Installation

Step 1: Install What

With Cargo (any platform)

With Rust 1.70+ installed, run:


              cargo install run-what

This downloads, compiles, and installs the run-what command globally.

No Rust yet?

Install it first — one command on macOS / Linux:


              curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh

On Windows, use the installer from rustup.rs.

Verify it worked by running run-what --version in a new terminal window.

Step 2: Create Your First Project

Create a new project


              run-what new myproject

              cd myproject

The wizard offers Minimum and Tutorial templates. Skip the prompt with run-what new myproject --template minimum.

Start development server


              run-what dev

Open http://127.0.0.1:8085 in your browser. Live reload is enabled -- changes auto-refresh.

Build for production


              run-what build --output dist

Pre-renders all pages and minifies the output for deployment.

Project Structure

myproject/
  site/               # HTML templates (routes)
    index.html        # Home page (/)
    application.what  # Directory-level config
    tutorial/         # Included in the Example template
  components/         # Included in the Example template
  static/             # CSS, JS, images
  data/               # JSON data & SQLite databases
  what.toml           # Server configuration

The Minimum template keeps just site/, static/, data/, and what.toml.

Source Code

The What framework is and will always be free to use. The source code is available on GitHub.

Stuck on a step? Read the Getting Started guide, follow the interactive tutorial, browse the docs, or open an issue on GitHub.