Getting Started

Install seite and build your first static site in under a minute.

Installation

Quick install (macOS and Linux)

curl -fsSL https://seite.sh/install.sh | sh

This downloads a prebuilt binary for your platform and installs it to ~/.local/bin.

To install a specific version:

VERSION=v0.1.0 curl -fsSL https://seite.sh/install.sh | sh

Quick install (Windows)

irm https://seite.sh/install.ps1 | iex

Install from source

If you have the Rust toolchain installed (all platforms):

cargo install seite

Platform support

PlatformArchitectureInstall method
macOSApple Silicon (M1/M2/M3/M4)Shell installer or cargo
macOSIntel x86_64Shell installer or cargo
Linuxx86_64Shell installer or cargo
Linuxaarch64/arm64Shell installer or cargo
Windowsx86_64PowerShell installer or cargo

Verify

seite --version
Tip

Run seite --help to see all available commands at a glance.

Create Your First Site

Scaffold a new site with posts, docs, and pages collections:

seite init mysite --title "My Site" --description "A personal blog" --collections posts,docs,pages
cd mysite
Info

All flags are optional. Run seite init mysite and interactive prompts will guide you through each setting.

This creates the following structure:

mysite/
├── content/
│   ├── posts/     # Date-based blog posts with RSS
│   ├── docs/      # Documentation with sidebar navigation
│   └── pages/     # Standalone pages (about, contact, etc.)
├── templates/     # Tera templates (override bundled themes)
├── static/        # Static assets (CSS, JS, images)
├── seite.toml      # Site configuration
├── .claude/       # Claude Code agent configuration (includes MCP server)
└── .seite/         # Project metadata (version tracking)

Create Content

Add a blog post:

seite new post "Hello World" --tags intro,welcome

This creates content/posts/2026-02-18-hello-world.md with frontmatter:

---
title: "Hello World"
date: 2026-02-18
tags:
  - intro
  - welcome
---

Your content here...

Add a documentation page:

seite new doc "Getting Started"

Add a standalone page:

seite new page "About"

Build Your Site

Build the site to the dist/ directory:

seite build

The build generates:

  • HTML pages with clean URLs (/posts/hello-world)
  • Markdown copies alongside every HTML file
  • RSS feed at /feed.xml
  • XML sitemap at /sitemap.xml
  • Search index at /search-index.json
  • LLM discovery files at /llms.txt and /llms-full.txt

Development Server

Start a dev server with live reload:

seite serve

The server starts at http://localhost:3000 (auto-increments if the port is taken) and watches for file changes. An interactive REPL lets you run commands without restarting:

seite> new post "Another Post"
seite> theme apply dark
seite> build
seite> status
seite> stop
Tip

The REPL is the fastest way to iterate. Create content, switch themes, and rebuild — all without leaving the dev server.

Themes

List available themes:

seite theme list

Apply a bundled theme:

seite theme apply dark

Generate a custom theme with AI:

seite theme create "minimal serif with warm colors"

Updating

Update the binary itself:

seite self-update

After updating, bring your project's config files up to date:

seite upgrade

This adds any new configuration that shipped with the new version (e.g., MCP server settings, new permission entries). It's additive and non-destructive — your existing settings are preserved.

Next Steps

  • Collections — understand how posts, docs, and pages work and how to customize them
  • Configuration — the full seite.toml reference when you need to tune settings
  • Templates & Themes — customize the look, override blocks, and browse the 6 bundled themes
  • Deployment — ship your site to GitHub Pages, Cloudflare, or Netlify
  • Workspaces — manage multiple sites in a single repository
  • AI Agent — let Claude write content, debug builds, and generate themes for you
  • MCP Server — structured AI access to your site via the Model Context Protocol