# picocms/Pico

Pico is a stupidly simple, blazing fast, flat file CMS.

Repository: https://github.com/picocms/Pico
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/picocms-pico
Homepage: http://picocms.org/
Language: PHP
License: MIT
License Family: permissive
Topics: pico, picocms, pico-cms, simple, flat-file, cms, content-management, website, markdown-to-html, php, markdown, yaml, twig
Last push: 2026-07-07T12:49:50+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 64/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-02T17:46:02.011165+00:00)
- activity 91, release rhythm 8, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 5264, "days_push": 57, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 3904, forks 608 (observed 2026-08-28T04:08:28.668905+00:00)

## What it is
Pico is a flat file CMS written in PHP that turns Markdown files with YAML metadata into websites using Twig templates, with no database or admin backend. Development has officially ended, so it is only suitable for maintaining existing sites.

## Use cases
- build a simple website from markdown files
- run a lightweight blog without a database
- host a small site on shared PHP hosting
- convert a folder of markdown docs into a website
- create a fast static-ish site with Twig themes

## When to choose
- maintaining an existing Pico site
- you need a no-database PHP CMS on cheap shared hosting
- you want markdown content with Twig theming and no build step

## When to avoid
- starting any new website (project is end-of-life)
- you need modern PHP version support
- you need an admin backend or multi-user editing
- you want a static site generator with an active ecosystem

## Facets
- artifact type: application
- maturity: abandoned
- function: static-site-generator, templating, markdown, plugin-system
- domain: cms, web-development, self-hosted
- platform: php, self-hosted, cross-platform
- tags: flat-file-cms, no-database, twig-templates, yaml-metadata, end-of-life, web-server

## Member repositories
- picocms/Pico (main) score 64

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:08:28.668905+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-29T18:25:08.873622+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/picocms/Pico (fetched 2026-08-28T04:08:28.668905+00:00, sha d2f4efa4be3f)
  - homepage: http://picocms.org/ (fetched 2026-08-29T09:19:12.235181+00:00, sha 1f3c72899489)
  - site_page: https://picocms.org/about (fetched 2026-08-29T09:19:12.244075+00:00, sha f9886b2177e2)
  - site_page: https://picocms.org/docs (fetched 2026-08-29T09:19:12.246625+00:00, sha 13d04ca15538)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.