Requirements: SummerCMS

Defined: 2025-02-04 Core Value: A CMF that enables rapid application development with the flexibility to support any use case, delivered with the performance and horizontal scaling that PHP cannot provide.

v1 Requirements

Requirements for initial release. Each maps to roadmap phases.

Core Framework

CORE-01: Plugin system with discovery, lifecycle management, and dependency resolution
CORE-02: Plugin extension API allowing plugins to extend each other (type-safe)
CORE-03: Component system with reusable UI components
CORE-04: Component HTMX handlers for data-attributes style interactions
CORE-05: Theme engine with layouts, partials, and asset management
CORE-06: Theme Vue integration (themes can declare SPA/hybrid/static mode)
CORE-07: CLI scaffolding command to create new plugins
CORE-08: CLI scaffolding command to create new themes
CORE-09: CLI scaffolding command to create components

Admin Backend

ADMIN-01: YAML-driven form generation (fields.yaml)
ADMIN-02: Form field widgets (text, textarea, dropdown, checkbox, etc.)
ADMIN-03: YAML-driven list/table views (columns.yaml)
ADMIN-04: List column types and filters
ADMIN-05: Customizable admin dashboard
ADMIN-06: Dashboard widgets system
ADMIN-07: Plugin settings pages

User & Authentication

AUTH-01: Backend user accounts with login/logout
AUTH-02: Backend user password reset
AUTH-03: RBAC permissions system (roles and permissions)
AUTH-04: Permission checking in controllers and views

Content Management

CONT-01: CMS pages with URL routing
CONT-02: CMS page layouts with placeholders
CONT-03: Component embedding in CMS pages
CONT-04: Media library file uploads
CONT-05: Media library image management (resize, crop)
CONT-06: Content draft/published states
CONT-07: Content revision history
CONT-08: Navigation menu management
CONT-09: Menu item types (URL, page, plugin)

Core Plugins

PLUG-01: User plugin - frontend user registration
PLUG-02: User plugin - frontend user login/logout
PLUG-03: User plugin - user profiles
PLUG-04: User plugin - password reset
PLUG-05: Blog plugin - posts with WYSIWYG editor
PLUG-06: Blog plugin - categories
PLUG-07: Blog plugin - tags
PLUG-08: Blog plugin - post listing components

Differentiators

DIFF-01: Type-safe plugin API with compile-time error detection
DIFF-02: Hot reload development mode (fast iteration without JVM restart)

Database & Infrastructure

INFRA-01: PostgreSQL database integration with Quill
INFRA-02: Database migrations system
INFRA-03: Model/Repository pattern for data access
INFRA-04: Pulumi deployment configuration

v2 Requirements

Deferred to future release. Tracked but not in current roadmap.

API & Headless

API-01: REST API for content access
API-02: GraphQL API endpoint
API-03: JWT token authentication for API
API-04: API documentation generation

Additional Plugins

PLUG-09: Pages plugin for static content pages
PLUG-10: Translation plugin for multilingual content

Advanced Features

ADV-01: Multisite support
ADV-02: Content workflows (approval chains)
ADV-03: Scheduled publishing
ADV-04: Content import/export

Out of Scope

Explicitly excluded. Documented to prevent scope creep.

Feature	Reason
Multi-database support	PostgreSQL primary focus, others can come post-v1
Snowboard/Alpine.js patterns	Clean break from WinterCMS frontend mess
PHP compatibility layer	This is a rewrite, not a port
Visual page builders	Anti-feature - leads to unmaintainable sites
Database-stored code	Anti-feature - code belongs in files
WordPress-style hooks everywhere	Anti-feature - type-safe events instead
Kitchen-sink core	Keep core minimal, features in plugins

Traceability

Which phases cover which requirements. Updated during roadmap creation.

Requirement	Phase	Status
INFRA-01	Phase 1: Foundation	Complete
INFRA-02	Phase 1: Foundation	Complete
INFRA-03	Phase 1: Foundation	Complete
INFRA-04	Phase 1: Foundation	Complete
DIFF-01	Phase 1: Foundation	Complete
CORE-01	Phase 2: Plugin System	Pending
CORE-02	Phase 2: Plugin System	Pending
CORE-03	Phase 3: Component System	Pending
CORE-04	Phase 3: Component System	Pending
CORE-05	Phase 4: Theme Engine	Pending
CORE-06	Phase 4: Theme Engine	Pending
CORE-07	Phase 5: CLI Scaffolding	Pending
CORE-08	Phase 5: CLI Scaffolding	Pending
CORE-09	Phase 5: CLI Scaffolding	Pending
AUTH-01	Phase 6: Backend Authentication	Pending
AUTH-02	Phase 6: Backend Authentication	Pending
AUTH-03	Phase 6: Backend Authentication	Pending
AUTH-04	Phase 6: Backend Authentication	Pending
ADMIN-01	Phase 7: Admin Forms & Lists	Pending
ADMIN-02	Phase 7: Admin Forms & Lists	Pending
ADMIN-03	Phase 7: Admin Forms & Lists	Pending
ADMIN-04	Phase 7: Admin Forms & Lists	Pending
ADMIN-05	Phase 8: Admin Dashboard	Pending
ADMIN-06	Phase 8: Admin Dashboard	Pending
ADMIN-07	Phase 8: Admin Dashboard	Pending
CONT-01	Phase 9: Content Management	Pending
CONT-02	Phase 9: Content Management	Pending
CONT-03	Phase 9: Content Management	Pending
CONT-04	Phase 9: Content Management	Pending
CONT-05	Phase 9: Content Management	Pending
CONT-06	Phase 9: Content Management	Pending
CONT-07	Phase 9: Content Management	Pending
CONT-08	Phase 9: Content Management	Pending
CONT-09	Phase 9: Content Management	Pending
DIFF-02	Phase 9: Content Management	Pending
PLUG-01	Phase 10: Core Plugins	Pending
PLUG-02	Phase 10: Core Plugins	Pending
PLUG-03	Phase 10: Core Plugins	Pending
PLUG-04	Phase 10: Core Plugins	Pending
PLUG-05	Phase 10: Core Plugins	Pending
PLUG-06	Phase 10: Core Plugins	Pending
PLUG-07	Phase 10: Core Plugins	Pending
PLUG-08	Phase 10: Core Plugins	Pending

Coverage:

v1 requirements: 43 total
Mapped to phases: 43
Unmapped: 0

Requirements defined: 2025-02-04 Last updated: 2026-02-05 after Phase 1 completion

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