SonicJS

The only headless CMS born on the edge. Zero cold starts. 15–50ms API responses. 300+ global locations. TypeScript-first. 100% MIT open source — every feature free, no Enterprise gate, ever.

sonicjs.com

📦 Get Started

npx create-sonicjs@latest my-app

$0 to start · No signup required · Runs anywhere SQLite runs

⚠️ 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.

🐳 Self-Hosting with Docker

No Cloudflare account? Run SonicJS on any server with Docker and SQLite:

docker build -t sonicjs .
docker run -d --name sonicjs -p 3000:3000 \
  -v $(pwd)/data:/app/data \
  -e JWT_SECRET=$(openssl rand -base64 32) \
  -e BETTER_AUTH_SECRET=$(openssl rand -base64 32) \
  sonicjs

# Create the first admin user
docker exec sonicjs npm run reset
# → admin@sonicjs.com / sonicjs! (change after first login)

See the Self-Hosting guide for Docker Compose, Node.js, backup strategy, and production hardening.

🚀 Features

Edge Performance

• ⚡ Zero Cold Starts: 0–5ms cold start vs 500–2000ms on Node.js CMSs
• 🌍 Global by Default: 300+ edge locations — not one region, one continent
• 🚀 Sub-50ms APIs: 15–50ms API responses vs 1–4s with relations elsewhere
• 📈 Auto-Scaling: Cloudflare handles traffic spikes — no ops required

Developer Experience

• 🔧 Schema-as-Code: Define your content model in TypeScript; SonicJS generates the REST API and admin UI
• 📦 create-sonicjs CLI: From schema to global API in minutes
• 🔥 Hot Reload: Fast local development with Wrangler
• 📱 Modern Stack: Hono.js, TypeScript, D1, R2, HTMX

AI-Native Content Layer

• 🤖 Native MCP Server: Auto-generated tools let Claude Code, Cursor, and VS Code read, create, and publish content
• 🔍 RAG-Powered Search: Semantic search with natural-language queries — zero extra infra
• 🛠 12 Specialized Claude Code Agents: Purpose-built agents for development (View all agents)

Content Management

• 📝 Rich Text Editor: TinyMCE integration with customizable toolbars
• 🎛️ Dynamic Fields: Text, number, date, boolean, select, media, slug, and more
• 📚 Content Versioning: Complete revision history with restore — free, no paywall
• ⏰ Content Scheduling: Publish/unpublish automation with date controls
• 🔄 Draft → Published Workflow: Role-based permissions throughout
• 💾 Auto-Save: Automatic content saving every 30 seconds
• 🛡️ XSS Protection: Comprehensive input validation and HTML escaping

No Lock-In, No Paywalls

• 100% MIT: Every feature in the core. No Growth tier. No Enterprise gate. Ever.
• No VC Clock: No license rug-pull. No infra lock-in.
• Runs Anywhere: Edge-native on Cloudflare Workers, or self-host on Docker/VPS — anywhere SQLite runs.

📊 How SonicJS Compares

	SonicJS	Strapi	Payload
Edge-native	✅ Yes	❌ No	❌ No
Cold start	0–5ms	500–2000ms	500–2000ms
API response	15–50ms	1–4s	1–4s
Global locations	300+	1 region	1 region
Version history	Free	Paywalled	Paywalled
SSO / Audit logs	Free	$99+/mo	$99+/mo
AI / MCP	Included	Upsold	Upsold
License	MIT (all features)	MIT (limited)	MIT (limited)

SonicJS is the only production-ready CMS built specifically for edge computing.

🛠 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)

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

cd my-app
npm run dev

# Visit http://localhost:8787

Your app includes:

• ✅ 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)

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

# 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

# Create a fresh D1 database for your branch (run from project root)
npm run db:reset

This creates a new D1 database named sonicjs-worktree-<branch-name>, applies all migrations, and updates wrangler.toml.

Working with Database Migrations

Migrations live in packages/core/migrations/. Test apps reference them via npm workspace symlink.

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

# Check migration status
wrangler d1 migrations list DB --local

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

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

Creating New Migrations:

SonicJS bundles migrations at build time (Workers can't access the filesystem at runtime).

1. Create packages/core/migrations/NNN_description.sql (use CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS and INSERT OR IGNORE for idempotency)
2. Regenerate bundle: cd packages/core && npm run generate:migrations
3. Rebuild: npm run build:core
4. Apply locally: cd my-sonicjs-app && wrangler d1 migrations apply DB --local

Common Commands

npm run dev          # Start dev server
npm run deploy       # Deploy to Cloudflare
npm run db:migrate   # Apply migrations
npm run db:studio    # Open database studio
npm test             # Run tests

📁 Project Structure

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

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

🔧 Content Management

Creating Collections

Collections are TypeScript config objects registered at app startup — no database table required.

// src/collections/blog-posts.collection.ts
import type { CollectionConfig } from '@sonicjs-cms/core'

export default {
  name: 'blog_post',
  displayName: 'Blog Post',
  slug: 'blog-posts',
  description: 'Article content collection',

  schema: {
    type: 'object',
    properties: {
      title: { type: 'string', title: 'Title', required: true, maxLength: 200 },
      content: { type: 'lexical', title: 'Content', required: true },
      publishedAt: { type: 'datetime', title: 'Published Date' },
    },
    required: ['title', 'content'],
  },

  managed: true,
  isActive: true,
} satisfies CollectionConfig

// src/index.ts — register before createSonicJSApp
import { registerCollections, createSonicJSApp } from '@sonicjs-cms/core'
import blogPostsCollection from './collections/blog-posts.collection'

registerCollections([blogPostsCollection])
export default createSonicJSApp({ plugins: { register: [] } })

Field Types

• string: Single-line text with validation
• lexical: Rich text editor
• number: Numeric input with min/max constraints
• boolean: Checkbox with custom labels
• datetime: Date/time picker
• select: Dropdown with single/multi-select
• slug: URL slug with auto-generation
• user: User reference picker
• 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
• PUT /admin/content/:id - Update content with versioning
• DELETE /admin/content/:id - Delete content

Advanced Features

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

# 1. Update wrangler.toml with your project settings

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

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

# 4. Deploy
npm run deploy

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

Environment Configuration

# 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

npm test                # Unit tests
npm run test:watch      # Watch mode
npm run test:e2e        # E2E tests
npm run test:e2e:ui     # E2E with UI

🔌 Plugin Development

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

export default {
  name: 'my-plugin',
  version: '1.0.0',
  description: 'My custom plugin',

  async activate(context: PluginContext) {
    // Runs when the plugin is activated
  },

  async install(context: PluginContext) {
    // Runs once on install — migrations, seed data, etc.
  },
} satisfies Plugin

📚 Documentation

• sonicjs.com - Full documentation
• AI Agents - 12 specialized Claude Code agents
• Self-Hosting - Docker, VPS, production hardening
• Contributing - Contribution guidelines

❤️ Sponsor

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

100% of sponsorship funds go to marketing — spreading the word about SonicJS to grow the community.

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

📞 Support

• GitHub Issues
• Community Discussions
• Discord

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Built with ❤️ for the Cloudflare ecosystem · sonicjs.com