Skip to main content

Modern template engine for Python 3.14t — AST-native, free-threading ready

Project description

)彡 Kida

PyPI version Build Status Python 3.14+ License: MIT

Modern template engine for Python 3.14t

from kida import Environment

env = Environment()
template = env.from_string("Hello, {{ name }}!")
print(template.render(name="World"))
# Output: Hello, World!

Why Kida?

  • AST-native — Compiles to Python AST directly, no string generation
  • Free-threading ready — Safe for Python 3.14t concurrent execution (PEP 703)
  • Fast — Benchmarks on 3.14t: 3.6x (minimal), 1.7x (small), 1.1x (medium), ~1.0x (large), 1.2x (complex); cold-start +7-8% with bytecode cache (details in performance docs)
  • Modern syntax — Pattern matching, pipeline operator, unified {% end %}
  • Zero dependencies — Pure Python, includes native Markup implementation

Installation

pip install kida-templates

Requires Python 3.14+


Quick Start

Function Description
Environment() Create a template environment
env.from_string(src) Compile template from string
env.get_template(name) Load template from filesystem
template.render(**ctx) Render to string (StringBuilder, fastest)
template.render_stream(**ctx) Render as generator (yields chunks)
RenderedTemplate(template, ctx) Lazy iterable wrapper for streaming

Features

Feature Description Docs
Template Syntax Variables, filters, control flow, pattern matching Syntax →
Inheritance Template extends, blocks, includes Inheritance →
Filters & Tests 40+ built-in filters, custom filter registration Filters →
Streaming Statement-level generator rendering via render_stream() Streaming →
Async Support Native async for, await in templates Async →
Caching Fragment caching with TTL support Caching →
Partial Evaluation Compile-time evaluation of static expressions Advanced →
Block Recompilation Recompile only changed blocks in live templates Advanced →
Extensibility Custom filters, tests, globals, loaders Extending →

📚 Full documentation: lbliii.github.io/kida


Usage

File-based Templates — Load from filesystem
from kida import Environment, FileSystemLoader

env = Environment(loader=FileSystemLoader("templates/"))
template = env.get_template("page.html")
print(template.render(title="Hello", content="World"))
Template Inheritance — Extend base templates

base.html:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<body>
    {% block content %}{% end %}
</body>
</html>

page.html:

{% extends "base.html" %}
{% block content %}
    <h1>{{ title }}</h1>
    <p>{{ content }}</p>
{% end %}
Control Flow — Conditionals, loops, pattern matching
{% if user.is_active %}
    <p>Welcome, {{ user.name }}!</p>
{% end %}

{% for item in items %}
    <li>{{ item.name }}</li>
{% end %}

{% match status %}
{% case "active" %}
    Active user
{% case "pending" %}
    Pending verification
{% case _ %}
    Unknown status
{% end %}
Filters & Pipelines — Transform values
{# Traditional syntax #}
{{ title | escape | capitalize | truncate(50) }}

{# Pipeline operator #}
{{ title |> escape |> capitalize |> truncate(50) }}

{# Custom filters #}
{{ items | sort(attribute="name") | first }}
Streaming Rendering — Yield chunks as they're ready
from kida import Environment

env = Environment()
template = env.from_string("""
<ul>
{% for item in items %}
    <li>{{ item }}</li>
{% end %}
</ul>
""")

# Generator: yields each statement as a string chunk
for chunk in template.render_stream(items=["a", "b", "c"]):
    print(chunk, end="")

# RenderedTemplate: lazy iterable wrapper
from kida import RenderedTemplate
rendered = RenderedTemplate(template, {"items": ["a", "b", "c"]})
for chunk in rendered:
    send_to_client(chunk)

Works with inheritance ({% extends %}), includes, and all control flow. Blocks like {% capture %} and {% spaceless %} buffer internally and yield the processed result.

Async Templates — Await in templates
{% async for item in fetch_items() %}
    {{ item }}
{% end %}

{{ await get_user() }}
Fragment Caching — Cache expensive blocks
{% cache "navigation" %}
    {% for item in nav_items %}
        <a href="{{ item.url }}">{{ item.title }}</a>
    {% end %}
{% end %}

Jinja2 Comparison

Feature Kida Jinja2
Compilation AST → AST String generation
Rendering StringBuilder + streaming generator Generator yields only
Block endings Unified {% end %} {% endif %}, {% endfor %}
Dict access Subscript-first (d.items → key) getattr-first (d.items → method)
Profiling Auto-instrumented blocks/filters/macros N/A
Scoping Explicit let/set/export Implicit
Async Native async for, await auto_await() wrapper
Pattern matching {% match %}...{% case %} N/A
Null coalescing {{ a ?? b }} {{ a | default(b) }}
Optional chaining {{ obj?.attr }} N/A
Pipeline syntax {{ value |> filter }} {{ value | filter }}
Caching {% cache key %}...{% end %} N/A (extension required)
Free-threading Native (PEP 703) N/A

Architecture

Compilation Pipeline — AST-native
Template Source → Lexer → Parser → Kida AST → Compiler → Python AST → exec()

Unlike Jinja2 which generates Python source strings, Kida generates ast.Module objects directly. This enables:

  • Structured code manipulation — Transform and optimize AST nodes
  • Compile-time optimization — Dead code elimination, constant folding
  • Precise error source mapping — Exact line/column in template source
Dual-Mode Rendering — StringBuilder + streaming generator
# render() — StringBuilder (fastest, default)
_out.append(...)
return "".join(_out)

# render_stream() — Generator (streaming, chunked HTTP)
yield ...

The compiler generates both modes from a single template. render() uses StringBuilder for maximum throughput (25-40% faster than Jinja2). render_stream() uses Python generators for statement-level streaming -- ideal for chunked HTTP responses and Server-Sent Events.

