Command Line Usage

Prerequisites:

1. Eleventy runs in a Terminal window. Well, wait—what is a Terminal window?
2. Have you already installed Eleventy?

Here’s the first command you can enter in your Terminal window to run Eleventy:

# Searches the current directory, outputs to ./_site
npx @11ty/eleventy

If you’re using a global install of Eleventy, remove npx @11ty/ from the beginning of each command, like so:

# Global installation
eleventy

# `npx @11ty/eleventy` is the same as:
npx @11ty/eleventy --input=. --output=_site

Read more about --input and --output. Note that setting the input and output directories via a config file is more reliable, especially when using tools like netlify dev.

A hypothetical template.md in the current directory would be rendered to _site/template/index.html. Read more at Permalinks.

# Use only a subset of template types
npx @11ty/eleventy --formats=md,html,ejs

# Find out the most up-to-date list of commands (there are more)
npx @11ty/eleventy --help

Re-run Eleventy when you save Jump to heading #

# Boot up a Browsersync web server to apply changes and
# refresh automatically. We’ll also --watch for you.
npx @11ty/eleventy --serve

# Change the web server’s port—use localhost:8081
npx @11ty/eleventy --serve --port=8081

# Automatically run when input template files change.
# Useful if you have your own web server.
npx @11ty/eleventy --watch

--quiet if the Output is Too Noisy Jump to heading #

# Shhhhh—Don’t log so much to the console
npx @11ty/eleventy --quiet

--dryrun to do a Little Testing Jump to heading #

Runs without writing to the file system. Useful when debugging.

# Run Eleventy but don’t write any files
npx @11ty/eleventy --dryrun

--config to Change the Config file name Jump to heading #

# Override the default eleventy project config filename (.eleventy.js)
npx @11ty/eleventy --config=myeleventyconfig.js

--to can output JSON Added in v1.0.0 Jump to heading #

# Output a JSON structure (does not write to the file system)
npx @11ty/eleventy --to=json

# Output a Newline Deliminated JSON structure (does not write to the file system)
npx @11ty/eleventy --to=ndjson

# Default behavior (Output to file system)
npx @11ty/eleventy --to=fs

Read more about ndjson.

--incremental for Partial Incremental Builds Jump to heading #

# *Repeat* builds only operate on files that have changed
npx @11ty/eleventy --watch --incremental
npx @11ty/eleventy --serve --incremental

# Skip the initial full build with `--ignore-initial`
npx @11ty/eleventy --serve --incremental --ignore-initial

Read more about incremental builds.

--ignore-initial to run Eleventy without an Initial Build Added in v2.0.0-beta.1 Jump to heading #

Be wary of any file changes that happened while Eleventy wasn’t running!

# Don’t build when Eleventy starts, only build on file changes
npx @11ty/eleventy --watch --ignore-initial
npx @11ty/eleventy --serve --ignore-initial
npx @11ty/eleventy --serve --incremental --ignore-initial

Using the Same Input and Output Jump to heading #

Yes, you can use the same input and output directories, like so:

# Parse and write Markdown to HTML, respecting directory structure.
npx @11ty/eleventy --input=. --output=. --formats=md

Other pages in Getting Started:

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