the about page calls a dependency-aware website build system. The about page also presents a native scripting language and an interactive shell.

The output is ordinary files in a public directory. The [deployment guide](https://nift.dev/docs/hosting.html) says Nift does not need to run on the production server when the site is built before deployment, and it names preset targets for several hosting platforms.

## Worth knowing

Nift writes files and does not run a server, so anything that needs a process on the live site comes from the rest of the stack. The project runs from the nift-dev repository; the earlier nifty-site-manager repository is not part of this record.

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Data licensed CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Attributes are recorded, never scored; absent means unknown.
Credit, in full: FindSoftware, CC BY 4.0