diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 8e3f1b2..b09fe79 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -3,5 +3,8 @@ target
 
 # Local Netlify folder
 .netlify
+
 .direnv
 target/
+.repomap*
+public/
diff --git a/AGENTS.md b/AGENTS.md
index c259617..da154e8 100644
--- a/AGENTS.md
+++ b/AGENTS.md
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ The agent MUST read and adhere to the global engineering ruleset and any active
 **Active Fragments:**
 
 - Rust idioms (`.agent/predicates/fragments/rust.md`)
+- DepMap MCP tools (`.agent/predicates/fragments/depmap.md`)
 
 **Available Workflows:**
 
diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index db58ef4..b255a40 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -128,6 +128,8 @@ dependencies = [
  "gray_matter",
  "maud",
  "pulldown-cmark",
+ "thiserror",
+ "walkdir",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -196,6 +198,15 @@ dependencies = [
  "proc-macro2",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "same-file"
+version = "1.0.6"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "93fc1dc3aaa9bfed95e02e6eadabb4baf7e3078b0bd1b4d7b6b0b68378900502"
+dependencies = [
+ "winapi-util",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "serde"
 version = "1.0.228"
@@ -250,6 +261,26 @@ dependencies = [
  "unicode-ident",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "thiserror"
+version = "2.0.18"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "4288b5bcbc7920c07a1149a35cf9590a2aa808e0bc1eafaade0b80947865fbc4"
+dependencies = [
+ "thiserror-impl",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "thiserror-impl"
+version = "2.0.18"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "ebc4ee7f67670e9b64d05fa4253e753e016c6c95ff35b89b7941d6b856dec1d5"
+dependencies = [
+ "proc-macro2",
+ "quote",
+ "syn",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "toml"
 version = "0.5.11"
@@ -283,6 +314,40 @@ version = "0.9.5"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "0b928f33d975fc6ad9f86c8f283853ad26bdd5b10b7f1542aa2fa15e2289105a"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "walkdir"
+version = "2.5.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "29790946404f91d9c5d06f9874efddea1dc06c5efe94541a7d6863108e3a5e4b"
+dependencies = [
+ "same-file",
+ "winapi-util",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "winapi-util"
+version = "0.1.11"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "c2a7b1c03c876122aa43f3020e6c3c3ee5c05081c9a00739faf7503aeba10d22"
+dependencies = [
+ "windows-sys",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "windows-link"
+version = "0.2.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "f0805222e57f7521d6a62e36fa9163bc891acd422f971defe97d64e70d0a4fe5"
+
+[[package]]
+name = "windows-sys"
+version = "0.61.2"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "ae137229bcbd6cdf0f7b80a31df61766145077ddf49416a728b02cb3921ff3fc"
+dependencies = [
+ "windows-link",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "yaml-rust2"
 version = "0.8.1"
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 886431b..555c4c7 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -9,3 +9,5 @@ version     = "0.1.0"
 gray_matter    = "0.2"
 maud           = "0.26"
 pulldown-cmark = "0.12"
+thiserror      = "2"
+walkdir        = "2"
diff --git a/src/content.rs b/src/content.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4bf212a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/content.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,115 @@
+//! Content discovery and frontmatter parsing.
+
+use crate::error::{Error, Result};
+use gray_matter::{engine::YAML, Matter};
+use std::fs;
+use std::path::{Path, PathBuf};
+
+/// Parsed frontmatter from a content file.
+#[derive(Debug)]
+pub struct Frontmatter {
+    pub title: String,
+    pub description: Option<String>,
+    pub date: Option<String>,
+    pub tags: Vec<String>,
+}
+
+/// A content item ready for rendering.
+#[derive(Debug)]
+pub struct Content {
+    pub frontmatter: Frontmatter,
+    pub body: String,
+    pub source_path: PathBuf,
+    pub slug: String,
+}
+
+impl Content {
+    /// Load and parse a markdown file with TOML frontmatter.
