# ferrocv
Render [JSON Resume](https://jsonresume.org/) to PDF, HTML, and text via
[Typst](https://typst.app/) — single static binary, no Node or TeX required.
## Status
**Early.** PDF, plain-text, and HTML output all work today (PDF via
any of the registered theme adapters, text and HTML via the native
`text-minimal` theme by default). Additional themes and native-theme
tooling are tracked as
[GitHub issues](https://github.com/cacack/ferrocv/issues) and
organized into phase milestones. HTML uses Typst's upstream-experimental
HTML export — output shape may shift when Typst is bumped; the CLI
surface itself is stable. The non-negotiable design principles live in
[`CONSTITUTION.md`](./CONSTITUTION.md).
## Why
The JSON Resume schema is a sound single-source-of-truth for resume data,
but its JavaScript theme ecosystem is thin and fragile (many themes are
abandoned, others ship with broken dependencies). This project keeps the
schema and replaces the rendering pipeline with something more robust:
- **Rust** for a single-binary CLI with no runtime dependencies.
- **Typst** for modern typesetting — embeddable as a crate, no TeX distro
needed, with a growing ecosystem of resume templates.
- **JSON Resume v1.0.0** remains the canonical input format.
## Goals
- Validate `resume.json` against the JSON Resume schema.
- Compile to PDF in-process via the `typst` crate (no subprocess).
- Emit HTML and plain text as first-class outputs, not afterthoughts.
- Ship adapters over popular Typst Universe templates so users have
visual variety from day one.
- Define a native theme contract so new themes can target JSON Resume
directly.
## Usage
```sh
# Validate a resume against the JSON Resume schema
ferrocv validate resume.json
# Render to PDF (defaults to the native `text-minimal` theme;
# `--theme` is optional)
ferrocv render resume.json
# Pick a visually richer PDF theme
ferrocv render resume.json --theme typst-jsonresume-cv --output resume.pdf
# Render to plain text (also defaults to `text-minimal`)
ferrocv render resume.json --format text
# Render to HTML (also defaults to `text-minimal`). Note: Typst's HTML
# export is upstream-experimental; output shape may shift across
# ferrocv releases when Typst is bumped.
ferrocv render resume.json --format html
# List bundled themes (machine-readable, one name per line)
ferrocv themes list
```
The quickest way to try it end-to-end is
[`ferrocv-example`](https://github.com/cacack/ferrocv-example), a
forkable starter template that renders its own `resume.json` to PDF
on every push via GitHub Actions (using the `setup-ferrocv` composite
action below) and publishes the result to GitHub Pages.
`render` defaults to `--format pdf`. `--theme` is optional for every
format and defaults to the native `text-minimal` theme. When
`--output` is omitted, the output lands at `dist/resume.pdf` for PDF,
`dist/resume.txt` for text, and `dist/resume.html` for HTML; parent
directories are created as needed. `validate` and `render` read from
stdin if no path is given.
`themes list` prints registered theme names to stdout, one per line,
sorted lexicographically, with no decoration — a stable
machine-readable contract.
Exit codes (shared across subcommands):
- `0` — success
- `1` — JSON parsed but failed schema validation (`validate` / `render`;
diagnostics on stderr)
- `2` — usage error, IO error, JSON parse error, unknown theme/format,
render error, or unrecoverable stdout write failure
No network is touched — the schema, theme, and fonts are all compiled
into the binary.
## GitHub Actions
A composite action at `.github/actions/setup-ferrocv` installs a pinned
`ferrocv` release onto the runner's `PATH`. Once installed, call any
subcommand directly — there are no dedicated `render` / `validate`
wrappers, because the CLI invocations are already one-liners.
```yaml
jobs:
render:
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v4
- uses: cacack/ferrocv/.github/actions/setup-ferrocv@v0.4.0
with:
version: v0.4.0
- run: ferrocv validate resume.json
- run: ferrocv render resume.json --theme typst-jsonresume-cv --output dist/resume.pdf
- uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
with:
name: resume
path: dist/resume.pdf
```
Supported runners today: `ubuntu-latest` (x86_64), `macos-14` (arm64),
`windows-latest` (x86_64) — matching the release asset matrix. The
action downloads the matching tarball/zip, verifies its SHA256 against
the sidecar file published alongside each release, and installs the
binary under `${{ runner.temp }}/ferrocv-bin`. It also exposes a
`bin-path` output for workflows that need the absolute path.
Pin the action ref and the `version:` input to the same release tag to
avoid drift.
## Contributing
To add a new theme adapter, see
[`docs/adapters.md`](./docs/adapters.md) for the contributor walkthrough
(vendoring conventions, registry entry, golden tests, common pitfalls).
## Development
Run the full CI check suite locally before pushing:
```sh
make preflight
```
This mirrors `.github/workflows/ci.yml` and runs `cargo fmt --check`,
`cargo clippy -D warnings`, `cargo test`, `cargo-deny`, `cargo-audit`,
and `typos`. Individual checks are available as their own targets
(`make clippy`, `make test`, ...); run `make help` for the full list.
First-time setup installs the non-cargo-stock tools:
```sh
make install-tools
```
## Non-goals
- Replacing the JSON Resume schema or project.
- Supporting arbitrary input formats (Markdown, YAML, etc.).
- Becoming a general-purpose Typst build tool.
## Prior art
- [`fruggiero/typst-jsonresume-cv`](https://github.com/fruggiero/typst-jsonresume-cv)
— Typst template that accepts JSON Resume data.
- [`fantastic-cv`](https://typst.app/universe/package/fantastic-cv/)
— Typst Universe template with a JSON Resume-shaped API.
- [`basic-resume`](https://typst.app/universe/package/basic-resume/)
and [`modern-cv`](https://typst.app/universe/package/modern-cv/)
— Typst Universe resume templates we plan to ship adapters for.
- [`jsonresume-renderer`](https://lib.rs/crates/jsonresume-renderer)
— Rust CLI that renders JSON Resume via Tera templates (not Typst).
- [`typst.ts`](https://github.com/Myriad-Dreamin/typst.ts) — proves Typst
is embeddable outside its native CLI.
## License
Dual-licensed under either of:
- Apache License, Version 2.0 ([`LICENSE-APACHE`](./LICENSE-APACHE) or
<http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0>)
- MIT license ([`LICENSE-MIT`](./LICENSE-MIT) or
<http://opensource.org/licenses/MIT>)
at your option. This is the standard Rust ecosystem dual license.
Unless you explicitly state otherwise, any contribution intentionally
submitted for inclusion in the work by you, as defined in the Apache-2.0
license, shall be dual-licensed as above, without any additional terms
or conditions.