SonicJS

The edge-native headless CMS for Cloudflare Workers. Sub-100ms response times globally. Zero cold starts. TypeScript-first.

sonicjs.com

📦 Get Started

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npx create-sonicjs@latest my-app

⚠️ Note: This repository is for developing the SonicJS core package. To build an application with SonicJS, use the command above to create a new project.

🚀 Features

Core Platform

• ⚡ Edge-First: Built specifically for Cloudflare Workers with global performance
• 🔧 Developer-Centric: Configuration over UI, TypeScript-first approach
• 🤖 AI-Friendly: Structured codebase designed for AI-assisted development
• 🔌 Plugin System: Extensible architecture without core modifications
• 📱 Modern Stack: Hono.js, TypeScript, D1, R2, and HTMX
• 🚀 Fast & Lightweight: Optimized for edge computing performance

Advanced Content Management (Stage 5)

• 📝 Rich Text Editor: TinyMCE integration with customizable toolbars
• 🎛️ Dynamic Fields: Custom field types (text, number, date, boolean, select, media)
• 📚 Content Versioning: Complete revision history with restore functionality
• ⏰ Content Scheduling: Publish/unpublish automation with date controls
• 🔄 Workflow System: Draft → Review → Published → Archived with role-based permissions
• 💾 Auto-Save: Automatic content saving every 30 seconds
• 👁️ Live Preview: Real-time content preview before publishing
• 📋 Content Duplication: One-click content copying and templates
• 🛡️ XSS Protection: Comprehensive input validation and HTML escaping

📊 How SonicJS Compares

	SonicJS	Strapi	Payload
Edge-native	Yes	No	No
Cloudflare Workers	Yes	No	Limited
Cold starts	None	2-5s	1-3s
Response time	<100ms	200-500ms	150-400ms
Database	D1 (SQLite at edge)	PostgreSQL/MySQL	MongoDB/PostgreSQL
Global distribution	Built-in	Requires setup	Requires setup

SonicJS is the only production-ready CMS built specifically for edge computing. We have 46x more development activity per GitHub star than Strapi.

🌟 Why SonicJS?

Edge Performance

• Global distribution via Cloudflare's network
• Sub-100ms response times worldwide
• Automatic scaling and DDoS protection
• No cold starts - instant responses

Developer Experience

• TypeScript-first with full type safety
• Hot reload development environment
• create-sonicjs CLI for instant setup
• Comprehensive documentation

AI-Friendly Architecture

• Clean, structured codebase
• TypeScript types for autocomplete
• Clear conventions and patterns
• Built for AI-assisted development
• 12 specialized Claude Code agents for development (View all agents)

🛠 Technology Stack

Core Framework

• Hono.js - Ultrafast web framework for Cloudflare Workers
• TypeScript - Strict type safety throughout
• HTMX - Enhanced HTML for dynamic interfaces

Cloudflare Services

• D1 - SQLite database at the edge
• R2 - Object storage for media
• Workers - Serverless compute runtime
• KV - Key-value storage for caching
• Images API - Image optimization and transformation

Development Tools

• Vitest - Fast unit testing
• Playwright - End-to-end testing
• Wrangler - Local development and deployment
• Drizzle ORM - Type-safe database queries

🏁 Quick Start

For Application Developers (Using SonicJS)

If you want to build an application with SonicJS:

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# Create a new SonicJS application
npx create-sonicjs@latest my-app

# Navigate to your app
cd my-app

# Start development server
npm run dev

# Visit http://localhost:8787

Your app will be created with:

• ✅ SonicJS CMS pre-configured
• ✅ Database migrations ready
• ✅ Example content collections
• ✅ Admin interface at /admin
• ✅ Ready to deploy to Cloudflare

For Package Developers (Contributing to SonicJS)

If you want to contribute to the SonicJS core package:

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# Clone this repository
git clone https://github.com/lane711/sonicjs-ai.git
cd sonicjs-ai

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Build the core package
npm run build:core

# Create a test app to validate changes
npx create-sonicjs@latest my-sonicjs-app

# Run tests
npm test

Setting Up a Fresh Database

When working in a new worktree or wanting to reset your local database, run from the project root:

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# Create a fresh D1 database for your branch
npm run db:reset

This will:

• Create a new D1 database named sonicjs-worktree-<branch-name>
• Apply all migrations
• Update wrangler.toml with the new database ID

Working with Database Migrations

When developing the core package, migrations are located in packages/core/migrations/. Your test app will reference these migrations through the npm workspace symlink.

