SummerCMS

What This Is

A Scala-based Content Management Framework (CMF), rewriting WinterCMS/OctoberCMS for better performance, scalability, and a cleaner developer experience. Targets the same audience as WinterCMS — agencies, freelancers, and developers who need to rapidly build anything from simple landing pages to complex portals.

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.

Requirements

Validated

(None yet — ship to validate)

Active

Model / Controller / Components system similar to WinterCMS
Modern frontend-backend communication (research needed — not plain AJAX, scalable)
Admin backend with YAML/JSON-driven form generation
CLI scaffolding commands for initial setup
Plugin system with interdependencies (plugins can extend each other)
Theme system with Vue compatibility
HTMX integration for data-attributes style interactions
Themes can declare rendering mode (SPA / hybrid / static)
Full WinterCMS feature parity (CMS pages, media manager, users, etc.)

Out of Scope

Multi-database support from start — PostgreSQL primary, others can come later
Snowboard/Alpine.js patterns — clean break from WinterCMS frontend mess
PHP compatibility layer — this is a rewrite, not a port

Context

Why this exists:

OctoberCMS went paid license, development stalled despite thousands in yearly fees
WinterCMS has active development but messy frontend (Snowboard + Alpine.js + API mode + theme mode all mixed)
PHP performance and scaling limitations for high-traffic sites
Desire for cleaner, more maintainable codebase

Reference implementation:

golem15-wintercms-starter/ submodule contains WinterCMS reference
Patterns to replicate: plugin structure, YAML-driven forms, component system, event-driven model extensions
Apparatus framework concepts: scenario-based workflows, automatic DI, backend CSS/JS injection

Team:

Principal Scala developer from major Scala company on board
Sufficient funding for AI agents and human developers

What made OctoberCMS great:

Data attributes API for frontend interactions (HTMX captures this spirit)
Flexibility to build anything from landing pages to complex portals
Themes as first-class citizens

Constraints

Language: Scala with ZIO ecosystem — chosen for performance, type safety, and freedom-respecting community
Database: PostgreSQL primary — focus on one DB done well
Frontend: Vue-compatible themes + HTMX for interactions — clean break from Snowboard/Alpine mess
Deployment: Pulumi-first (IaC), Docker and JVM also supported
Template engine: TBD — needs research for Scala options
Backend communication: TBD — needs research (websockets scale poorly, explore alternatives)

Key Decisions

Decision	Rationale	Outcome
Scala over other languages	Principal dev expertise, performance, type safety	— Pending
ZIO ecosystem over Typelevel	Community values alignment, opinionated framework fits CMF needs	— Pending
PostgreSQL only for v1	Focus beats breadth, can add others later	— Pending
HTMX + Vue frontend	Cleaner than Snowboard/Alpine, captures OctoberCMS data-attributes spirit	— Pending
Pulumi-first deployment	Modern IaC approach, cloud-native from start	— Pending
Full WinterCMS parity as goal	Proven feature set, clear target	— Pending
Incremental milestones	Validate architecture before building everything on it	— Pending

Note

This project has CONTEXT.md generated for each of the initial 10 phases.

Last updated: 2025-02-04 after initialization

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