About CAX

CAX was created for one simple reason: make static site generation easy, fast, and accessible for everyone.

No Node.js. No npm install. No waiting.

Just C.

Why CAX Was Created

Most static site generators today require heavy dependencies, complex setup, and slow builds.

CAX solves that:

You want to build a blog, fast?
You want zero dependencies?
You want 0.4s builds, not 40s?
You want Eleventy experience but in C?

That is why CAX exists.

We built CAX for developers, bloggers, creators, and anyone who wants simplicity without sacrificing power.

Advantages of CAX

1. Blazing Fast

Built in pure C. Builds 100+ pages in under 0.4s.

2. Zero Dependencies

No Node.js, no npm, no Python required for build. Just one binary: cax.exe.

3. Eleventy Compatible Experience

Frontmatter YAML
_data/ global data - JSON, YAML, YML
Layouts and partials
Collections and pagination
Includes, if else, for loops

4. Clean Production Build

cax build = 100% clean, no dev scripts
cax serve = production preview
cax start = dev only with live reload

5. Live Reload

Auto watch content/, templates/, _data/, public/ and rebuild instantly.

6. Production Ready

Auto minified CSS
Sitemap.xml, RSS, JSON Feed, robots.txt auto generated
SEO friendly
Deploy anywhere: Netlify, Vercel, Cloudflare Pages

7. Simple Templating

Easy to learn:

{{ title }}
{% for post in posts %}{{ post.title }}{% endfor %}
{% include header.cax %}

8. Lightweight

Binary size under 1MB. Output is pure static HTML.

Installation

git clone https://github.com/mesinkasir/cax
cd cax
mingw32-make

Commands

Command	Description
`cax init`	Initialize project structure
`cax build`	Build production site to site/ - clean, no live.js
`cax serve`	Serve production preview at http://localhost:8080
`cax start`	Dev mode - Serve + Watch + Live Reload
`cax watch`	Alias of start

Project Structure

.
├── content/          ## Markdown content
│   ├── index.md
│   ├── about.md
│   └── posts/        ## Collection
├── _data/            ## Global data
│   ├── metadata.json
│   ├── nav.json
│   ├── social.yaml   ## YAML supported
│   └── config.yml    ## yml also supported
├── templates/
│   ├── layouts/      ## default.cax, home.cax, posts-list.cax
│   └── partials/     ## header.cax, footer.cax
├── public/           ## Static assets copied to site/
└── site/             ## Output generated

Frontmatter

Supports YAML nested objects and list of objects:

---
title: My Post
layout: default.cax
hero:
  title: Welcome
  subtitle: Fast SSG
features:
  - title: 0.4s Builds
    desc: Blazing fast
    icon: fast
  - title: Zero Deps
    desc: No Node.js needed
tags:
  - c
  - ssg
---

Data Files

Eleventy-style auto loading. Supports JSON and YAML.

_data/social.yaml:

github: https://github.com/mesinkasir
links:
  - title: Docs
    url: /docs/
  - title: Blog
    url: /posts/

Usage in template:

{{ social.github }}
{% for link in social.links %}
  {{ link.title }}
{% endfor %}

Supported: _data/.json, .yaml, *.yml

Templating Engine

Variables:

{{ title }}
{{ site.title }}
{{ social.github }}
{{ hero.title }}

If Else:

{% if title %}
  {{ title }}
{% endif %}

{% if not description %}
  No description
{% else %}
  {{ description }}
{% endif %}

{% if pagination.prev_url %}
  Prev
{% endif %}

For Loops:

{% for post in posts %}
  {{ post.title }}
{% endfor %}

{% for link in social.links %}
  {{ link.title }} - {{ link.url }}
{% endfor %}

Includes:

{% include header.cax %}
{% include footer.cax %}

Collections and Pagination

Create controller file content/posts.md:

---
collection: posts
layout: posts-list.cax
title: Blog Posts
pagination: 6
---

This will scan content/posts/*.md and generate paginated list at /posts/, /posts/2/, etc.

Live Reload Development

cax start

Watches content/, templates/, _data/, public/
Auto rebuild on change
Auto inject cax_live.js - DEV ONLY
Auto open browser at http://localhost:8080

Production build is always clean:

cax build
cax serve

No live.js in production.

Deployment

Upload site/ folder to Netlify, Vercel, Cloudflare Pages, or any static hosting.

cax build

Goal

Our goal is to make CAX the fastest and simplest SSG in the world, while keeping it powerful and extensible.

Support This Project

CAX is open source and free forever. If you find it useful, please consider supporting:

GitHub Sponsors:

https://github.com/sponsors/mesinkasir

PayPal:

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=s-xclick&hostedbutton_id=JVZVXBC4N9DAN

Gumroad:

https://creativitaz.gumroad.com/coffee

Your support helps us maintain, improve, and add more features to CAX.

Every dollar keeps CAX fast, free, and alive.

Author

Built with love by Axcora

Website: https://www.axcora.com
GitHub: https://github.com/mesinkasir

License

MIT License - Free for personal and commercial use.