Maud (Rust HTML Macro)

Captured 2026-07-10 (maud 0.27.0). To update: re-verify against maud.lambda.xyz + docs.rs/maud, then diff for changes.

Maud is a compile-time HTML macro (html!); markup lives inline in Rust, type-checked at compile time. This skill targets maud 0.27.x (0.27.0, released 2025-02-02).

Maud runs on stable Rust and nightly (better error messages on nightly). Stable-Rust-capable since 0.22.1 (2020-11-02); earlier it needed nightly-only compiler features. MSRV is not documented.

1. Setup

Cargo.toml

[dependencies]
maud = "0.27"

2. Rendering API

html! { ... } returns a Markup value. Markup is a type alias for PreEscaped<String>, a wrapper around an already-escaped HTML string.

use maud::{html, DOCTYPE};

let page = html! {
    (DOCTYPE)
    html {
        head { title { "My site" } }
        body { p { "Hello" } }
    }
};

Rendering a Display value: maud::display(x) is a free function that renders any value through its Display impl inside a template. It replaced the old blanket Render for Display impl removed in 0.24.0.

use maud::{html, display};

let n = 42;
html! { p { (display(n)) } };

Note: Markup/PreEscaped has no Display impl (checked against docs.rs 0.27; it implements Render, not Display). Convert to String with .into_string() when you need the raw string. There is no html_to! / write-into-buffer macro (html_debug! was removed in 0.25.0). To write into an existing buffer, use the Render trait's render_to (see §9).

3. Web Framework Integration

Turn on the matching feature flag from the table below and Markup implements the corresponding trait. A handler can then just return Markup directly.

Dependency version pins came from the docs.rs feature graph, single source. Verify against Cargo.toml if exact ranges matter.

maud = { version = "0.27", features = ["axum"] }

Handler Example

Rocket:

#[get("/<name>")]
fn hello(name: &str) -> Markup {
    html! { h1 { "Hello, " (name) "!" } }
}

Actix-web and Tide handlers wrap the return in a Result: Actix async fn index() -> AwResult<Markup> { Ok(html! { ... }) }; Tide returns Ok(html! { ... }) from a closure inferred as tide::Result<impl Into<Response>> (its feature adds From<PreEscaped<String>>, not IntoResponse, so a bare -> Markup handler won't compile). Axum, Poem, Submillisecond return Markup directly from a sync or async handler. The trait impl converts it to the response type each one expects.

Manual Path (No Feature Flag)

Call .into_string() and wrap the string yourself.

// Rouille has no trait impl:
Response::html(html! { h1 { "Hello, " (name) "!" } })

4. Elements and Nesting

Elements with content use braces; text and nested elements go inside.

Void elements end with ; and take no body. Maud emits HTML5 syntax (<br>), not XHTML (<br />).

html! {
    link rel="stylesheet" href="poetry.css";
    p {
        "Rock, you are a rock."
        br;
        "Gray, you are gray,"
    }
}

Elements and attributes with hyphens are supported (custom elements, data-*, ARIA).

"Type-checked at compile time" means Rust splice-expression types only. Maud does not validate element or attribute names against the HTML5 spec. It does not check content-model nesting either (a <div> inside a <p> compiles fine). Any valid Rust ident compiles as a tag, typos included.

Text

Plain double-quoted Rust string literals are bare expressions inside html!. Raw string literals handle long or special-character text.

html! {
    pre {
        r#"
            Rocks, these are my rocks.
            Smooth and round,
            Asleep in the ground.
        "#
    }
}

5. Attributes

Value attribute: name="value".

html! {
    a href="about:blank" { "Apple Bloom" }
    li class="lower-middle" { "Sweetie Belle" }
}

Boolean / empty attribute: bare name, no =.

html! {
    input type="checkbox" name="cupcakes" checked;
    label for="cupcakes" { "Do you like cupcakes?" }
}

#id / .class Shorthand

html! {
    input #cannon .big.scary.bright-red type="button" value="Launch";
    div."col-sm-2" { "Bootstrap column!" }
}

• Multiple classes chain: .big.scary.bright-red.
• Quoted names allow characters not valid as bare idents: ."col-sm-2".
• Rust 2021 whitespace gotcha: # must be preceded by a space (input #pinkie;). Older editions allowed input#pinkie;.

