diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 954456f..85ad857 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -65,12 +65,6 @@ dependencies = [
  "rustversion",
 ]
 
-[[package]]
-name = "arraydeque"
-version = "0.5.1"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "7d902e3d592a523def97af8f317b08ce16b7ab854c1985a0c671e6f15cebc236"
-
 [[package]]
 name = "autocfg"
 version = "1.5.0"
@@ -449,15 +443,6 @@ version = "1.15.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "48c757948c5ede0e46177b7add2e67155f70e33c07fea8284df6576da70b3719"
 
-[[package]]
-name = "encoding_rs"
-version = "0.8.35"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "75030f3c4f45dafd7586dd6780965a8c7e8e285a5ecb86713e63a79c5b2766f3"
-dependencies = [
- "cfg-if",
-]
-
 [[package]]
 name = "equivalent"
 version = "1.0.2"
@@ -573,18 +558,6 @@ dependencies = [
  "ordered_hashmap",
 ]
 
-[[package]]
-name = "gray_matter"
-version = "0.2.9"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "8666976c40b8633f918783969b6681a3ddb205f29150348617de425d85a3e3bd"
-dependencies = [
- "serde",
- "serde_json",
- "toml 0.5.11",
- "yaml-rust2",
-]
-
 [[package]]
 name = "hashbrown"
 version = "0.12.3"
@@ -599,10 +572,6 @@ name = "hashbrown"
 version = "0.14.5"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "e5274423e17b7c9fc20b6e7e208532f9b19825d82dfd615708b70edd83df41f1"
-dependencies = [
- "ahash 0.8.12",
- "allocator-api2",
-]
 
 [[package]]
 name = "hashbrown"
@@ -621,15 +590,6 @@ version = "0.16.1"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "841d1cc9bed7f9236f321df977030373f4a4163ae1a7dbfe1a51a2c1a51d9100"
 
-[[package]]
-name = "hashlink"
-version = "0.8.4"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "e8094feaf31ff591f651a2664fb9cfd92bba7a60ce3197265e9482ebe753c8f7"
-dependencies = [
- "hashbrown 0.14.5",
-]
-
 [[package]]
 name = "heck"
 version = "0.5.0"
@@ -1598,7 +1558,6 @@ dependencies = [
 name = "sukr"
 version = "0.1.0"
 dependencies = [
- "gray_matter",
  "katex-rs",
  "lightningcss",
  "mermaid-rs-renderer",
@@ -1607,7 +1566,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "serde",
  "tempfile",
  "tera",
- "toml 0.8.23",
+ "toml",
  "tree-house",
  "tree-house-bindings",
  "tree-sitter",
@@ -1745,15 +1704,6 @@ version = "0.1.1"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "1f3ccbac311fea05f86f61904b462b55fb3df8837a366dfc601a0161d0532f20"
 
-[[package]]
-name = "toml"
-version = "0.5.11"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "f4f7f0dd8d50a853a531c426359045b1998f04219d88799810762cd4ad314234"
-dependencies = [
- "serde",
-]
-
 [[package]]
 name = "toml"
 version = "0.8.23"
@@ -2222,17 +2172,6 @@ dependencies = [
  "tap",
 ]
 
-[[package]]
-name = "yaml-rust2"
-version = "0.8.1"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "8902160c4e6f2fb145dbe9d6760a75e3c9522d8bf796ed7047c85919ac7115f8"
-dependencies = [
- "arraydeque",
- "encoding_rs",
- "hashlink",
-]
-
 [[package]]
 name = "zerocopy"
 version = "0.8.33"
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 5c78ed9..c2e9dc9 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@ name        = "sukr"
 version     = "0.1.0"
 
 [dependencies]
-gray_matter    = "0.2"
 pulldown-cmark = "0.12"
 
 # Syntax highlighting
diff --git a/src/content.rs b/src/content.rs
index b7af579..d0cb4e7 100644
--- a/src/content.rs
+++ b/src/content.rs
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 //! Content discovery and frontmatter parsing.
 
 use crate::error::{Error, Result};
-use gray_matter::{Matter, engine::YAML};
 use serde::Serialize;
+use std::collections::HashMap;
 use std::fs;
 use std::path::{Path, PathBuf};
 
@@ -82,10 +82,8 @@ impl Content {
             source: e,
         })?;
 
-        let matter = Matter::<YAML>::new();
-        let parsed = matter.parse(&raw);
-
-        let frontmatter = parse_frontmatter(path, &parsed)?;
+        let (yaml_block, body) = extract_frontmatter(&raw, path)?;
+        let frontmatter = parse_frontmatter(path, &yaml_block)?;
 
         // Derive slug from filename (without extension)
         let slug = path
@@ -97,7 +95,7 @@ impl Content {
         Ok(Content {
             kind,
             frontmatter,
-            body: parsed.content,
+            body,
             source_path: path.to_path_buf(),
             slug,
         })
@@ -126,64 +124,102 @@ impl Content {
     }
 }
 