+    pub fn from_path(path: impl AsRef<Path>) -> Result<Self> {
+        let path = path.as_ref();
+        let raw = fs::read_to_string(path).map_err(|e| Error::ReadFile {
+            path: path.to_path_buf(),
+            source: e,
+        })?;
+
+        let matter = Matter::<YAML>::new();
+        let parsed = matter.parse(&raw);
+
+        let frontmatter = parse_frontmatter(path, &parsed)?;
+
+        // Derive slug from filename (without extension)
+        let slug = path
+            .file_stem()
+            .and_then(|s| s.to_str())
+            .unwrap_or("untitled")
+            .to_string();
+
+        Ok(Content {
+            frontmatter,
+            body: parsed.content,
+            source_path: path.to_path_buf(),
+            slug,
+        })
+    }
+
+    /// Compute the output path relative to the output directory.
+    /// e.g., content/blog/foo.md → blog/foo/index.html
+    pub fn output_path(&self, content_root: &Path) -> PathBuf {
+        let relative = self
+            .source_path
+            .strip_prefix(content_root)
+            .unwrap_or(&self.source_path);
+
+        let parent = relative.parent().unwrap_or(Path::new(""));
+        parent.join(&self.slug).join("index.html")
+    }
+}
+
+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(),
+    })?;
+
+    let pod = data.as_hashmap().map_err(|_| Error::Frontmatter {
+        path: path.to_path_buf(),
+        message: "frontmatter is not a valid map".to_string(),
+    })?;
+
+    let title = pod
+        .get("title")
+        .and_then(|v| v.as_string().ok())
+        .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());
+
+    // 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,
+        tags,
+    })
+}
diff --git a/src/error.rs b/src/error.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d51d291
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/error.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+//! Custom error types for the nrd.sh compiler.
+
+use std::path::PathBuf;
+
+/// All errors that can occur during site compilation.
+#[derive(Debug, thiserror::Error)]
+pub enum Error {
+    /// Failed to read a content file.
+    #[error("failed to read {path}: {source}")]
+    ReadFile {
+        path: PathBuf,
+        #[source]
+        source: std::io::Error,
+    },
+
+    /// Failed to parse frontmatter.
+    #[error("invalid frontmatter in {path}: {message}")]
+    Frontmatter { path: PathBuf, message: String },
+
+    /// Failed to write output file.
+    #[error("failed to write {path}: {source}")]
+    WriteFile {
+        path: PathBuf,
+        #[source]
+        source: std::io::Error,
+    },
+
+    /// Failed to create output directory.
+    #[error("failed to create directory {path}: {source}")]
+    CreateDir {
+        path: PathBuf,
+        #[source]
+        source: std::io::Error,
+    },
+
+    /// Content directory not found.
+    #[error("content directory not found: {0}")]
+    ContentDirNotFound(PathBuf),
+}
+
+/// Result type alias for compiler operations.
+pub type Result<T> = std::result::Result<T, Error>;
diff --git a/src/main.rs b/src/main.rs
index d505fb5..0b8515d 100644
--- a/src/main.rs
+++ b/src/main.rs
@@ -1,3 +1,66 @@
+//! nrd.sh - Bespoke static site compiler.
+//!
+//! Transforms markdown content into a minimal static site.
+
+mod content;
+mod error;
+mod render;
+mod templates;
+
+use crate::content::Content;
+use crate::error::{Error, Result};
+use std::fs;
+use std::path::Path;
+
 fn main() {
-    println!("nrd.sh compiler v{}", env!("CARGO_PKG_VERSION"));
+    if let Err(e) = run() {
+        eprintln!("error: {e}");
+        std::process::exit(1);
+    }
+}
+
+fn run() -> Result<()> {
+    let content_dir = Path::new("content");
+    let output_dir = Path::new("public");
+
+    if !content_dir.exists() {
+        return Err(Error::ContentDirNotFound(content_dir.to_path_buf()));
+    }
+
+    // For MVP: process all markdown files in content/blog/
+    let blog_dir = content_dir.join("blog");
+
+    for entry in walkdir::WalkDir::new(&blog_dir)
+        .into_iter()
+        .filter_map(|e| e.ok())
+        .filter(|e| {
+            e.path().extension().map_or(false, |ext| ext == "md")
+                && e.path().file_name().map_or(false, |n| n != "_index.md")
+        })
+    {
+        let path = entry.path();
+        eprintln!("processing: {}", path.display());
+
+        let content = Content::from_path(path)?;
+        let html_body = render::markdown_to_html(&content.body);
+        let page = templates::render_post(&content.frontmatter, &html_body);
+
+        let out_path = output_dir.join(content.output_path(content_dir));
+        let out_dir = out_path.parent().unwrap();
+
+        fs::create_dir_all(out_dir).map_err(|e| Error::CreateDir {
+            path: out_dir.to_path_buf(),
+            source: e,
+        })?;
+
+        fs::write(&out_path, page.into_string()).map_err(|e| Error::WriteFile {
+            path: out_path.clone(),
+            source: e,
+        })?;
+
+        eprintln!("  → {}", out_path.display());
+    }
+
+    eprintln!("done!");
+    Ok(())
 }
diff --git a/src/render.rs b/src/render.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2469d77
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/render.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+//! Markdown to HTML rendering via pulldown-cmark.
+
+use pulldown_cmark::{html, Options, Parser};
+
+/// Render markdown content to HTML.
+///
+/// Currently performs basic rendering. Future phases will intercept
+/// code blocks for Tree-sitter highlighting.
+pub fn markdown_to_html(markdown: &str) -> String {
+    let options = Options::ENABLE_TABLES
+        | Options::ENABLE_FOOTNOTES
+        | Options::ENABLE_STRIKETHROUGH
+        | Options::ENABLE_TASKLISTS;
+
+    let parser = Parser::new_ext(markdown, options);
+    let mut html_output = String::new();
+    html::push_html(&mut html_output, parser);
+    html_output
+}
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::*;
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_basic_markdown() {
+        let md = "# Hello\n\nThis is a *test*.";
+        let html = markdown_to_html(md);
+        assert!(html.contains("<h1>Hello</h1>"));
+        assert!(html.contains("<em>test</em>"));
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/templates.rs b/src/templates.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..62ccbad
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/templates.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,63 @@
+//! HTML templates using maud.
+
+use crate::content::Frontmatter;
+use maud::{html, Markup, DOCTYPE};
+
+/// Render a blog post with the base layout.
+pub fn render_post(frontmatter: &Frontmatter, content_html: &str) -> Markup {
+    base_layout(
+        &frontmatter.title,
+        html! {
+            article.post {
+                header {
+                    h1 { (frontmatter.title) }
+                    @if let Some(ref date) = frontmatter.date {
+                        time.date { (date) }
+                    }
+                    @if let Some(ref desc) = frontmatter.description {
+                        p.description { (desc) }
+                    }
+                    @if !frontmatter.tags.is_empty() {
+                        ul.tags {
+                            @for tag in &frontmatter.tags {
+                                li { a href=(format!("/tags/{}/", tag)) { (tag) } }
+                            }
+                        }
+                    }
+                }
+                section.content {
+                    (maud::PreEscaped(content_html))
+                }
+            }
+        },
+    )
+}
+
+/// Base HTML layout wrapper.
+fn base_layout(title: &str, content: Markup) -> Markup {
+    html! {
+        (DOCTYPE)
+        html lang="en" {
+            head {
+                meta charset="utf-8";
+                meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1";
+                title { (title) " | nrd.sh" }
+                link rel="stylesheet" href="/style.css";
+            }
+            body {
+                nav {
+                    a href="/" { "nrd.sh" }
+                    a href="/blog/" { "blog" }
+                    a href="/projects/" { "projects" }
+                    a href="/about/" { "about" }
+                }
+                main {
+                    (content)
+                }
+                footer {
+                    p { "© nrdxp" }
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}