Implicit div

Omitting the tag name when a #id / .class shorthand is present defaults the element to div.

html! {
    #main {
        "Main content!"
        .tip { "Storing food in a refrigerator can make it 20% cooler." }
    }
}

Toggles [condition]

A bracketed bool expression toggles a boolean attribute or a class on or off.

let allow_editing = true;
html! {
    p contenteditable[allow_editing] { "Edit me." }
}

let cuteness = 95;
html! {
    p.cute[cuteness > 50] { "Squee!" }
}

Optional Attribute Values attr=[Option<T>]

With =, a bracketed Option sets the attribute's value only when Some. None omits the attribute entirely. This differs from bare [cond], which toggles presence.

html! {
    p title=[Some("Good password")] { "Correct horse" }

    @let value = Some(42);
    input value=[value];

    @let title: Option<&str> = None;
    p title=[title] { "Battery staple" }   // title omitted
}

Dynamic Names

Splice a computed id with #(...). Build a class from a literal plus splice inside .{ }.

let name = "rarity";
let severity = "critical";
html! {
    aside #(name) {
        p.{ "color-" (severity) } { "This is the worst! Possible! Thing!" }
    }
}

6. Splices and Interpolation

(expr) inserts a runtime value into markup. HTML special characters in the value are escaped by default.

let best_pony = "Pinkie Pie";
let numbers = [1, 2, 3, 4];
html! {
    p { "Hi, " (best_pony) "!" }
    p {
        "I have " (numbers.len()) " numbers, "
        "and the first one is " (numbers[0])
    }
}

Splice any type that has a maud::Render impl. Most primitives (str, i32, ...) already do.

Block-expression splice for arbitrary Rust logic:

html! {
    p {
        ({
            let f: Foo = something_convertible_to_foo()?;
            f.time().format("%H%Mh")
        })
    }
}

Splices in Attributes

Single value with =:

let secret_message = "Surprise!";
html! {
    p title=(secret_message) { "Nothing to see here." }
}

Concatenating literal plus splice needs { } wrapping:

const GITHUB: &'static str = "https://github.com";
html! {
    a href={ (GITHUB) "/lambda-fairy/maud" } { "Fork me on GitHub" }
}

7. Control Structures

Every control keyword takes an @ prefix. Bare if / for / match / let are not recognized as control flow inside html!. Braces are mandatory on every branch.

@if / @else if / @else

#[derive(PartialEq)]
enum Princess { Celestia, Luna, Cadance, TwilightSparkle }

let user = Princess::Celestia;
html! {
    @if user == Princess::Luna {
        h1 { "Super secret woona to-do list" }
        ul { li { "Evil laugh" } }
    } @else if user == Princess::Celestia {
        p { "Sister, please stop reading my diary." }
    } @else {
        p { "Nothing to see here; move along." }
    }
}

@if let works (the condition is a plain Rust expression, so let PAT = EXPR parses natively):

let user = Some("Pinkie Pie");
html! {
    p {
        "Hello, "
        @if let Some(name) = user { (name) } @else { "stranger" }
        "!"
    }
}

@for

let names = ["Applejack", "Rarity", "Fluttershy"];
html! {
    ol {
        @for name in &names {
            li { (name) }
        }
    }
}

@while

Present in the parser AST (WhileExpr), absent from the published book. No documented example exists. Structure matches @if, so @while cond { ... } and by analogy @while let PAT = EXPR { ... } are expected to work. Treat @while let as unverified until you compile it.

@match

html! {
    @match user {
        Princess::Luna => h1 { "Woona's here" },
        Princess::Celestia | Princess::Cadance => p { "A princess." },
        _ => p { "Nothing to see here; move along." }
    }
}

Reuses the Princess enum and user binding from @if above. Match arms accept full Rust patterns per the parser source: or-patterns (A | B, shown above), bindings, ranges, destructuring, guards (pat if cond =>). The book shows only basic arms, so verify guard / or-pattern arms by compiling.

@let

Declares a variable inside html!, most useful inside loops. Accepts any Rust let pattern including type ascription.

let names = ["Applejack", "Rarity", "Fluttershy"];
html! {
    @for name in &names {
        @let first_letter = name.chars().next().unwrap();
        p {
            "The first letter of " b { (name) } " is " b { (first_letter) } "."
        }
    }
}

8. Escaping and Raw HTML

Splices and text are escaped by default. Maud escapes exactly four characters: &, <, >, ". Single quotes pass through unescaped.

