Nift
Dependency-aware command-line build tool and template language that generates websites from HTML, content and data files.
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 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.
Identity
Rendering and deploy
- Runs as
- Static files, Dev only78
- Rendering
- Static output7
- Install with
- shell install script (curl)2
Releases
Adoption
Sources
- 2026-10-23: links
nift.dev/ - 2026-10-23: links, Install with
nift.dev/docs/installing.html - 2026-10-23: links, Written in, License, GitHub stars
api.github.com/repos/nift-dev/nift - 2026-10-23: links
nift.dev/docs.html - 2026-10-23: Maintainer, License model
raw.githubusercontent.com/nift-dev/nift/main/LICENSE - 2026-10-23: Categories, Templating, Content storage
nift.dev/about.html - 2026-10-23: Runs as, Rendering
nift.dev/docs/hosting.html - 2026-10-23: Runs as
nift.dev/privacy.html - 2026-10-23: Current major version, Last release, First release
api.github.com/repos/nift-dev/nift/releases - 2026-10-23: Contributors
api.github.com/repos/nift-dev/nift/contributors