Programmatic API Added in v1.0.0 Jump to heading #

Starting in Eleventy 1.0, you can run Eleventy in your own Node script. (This is how the Eleventy Serverless plugin works, behind the scenes)

Examples Jump to heading #

Write to the file system Jump to heading #

Don’t forget to install Eleventy into your local project first!

Now create a file called my-node-script.js with the following contents:

const Eleventy = require("@11ty/eleventy");

(async function() {
  let elev = new Eleventy();
  await elev.write();
})();

Then run your new script from the command line. Don’t include ~ $ when you run this command.

node my-node-script.js

Don’t write to the file system Jump to heading #

Using .write() will write your output to the file system. If, instead, you want to retrieve the content programmatically without writing, use .toJSON() or .toNDJSON().

JSON Output Jump to heading #

const Eleventy = require("@11ty/eleventy");

(async function() {
  let elev = new Eleventy();
  let json = await elev.toJSON();
  // All results
  console.log( json );
})();

ndjson Output Jump to heading #

const Eleventy = require("@11ty/eleventy");

(async function() {
  let elev = new Eleventy();
  let stream = await elev.toNDJSON();
  stream.on("data", (entry) => {
    // Stream one output result at a time
    let json = JSON.parse(entry.toString());
    console.log( json );
  });
})();

Changing the Input and Output Directories Jump to heading #

The first argument is the input directory. The second argument is the output directory.

const Eleventy = require("@11ty/eleventy");

(async function() {
  let elev = new Eleventy( ".", "_site" );

  // Use `write` or `toJSON` or `toNDJSON`
})();

Full Options List Jump to heading #

The third argument to Eleventy is an options object.

const Eleventy = require("@11ty/eleventy");

(async function() {
  let elev = new Eleventy( ".", "_site", {
    // --quiet
    quietMode: true,

    // --config
    configPath: ".eleventy.js",

    config: function(eleventyConfig) {
      // Do some custom Configuration API stuff
      // Works great with eleventyConfig.addGlobalData
    },
  });

  // Use `write` or `toJSON` or `toNDJSON`
})();

(More to come)

Other pages in Getting Started:

• Command Line Usage
• Tutorials
  • Quick Tips
• Starter Projects
• Deployment
• Debug Mode
• Programmatic API