From your test app directory (e.g., my-sonicjs-app/):

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# Check migration status (local D1 database)
wrangler d1 migrations list DB --local

# Apply pending migrations to local database
wrangler d1 migrations apply DB --local

# Apply migrations to production database
wrangler d1 migrations apply DB --remote

Important Notes:

• The test app's wrangler.toml points to: migrations_dir = "./node_modules/@sonicjs-cms/core/migrations"
• Since the core package is symlinked via npm workspaces, changes to migrations are immediately available
• After creating new migrations in packages/core/migrations/, rebuild the core package: npm run build:core
• Always apply migrations to your test database before running the dev server or tests

Creating New Migrations:

SonicJS uses a build-time migration bundler because Cloudflare Workers cannot access the filesystem at runtime. All migration SQL must be bundled into the application code.

1. Create a new migration file in packages/core/migrations/ following the naming pattern: NNN_description.sql (e.g., 027_add_user_preferences.sql)
2. Write your migration SQL (use CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS and INSERT OR IGNORE for idempotency)
3. Regenerate the migrations bundle: cd packages/core && npm run generate:migrations
4. Rebuild the core package: npm run build:core (or just npm run build from packages/core - the bundle generation runs automatically as a prebuild step)
5. Apply to your test database: cd my-sonicjs-app && wrangler d1 migrations apply DB --local

Important: After modifying any .sql files in migrations/, you must rebuild the package. The SQL files are not used at runtime - only the generated migrations-bundle.ts file is included in the build.

Common Commands (For Apps)

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# Start development server
npm run dev

# Deploy to Cloudflare
npm run deploy

# Database operations
npm run db:migrate     # Apply migrations
npm run db:studio      # Open database studio

# Run tests
npm test

📁 Project Structure

This is a package development monorepo for building and maintaining the SonicJS CMS npm package.

sonicjs-ai/
├── packages/
│   ├── core/              # 📦 Main CMS package (published as @sonicjs-cms/core)
│   │   ├── src/
│   │   │   ├── routes/    # All route handlers (admin, API, auth)
│   │   │   ├── templates/ # HTML templates & components
│   │   │   ├── middleware/# Authentication & middleware
│   │   │   ├── utils/     # Utility functions
│   │   │   └── db/        # Database schemas & migrations
│   │   └── package.json   # @sonicjs-cms/core
│   ├── templates/         # Template system package
│   └── scripts/           # Build scripts & generators
│
├── my-sonicjs-app/        # 🧪 Test application (gitignored)
│   └── ...                # Created with: npx create-sonicjs@latest
│                          # Used for testing the published package
│
├── www/                   # 🌐 Marketing website
├── tests/e2e/             # End-to-end test suites
└── drizzle/               # Database migrations

Important Notes

⚠️ This is NOT an application repository - it's for developing the @sonicjs-cms/core npm package.

• packages/core/ - The main package published to npm
• my-sonicjs-app/ - Test installation for validating the published package (can be deleted/recreated)
• No root src/ - Application code lives in packages/core/ or test apps like my-sonicjs-app/

🔧 Content Management

Creating Collections

SonicJS uses a dynamic field system. Create collections through the admin interface or define them in the database:

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-- Example: Blog Posts collection with custom fields
INSERT INTO collections (id, name, display_name, description, schema) VALUES (
  'blog-posts', 'blog_posts', 'Blog Posts', 'Article content collection',
  '{"type":"object","properties":{"title":{"type":"string","required":true}}}'
);

