ZIN Engine - Write HTML like it’s 2025 (but without the frameworks)

Getting Help Code Review
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I’ve been working on ZIN Engine — a lightweight server + templating engine that lets me write plain .html and still use things like loops, API data, forms, and dynamic content — without touching a framework or build step.

It started as a personal solution to build faster, cleaner websites using just HTML/CSS/JS — and now I’m sharing it with the community to explore where it can go next.

:sparkles: Core features

  • Serve any folder on port 9001 (or use behind NGINX)
  • Built-in sitemap.xml, robots.txt, .env, .zinignore
  • Smart templates: Nested layouts using template.html
  • Clean URLs like /about → about.html
  • Variable rendering: {{ varName | "fallback" }}
  • URL rewriting via zin.config

:puzzle_piece: Zin Tags

  • <zin-time /> → Date, time, math & timezone formatting
  • <zin-include /> → Include partials or even .md files
  • <zin-data /> → Load from MySQL, APIs, JSON, CSV, Google Sheets
  • <zin-repeat /> → Loop over dynamic data
  • <zin-form /> → Secure form + Google reCAPTCHA
  • Plus: <zin-set />, <zin-random />, <zin-crypto /> and more

:light_bulb: Why I’m sharing?

It’s still under development, but It is usable and works great for me, but I want to improve its internals (especially optimization & parsing). I’d be grateful if you try it out, break it, suggest ideas, or help shape what it could become.

:link: ZIN Engine · GitHub

Appreciate all your thoughts, ideas, or contributions :raising_hands:
Let’s keep plain HTML powerful.

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I see an emoji-filled README with no code. I think the real question people are going to have (assuming you actually get a repo up somewhere) is: why use this over htmx? Also the go reddit sub has been flooded with open source projects written by LLMs so one of the first things I’ve been checking lately is to make sure there’s some commit history. Where’s your code?

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