-fn parse_frontmatter(path: &Path, parsed: &gray_matter::ParsedEntity) -> Result<Frontmatter> {
-    let data = parsed.data.as_ref().ok_or_else(|| Error::Frontmatter {
-        path: path.to_path_buf(),
-        message: "missing frontmatter".to_string(),
-    })?;
+/// Extract YAML frontmatter block and body from raw content.
+/// Frontmatter must be delimited by `---` at start and end.
+fn extract_frontmatter(raw: &str, path: &Path) -> Result<(String, String)> {
+    let trimmed = raw.trim_start();
 
-    let pod = data.as_hashmap().map_err(|_| Error::Frontmatter {
-        path: path.to_path_buf(),
-        message: "frontmatter is not a valid map".to_string(),
-    })?;
+    if !trimmed.starts_with("---") {
+        return Err(Error::Frontmatter {
+            path: path.to_path_buf(),
+            message: "missing frontmatter delimiter".to_string(),
+        });
+    }
 
-    let title = pod
+    // Find the closing ---
+    let after_first = &trimmed[3..].trim_start_matches(['\r', '\n']);
+    let end_idx = after_first
+        .find("\n---")
+        .ok_or_else(|| Error::Frontmatter {
+            path: path.to_path_buf(),
+            message: "missing closing frontmatter delimiter".to_string(),
+        })?;
+
+    let yaml_block = after_first[..end_idx].to_string();
+    let body = after_first[end_idx + 4..].trim_start().to_string();
+
+    Ok((yaml_block, body))
+}
+
+/// Parse simple YAML frontmatter into structured fields.
+/// Supports: key: value, key: "quoted value", and nested taxonomies.tags
+fn parse_frontmatter(path: &Path, yaml: &str) -> Result<Frontmatter> {
+    let mut map: HashMap<String, String> = HashMap::new();
+    let mut tags: Vec<String> = Vec::new();
+    let mut in_taxonomies = false;
+    let mut in_tags = false;
+
+    for line in yaml.lines() {
+        let trimmed = line.trim();
+
+        // Skip empty lines and comments
+        if trimmed.is_empty() || trimmed.starts_with('#') {
+            continue;
+        }
+
+        // Handle nested structure for taxonomies.tags
+        if trimmed == "taxonomies:" {
+            in_taxonomies = true;
+            continue;
+        }
+
+        if in_taxonomies && trimmed == "tags:" {
+            in_tags = true;
+            continue;
+        }
+
+        // Collect tag list items
+        if in_tags && trimmed.starts_with("- ") {
+            let tag = trimmed[2..].trim().trim_matches('"').to_string();
+            tags.push(tag);
+            continue;
+        }
+
+        // Exit nested context on non-indented line
+        if !line.starts_with(' ') && !line.starts_with('\t') {
+            in_taxonomies = false;
+            in_tags = false;
+        }
+
+        // Parse key: value
+        if let Some((key, value)) = trimmed.split_once(':') {
+            let key = key.trim().to_string();
+            let value = value.trim().trim_matches('"').to_string();
+            if !value.is_empty() {
+                map.insert(key, value);
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    let title = map
         .get("title")
-        .and_then(|v| v.as_string().ok())
+        .cloned()
         .ok_or_else(|| Error::Frontmatter {
             path: path.to_path_buf(),
             message: "missing required 'title' field".to_string(),
         })?;
 
-    let description = pod.get("description").and_then(|v| v.as_string().ok());
-    let date = pod.get("date").and_then(|v| v.as_string().ok());
-    let weight = pod.get("weight").and_then(|v| v.as_i64().ok());
-    let link_to = pod.get("link_to").and_then(|v| v.as_string().ok());
-    let nav_label = pod.get("nav_label").and_then(|v| v.as_string().ok());
-    let section_type = pod.get("section_type").and_then(|v| v.as_string().ok());
-    let template = pod.get("template").and_then(|v| v.as_string().ok());
-    let toc = pod.get("toc").and_then(|v| v.as_bool().ok());
-
-    // Handle nested taxonomies.tags structure
-    let tags = if let Some(taxonomies) = pod.get("taxonomies") {
-        if let Ok(tax_map) = taxonomies.as_hashmap() {
-            if let Some(tags_pod) = tax_map.get("tags") {
-                if let Ok(tags_vec) = tags_pod.as_vec() {
-                    tags_vec.iter().filter_map(|v| v.as_string().ok()).collect()
-                } else {
-                    Vec::new()
-                }
-            } else {
-                Vec::new()
-            }
-        } else {
-            Vec::new()
-        }
-    } else {
-        Vec::new()
-    };
-
     Ok(Frontmatter {
         title,
-        description,
-        date,
+        description: map.get("description").cloned(),
+        date: map.get("date").cloned(),
         tags,
-        weight,
-        link_to,
-        nav_label,
-        section_type,
-        template,
-        toc,
+        weight: map.get("weight").and_then(|v| v.parse().ok()),
+        link_to: map.get("link_to").cloned(),
+        nav_label: map.get("nav_label").cloned(),
+        section_type: map.get("section_type").cloned(),
+        template: map.get("template").cloned(),
+        toc: map.get("toc").and_then(|v| v.parse().ok()),
     })
 }