Thread Safety — Free-threading ready

All public APIs are thread-safe by design:

  • Template compilation — Idempotent (same input → same output)
  • Rendering — Uses only local state (StringBuilder pattern)
  • Environment — Copy-on-write for filters/tests/globals
  • LRU caches — Atomic operations

Module declares itself GIL-independent via _Py_mod_gil = 0 (PEP 703).


Performance

Metric Kida Jinja2 Improvement
Simple render 0.12ms 0.18ms 33% faster
Complex template 2.1ms 3.2ms 34% faster
Concurrent (8 threads) 0.15ms avg GIL contention Free-threading

Documentation

📚 lbliii.github.io/kida

Section Description
Get Started Installation and quickstart
Syntax Template language reference
Usage Loading, rendering, escaping
Extending Custom filters, tests, loaders
Reference Complete API documentation
Tutorials Jinja2 migration, Flask integration

Development

git clone https://github.com/lbliii/kida.git
cd kida
# Uses Python 3.14t by default (.python-version)
uv sync --group dev --python 3.14t
PYTHON_GIL=0 uv run --python 3.14t pytest

The Bengal Ecosystem

A structured reactive stack — every layer written in pure Python for 3.14t free-threading.

ᓚᘏᗢ Bengal Static site generator Docs
∿∿ Purr Content runtime
⌁⌁ Chirp Web framework Docs
=^..^= Pounce ASGI server Docs
)彡 Kida Template engine ← You are here Docs
ฅᨐฅ Patitas Markdown parser Docs
⌾⌾⌾ Rosettes Syntax highlighter Docs

Python-native. Free-threading ready. No npm required.


License

MIT License — see LICENSE for details.

Project details


Download files

Download the file for your platform. If you're not sure which to choose, learn more about installing packages.

Source Distribution

kida_templates-0.2.0.tar.gz (321.5 kB view details)

Uploaded Source

Built Distribution

If you're not sure about the file name format, learn more about wheel file names.

kida_templates-0.2.0-py3-none-any.whl (226.2 kB view details)

Uploaded Python 3

File details

Details for the file kida_templates-0.2.0.tar.gz.

File metadata

  • Download URL: kida_templates-0.2.0.tar.gz
  • Upload date:
  • Size: 321.5 kB
  • Tags: Source
  • Uploaded using Trusted Publishing? Yes
  • Uploaded via: twine/6.1.0 CPython/3.13.7

File hashes

Hashes for kida_templates-0.2.0.tar.gz
Algorithm Hash digest
SHA256 a4ccce9c568e5360c81a986e84ef44acf32c0155b2c1926639fcd86a75b0c4b9
MD5 fcdb10cdf3bf2d84bc20c1f2afcf2646
BLAKE2b-256 d857ab800f7f6adb1a8af1470ea9d02aaa58f9f7e7da7e39783a3043bbb6a7f6

See more details on using hashes here.

Provenance

The following attestation bundles were made for kida_templates-0.2.0.tar.gz:

Publisher: python-publish.yml on lbliii/kida

Attestations: Values shown here reflect the state when the release was signed and may no longer be current.

File details

Details for the file kida_templates-0.2.0-py3-none-any.whl.

File metadata

  • Download URL: kida_templates-0.2.0-py3-none-any.whl
  • Upload date:
  • Size: 226.2 kB
  • Tags: Python 3
  • Uploaded using Trusted Publishing? Yes
  • Uploaded via: twine/6.1.0 CPython/3.13.7

File hashes

Hashes for kida_templates-0.2.0-py3-none-any.whl
Algorithm Hash digest
SHA256 c7dbc21907d4825eb1bb30ef0dfc93ca545abd3aba59a2787897b7815052b7bd
MD5 8a93a11e0d1aa5f152f1ca0f9dc30900
BLAKE2b-256 0be66877b2d524f6eaab5617364e60b9bfea9cd375b3ba49cef01d66a3747d6e

See more details on using hashes here.

Provenance

The following attestation bundles were made for kida_templates-0.2.0-py3-none-any.whl:

Publisher: python-publish.yml on lbliii/kida

Attestations: Values shown here reflect the state when the release was signed and may no longer be current.

Supported by

AWS Cloud computing and Security Sponsor Datadog Monitoring Depot Continuous Integration Fastly CDN Google Download Analytics Pingdom Monitoring Sentry Error logging StatusPage Status page