# Pollen

Book-publishing system written in Racket that embeds code in text documents for multiple-output publishing.


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

## Record

### Links

- repository: https://gitlab.com/mbutterick/pollen
- docs: https://docs.racket-lang.org/pollen/

### Identity

- status: active
- maintainer: Matthew Butterick
- maintainerType: individual
- parent: unknown
- firstRelease: unknown
- hqCountry: unknown

### Kind

- category: cms
- hosting: static
- language: racket
- runtime: unknown
- runtimeMin: unknown
- basedOn: unknown

### Content

- contentStore: unknown
- databases: unknown
- adminUi: unknown
- headlessApi: unknown
- templating: unknown
- i18n: unknown

### Rendering and deploy

- runsAs: static, local
- renderingModes: static
- installMethod: raco pkg install pollen

### License

- licenseModel: open-source
- license: MIT

### Releases

- currentMajor: 3
- latestReleaseDate: unknown

### Adoption

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

### Sources

- urls: https://gitlab.com/mbutterick/pollen/-/raw/master/README.md (read 2026-10-23)
- maintainer: https://gitlab.com/mbutterick/pollen/-/raw/master/LICENSE.md (read 2026-10-23)
- language: https://api.github.com/repos/mbutterick/pollen (read 2026-10-23)
- category: https://gitlab.com/mbutterick/pollen/-/raw/master/README.md (read 2026-10-23)
- installMethod: https://gitlab.com/mbutterick/pollen/-/raw/master/README.md (read 2026-10-23)
- installMethod: https://docs.racket-lang.org/pollen/Installation.html (read 2026-10-23)
- urls: https://docs.racket-lang.org/pollen/ (read 2026-10-23)
- runsAs: https://docs.racket-lang.org/pollen/Installation.html (read 2026-10-23)
- runsAs: https://docs.racket-lang.org/pollen/Installation.html (read 2026-10-23)
- renderingModes: https://docs.racket-lang.org/pollen/Installation.html (read 2026-10-23)
- license: https://gitlab.com/mbutterick/pollen/-/raw/master/LICENSE.md (read 2026-10-23)
- licenseModel: https://gitlab.com/mbutterick/pollen/-/raw/master/LICENSE.md (read 2026-10-23)
- currentMajor: https://api.github.com/repos/mbutterick/pollen/tags (read 2026-10-23)

## Notes

Pollen is a publishing system built on top of Scribble and Racket, aimed at web-based books. A document embeds Racket code in a text-based syntax, and the same source can produce output for more than one format. The [documentation](https://docs.racket-lang.org/pollen/) says projects generally compile down to a set of static files. The built-in project web server is a development and previewing tool and is not needed to deploy.

The project is developed on GitLab, and the [repository](https://gitlab.com/mbutterick/pollen) is the main one; a GitHub copy mirrors it. Pollen is installed with `raco pkg install pollen` on top of Racket, and `raco pollen render` renders source files.

## Worth knowing

The README says the project is actively developed, though the pace has slowed. Its author uses it to publish his own web-based books, which the README names.

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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