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Eleventy
Eleventy Documentation
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3.0.0
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Programmatic API

Contents

You can run Eleventy in any arbitrary Node script.

Write to the file system

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

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

my-node-script.js
import Eleventy from "@11ty/eleventy";

let elev = new Eleventy();
await elev.write();
(async function () {
const Eleventy = await import("@11ty/eleventy");

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

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

my-node-script.js
import Eleventy from "@11ty/eleventy";

let elev = new Eleventy();
let json = await elev.toJSON();

// All results
console.log(json);
(async function () {
const Eleventy = await import("@11ty/eleventy");

let elev = new Eleventy();
let json = await elev.toJSON();

// All results
console.log(json);
})();

ndjson Output

my-node-script.js
import Eleventy from "@11ty/eleventy";

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);
});
(async function () {
const Eleventy = await import("@11ty/eleventy");

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

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

my-node-script.js
import Eleventy from "@11ty/eleventy";

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

// Use `write` or `toJSON` or `toNDJSON`
(async function () {
const Eleventy = await import("@11ty/eleventy");

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

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

Full Options List

The third argument to Eleventy is an options object.

(This documentation section is a work in progress but you’re welcome to dig into the Eleventy class source code in v3.0.0 to learn more)

my-node-script.js
import Eleventy from "@11ty/eleventy";

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`
(async function () {
const Eleventy = await import("@11ty/eleventy");

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`
})();

Other pages in Eleventy Projects: