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User Guide

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Complete guide to using Vexy SVGO for end users

Table of contents

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  1. TOC

Welcome to Vexy SVGO

Vexy SVGO is a high-performance, native Rust port of the popular SVG optimizer SVGO. This guide will help you get started with optimizing your SVG files using our fast, reliable, and feature-complete optimizer.

What Makes Vexy SVGO Special

  • 🚀 12x Faster: Native Rust performance beats Node.js implementations
  • 🔄 Drop-in Compatible: Full SVGO API compatibility
  • 🌐 Runs Everywhere: CLI, library, and WebAssembly support
  • 🛡️ Production Ready: 353/353 tests passing, battle-tested

Quick Start

1. Try the Interactive Demo

The fastest way to experience Vexy SVGO is through our browser-based demo:

🎮 Launch Demo →

2. Install Locally

Choose your preferred installation method:

# macOS (Universal)
curl -sSL https://github.com/vexyart/vexy-svgo/releases/latest/download/vexy-svgo-macos.tar.gz | tar -xz

# Windows
curl -sSL https://github.com/vexyart/vexy-svgo/releases/latest/download/vexy-svgo-windows.zip -o vexy-svgo.zip && unzip vexy-svgo.zip

# Linux
curl -sSL https://github.com/vexyart/vexy-svgo/releases/latest/download/vexy-svgo-linux.tar.gz | tar -xz

From Source

git clone https://github.com/vexyart/vexy-svgo
cd vexy-svgo
cargo build --release
# Binary will be at ./target/release/vexy-svgo

3. Basic Usage

# Optimize a single file
vexy-svgo input.svg -o output.svg

# Process multiple files
vexy-svgo *.svg

# Use with pipes
cat input.svg | vexy-svgo > output.svg

# Process entire directories
vexy-svgo -f ./icons/ -r

User Guide Sections

📦 Installation

Complete installation guide for all platforms

Read more →

💻 CLI Usage

Master the command-line interface

Read more →

⚙️ Configuration

Configure plugins and optimization settings

Read more →

🧩 Plugins

Complete plugin reference and usage

Read more →

Common Tasks

Optimize for Web

# Standard web optimization
vexy-svgo input.svg -o output.svg --pretty

# Remove unnecessary precision
vexy-svgo input.svg -o output.svg -p 2

# Maximum compression
vexy-svgo input.svg -o output.svg --multipass

Batch Processing

# Process all SVGs in a directory
vexy-svgo -f ./assets/icons/ -r

# With specific plugins
vexy-svgo -f ./icons/ --disable removeViewBox --enable cleanupIds

# Custom output directory
vexy-svgo -f ./src/icons/ -o ./dist/icons/ -r

Integration Examples

# Build pipeline
npm run build && find dist -name "*.svg" -exec vexy-svgo {} \;

# Git pre-commit hook
git diff --cached --name-only --diff-filter=A | grep '\.svg$' | xargs vexy-svgo

# Watch mode (with external tool)
watchman-make -p '**/*.svg' -t optimize-svgs

Performance Tips

1. Use Native Binary

The native binary is always fastest. Avoid wrappers when possible.

2. Batch Processing

Process multiple files at once rather than one-by-one:

# ✅ Fast - batch processing
vexy-svgo *.svg

# ❌ Slow - individual processing
for file in *.svg; do vexy-svgo "$file"; done

3. Optimize Plugin Selection

Disable unnecessary plugins for faster processing:

# For build pipelines, focus on size reduction
vexy-svgo input.svg --disable removeTitle --disable removeDesc

# For icon sprites, keep structure
vexy-svgo input.svg --disable removeViewBox --disable removeDimensions

Migration from SVGO

Vexy SVGO is designed as a drop-in replacement for SVGO. Most existing workflows will work unchanged:

# Replace this
npx svgo input.svg -o output.svg

# With this
vexy-svgo input.svg -o output.svg

Key Differences

Feature SVGO Vexy SVGO
Performance Baseline 12x faster
Installation npm install Single binary
Config Files .svgo.config.js .svgo.config.json
Plugin API JavaScript Rust (for custom plugins)

Configuration Migration

Most SVGO configurations work directly:

# Your existing config works
vexy-svgo --config .svgo.config.js input.svg

Getting Help

Ready to get started? Continue to Installation →