Anvilforge

Web artisans, forged in Rust.

Laravel's developer experience, Rust's runtime. Same anvil make:model muscle memory, type-checked end to end, single static binary. Coming from Laravel? Here's the cheatsheet.

Quickstart

# one-time install (pre-built binary, no compile)
curl -sSf https://anvilforge.dev/install.sh | sh
# or, if you prefer the slower-but-Rust-native path:
#   cargo binstall anvilforge-cli       # downloads the release binary
#   cargo install   anvilforge-cli      # compiles from source (5–15 min on cold toolchain)

anvil new my-app
cd my-app
anvil serve

Open http://localhost:8080. That's it. No .env to copy, no DATABASE_URL to configure — anvil new writes .env for you with a fresh APP_KEY, creates the SQLite DB file on disk, and SQLite is the default (zero-config, just like laravel new).

Already running Postgres or MySQL (e.g. via Laravel Herd)? Skip the .env edit:

anvil new my-app --db postgres        # creates the `my_app` DB on 127.0.0.1:5432 (Herd defaults)
anvil new my-app --db mysql           # 127.0.0.1:3306
anvil new my-app --db postgres://user:pass@host:5432/custom_db   # full URL works too

What you got:

Routing (routes/web.rs, routes/api.rs)
A Forge layout + welcome page
A users migration + User model
The full Anvilforge container (db pool, cache, mailer, queue, storage)
File-watching hot reload via anvil dev

Common anvil commands

anvil serve                       # run the dev server
anvil dev                         # serve --watch shorthand (auto-reload)
anvil routes                      # list every registered route
anvil migrate                     # apply pending migrations
anvil migrate:rollback            # undo the last batch
anvil migrate:fresh --seed        # drop + remigrate + seed
anvil db:seed                     # run database seeders
anvil queue:work                  # process queued jobs
anvil schedule:run                # run scheduled tasks (call from cron once a minute)
anvil test                        # cargo test

anvil bench                       # HTTP load test (workspace tool)
anvil bench:micro                 # criterion microbenchmarks (snapshot, template)
anvil bench:full                  # both, in sequence

anvil fmt                         # cargo fmt --all
anvil lint                        # cargo clippy --workspace --all-targets
anvil install                     # `cargo install` this CLI into ~/.cargo/bin

anvil mcp                         # start the Boost MCP server (AI agents)
anvil boost:install               # write AGENTS.md + .mcp.json

anvil herd:link                   # macOS: front the app at https://<dir>.test via Laravel Herd
anvil herd:unlink                 # remove the Herd proxy

anvil make:model Post --with-migration
anvil make:migration add_published_at_to_posts
anvil make:controller PostController --resource
anvil make:component Counter
anvil make:request StorePostRequest
anvil make:job SendWelcomeEmail
anvil make:event UserRegistered
anvil make:listener SendWelcomeEmail --event=UserRegistered
anvil make:test post_creation

Published crate map

The framework is one logical project, split into multiple crates published under the anvilforge- namespace:

Crate on craltes.io	Imported as	Role
`anvilforge`	`anvilforge`	Facade — `use anvilforge::prelude::*;`
`anvilforge-core`	`anvil_core`	HTTP layer, container, auth, queue, mail, cache, sessions, storage, scheduler, validation
`anvilforge-derive`	`anvil_derive`	Proc macros: `FormRequest`, `Job`, `Migration`
`anvilforge-cast`	`cast`	ORM facade
`anvilforge-cast-core`	`cast_core`	`Model` trait, query builder, schema, migrations
`anvilforge-cast-derive`	`cast_derive`	`#[derive(Model)]`, `#[has_many]`, `#[belongs_to]`
`anvilforge-templates`	`forge`	Template runtime: stack buffer, `@vite` helper, escape
`anvilforge-templates-codegen`	`forge_codegen`	Forge → Askama preprocessor
`anvilforge-broadcast`	`reverb`	WebSocket server (Pusher-compatible)
`anvilforge-cli`	—	`smith` CLI binary
`anvilforge-test`	`anvil_test`	Test client, factories

In practice you only ever depend on anvilforge — the facade re-exports everything you need via anvilforge::prelude::*.

Tuning the dev loop

The default anvil dev already matches Laravel for everything except the Rust file edit:

0s — template (.forge.html), config (config/anvil.toml), or static asset edit. Hot-reloaded per request when APP_ENV != production.
1–2 s — Rust handler rebuild + restart, with the workspace's tuned [profile.dev].

For sub-second Rust iteration on stable Rust, opt into the dylib hot-patch pattern (same technique Bevy and Dioxus use):

anvil dev --hot              # ~460 ms edit-to-running-code

The full dev-loop tuning guide — sccache, mold/lld, the Cranelift codegen backend, and the hot-patch ABI limits — lives in docs: tuning the dev loop. Run anvil doctor to see what's already installed locally.

Status

POC. The architecture is validated end-to-end against examples/blog. Initial publish to crates.io is in progress — versions start at 0.1.0.

License

MIT — see LICENSE