-- Add dynamic fields
INSERT INTO content_fields (collection_id, field_name, field_type, field_label, field_options) VALUES
  ('blog-posts', 'title', 'text', 'Title', '{"maxLength": 200, "required": true}'),
  ('blog-posts', 'content', 'richtext', 'Content', '{"toolbar": "full", "height": 400}'),
  ('blog-posts', 'excerpt', 'text', 'Excerpt', '{"maxLength": 500, "rows": 3}'),
  ('blog-posts', 'featured_image', 'media', 'Featured Image', '{"accept": "image/*"}'),
  ('blog-posts', 'publish_date', 'date', 'Publish Date', '{"defaultToday": true}'),
  ('blog-posts', 'is_featured', 'boolean', 'Featured Post', '{"default": false}');

Field Types

• text: Single-line text with validation
• richtext: WYSIWYG editor with TinyMCE
• number: Numeric input with min/max constraints
• boolean: Checkbox with custom labels
• date: Date picker with format options
• select: Dropdown with single/multi-select
• media: File picker with preview

🌐 API Endpoints

Content Management

• GET /admin/content/new?collection=id - Create new content form
• GET /admin/content/:id/edit - Edit content form
• POST /admin/content/ - Create content with validation
• PUT /admin/content/:id - Update content with versioning
• DELETE /admin/content/:id - Delete content

Advanced Features

• POST /admin/content/preview - Preview content before publishing
• POST /admin/content/duplicate - Duplicate existing content
• GET /admin/content/:id/versions - Get version history
• POST /admin/content/:id/restore/:version - Restore specific version
• GET /admin/content/:id/version/:version/preview - Preview historical version

Public API

• GET /api/content - Get published content (paginated)
• GET /api/collections/:collection/content - Get content by collection
• GET /api/collections - List all collections

🚀 Deployment

Deploying Your SonicJS Application

After creating your app with npx create-sonicjs@latest:

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# 1. Configure your Cloudflare project
# Update wrangler.toml with your project settings

# 2. Create production database
wrangler d1 create my-app-db

# 3. Apply database migrations
npm run db:migrate:prod

# 4. Deploy to Cloudflare Workers
npm run deploy

Your app will be live at: https://your-app.workers.dev

Environment Configuration

tomlCopy
# wrangler.toml
name = "my-sonicjs-app"
main = "src/index.ts"
compatibility_date = "2024-01-01"

[[d1_databases]]
binding = "DB"
database_name = "my-app-db"
database_id = "your-database-id"

[[r2_buckets]]
binding = "MEDIA_BUCKET"
bucket_name = "my-app-media"

🧪 Testing

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# Run unit tests
npm test

# Run tests in watch mode
npm run test:watch

# Run E2E tests
npm run test:e2e

# Run E2E tests with UI
npm run test:e2e:ui

📚 Documentation

• Project Plan - Development roadmap and stages
• AI Instructions - Comprehensive development guidelines
• Development Guidelines - Development workflow and principles

🔌 Plugin Development

Create plugins for extending SonicJS functionality:

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// src/plugins/my-plugin/index.ts
import { Plugin } from '@sonicjs-cms/core'

export default {
  name: 'my-plugin',
  hooks: {
    'content:beforeCreate': async (content) => {
      // Plugin logic here
      return content
    }
  }
} as Plugin

📄 License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details.

🤝 Contributing

We welcome contributions! Please see our contributing guidelines for more details.

❤️ Sponsor

SonicJS is 100% open source and free forever. If you find it useful, please consider sponsoring:

100% of sponsorship funds go to marketing - spreading the word about SonicJS to help grow our community. The more developers who know about us, the stronger we become!

SonicJS is a member of Open Source Collective, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Donations are tax-deductible for US contributors.

Thank You to Our Sponsors

<a href="https://github.com/mmcintosh"><img src="https://github.com/mmcintosh.png" width="60" alt="@mmcintosh" /></a>

📞 Support

• GitHub Issues
• Documentation
• Community Discussions

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