Bypass escaping with maud::PreEscaped, which renders its inner value verbatim.

use maud::PreEscaped;
html! {
    "<script>alert(\"XSS\")</script>"                // &lt;script&gt;...
    (PreEscaped("<script>alert(\"XSS\")</script>"))  // <script>...
}

Only wrap content you have already sanitized. PreEscaped on untrusted input is an XSS hole. The AsRef<str> bound restriction on PreEscaped was removed in 0.26.0, so it wraps a wider range of inner types now.

9. Custom Rendering and Composition

The Render Trait

Write a maud::Render impl to teach maud how to splice your own type. The trait has two methods, both with default impls that call each other:

pub trait Render {
    fn render(&self) -> Markup {
        let mut buffer = String::new();
        self.render_to(&mut buffer);
        PreEscaped(buffer)
    }

    fn render_to(&self, buffer: &mut String) {
        buffer.push_str(&self.render().into_string());
    }
}

Override at least one. Overriding neither causes infinite recursion (each default calls the other). Override render for the simple case. Override render_to when you want to write straight into the output buffer, for example to append multiple pieces without an intermediate Markup.

A render_to override is responsible for its own escaping. Raw writes into buffer are not escaped for you. Need that inside one? Reach for maud::Escaper, it escapes as it writes.

render/render_to are sync-only. There is no async Render trait or streaming variant. Resolve async data (a DB or HTTP call) to a value before entering html! and splice the resolved value.

Components Are Just Functions

A partial or component is a plain function returning Markup. Compose by splicing the call.

use maud::{html, Markup, DOCTYPE};

fn header(title: &str) -> Markup {
    html! {
        head { title { (title) } }
    }
}

fn page(title: &str, body: Markup) -> Markup {
    html! {
        (DOCTYPE)
        html {
            (header(title))
            body { (body) }
        }
    }
}

// usage
let markup = page("Home", html! { h1 { "Hello" } });

Splicing a Markup value never re-escapes it, so nesting components is safe. Maud does not currently export a RenderOnce trait (it had one from 0.8.0 through 0.15.0, removed 2017-01-26); don't confuse the name with horrorshow's still-existing RenderOnce trait.

10. Gotchas and Footguns

Each is flagged inline at its section; §11 consolidates. Index:

• Void ; not self-close; control flow needs @ (every branch braced); §4, §7
• [cond] (toggle) vs attr=[Option<T>] (value only when Some); attr concat needs { }; §5, §6
• Splices escape by default; PreEscaped is an XSS hole on untrusted input; only & < > " escaped (single quote not); §6, §8
• Rust 2021 # spacing (input #pinkie;); §5
• Render with neither method overridden recurses forever; a render_to override does its own escaping (maud::Escaper); §9
• render/render_to are sync-only; no async Render trait, no streaming variant; resolve async values before html! (§9)
• Markup has no Display impl (.into_string() / maud::display(x)); no template files, no html_to!; §2
• "Type-checked" covers Rust splice types only; no HTML5 tag/attribute validation, no content-model nesting checks (§4)

11. Quick Reference Card

Value:         html! { ... } -> Markup          Get String: .into_string()
Doctype:       (DOCTYPE)                          -> <!DOCTYPE html>
Element:       p { "text" nested { } }
Void element:  br;   link rel="x" href="y";       (trailing ; , renders <br>)
Text:          "literal"   r#"raw literal"#
Attr:          name="value"
Bool attr:     checked        (bare name, no =)
Shorthand:     input #id .class1.class2;          .class -> implies <div> if no tag
Toggle:        p contenteditable[cond] { }        p.cute[n > 50] { }
Optional attr: input value=[Some(42)];            title=[opt]  (None omits attr)
Splice:        (expr)                             escapes by default
Attr splice:   title=(x)   href={ (a) "/" (b) }
Dyn name:      #(id_expr)   .{ "color-" (sev) }
Block splice:  ({ let x = f()?; x })
If:            @if c { } @else if d { } @else { }
If let:        @if let Some(x) = opt { (x) } @else { }
For:           @for x in &xs { li { (x) } }
Match:         @match v { A => { }, _ => p { } }  (guards / or-pats via Rust patterns)
While:         @while cond { }                    (@while let unverified)
Let:           @let x = expr;                      @let y: Option<&str> = None;
Raw HTML:      (PreEscaped(safe_html))            disables escaping
Display value: (display(x))
Component:     fn c(...) -> Markup { html! { } }   splice with (c(...))
Render trait:  fn render(&self) -> Markup          fn render_to(&self, buf: &mut String)  (both have default impls, both sync-only)
Escapes:       & < > "   (single quote NOT escaped)

Book: https://maud.lambda.xyz API docs: https://docs.rs/maud