Manablox

Download

Your Monday starts here.

Manablox installs from npm. One command writes a project you own, with the API, the admin and the database set up the way you choose.

You need

  • Node 24 or newer
  • pnpm 11, through Corepack
  • Docker with Compose, for Postgres and the cache. With SQLite you can do without

  1. Create the project

    pnpm dlx @manablox/cli create my-cms

    The CLI asks which database to use, how the instance will run, where uploads live and how mail is sent. Pass --yes to take the defaults. It writes a project folder with fresh secrets in a gitignored .env.

  2. Start it

    cd my-cms && pnpm services:up && pnpm migrate && pnpm dev

    Open http://localhost:3000. The API and the admin are served there by one process. The first account you create becomes the administrator, and a short assistant sets up your first space.

  3. Build the website

    pnpm dlx @manablox/cli frontend my-site --framework astro

    A starter site that reads your published content, no API key needed, with routing by URL, the block grid, the main menu and the preview route the visual editor talks to.

The choices you will be asked about

How it runs

Local development
Docker runs the database and cache, the CMS runs on your machine. The quickest way to try it.
Docker behind Caddy
The whole stack in containers with automatic HTTPS. Ready for a server.
Docker behind nginx
The same stack, with certificates you bring.
Docker, ports published
For a server that already runs its own web server.

Database

Postgres 18
A database server. Many writers, full text search, and a database role for the public API that can only read.
SQLite
One file and nothing to run. One management instance, comfortable into the tens of thousands of documents.

You can move between them later: export the space from one and import it into the other.

Frontend starter

--framework astro
Rendered on the server, and pages ship no JavaScript except the preview.
--framework vue-ssr
Vue 3, rendered on the server and hydrated.
--framework react-ssr
React 19, the same shape as the Vue starter.
--framework plain
Vite and TypeScript in the browser, builds to static files.

Another way in

Add it to a project you already have

Install the packages, write one manablox.config.ts, then migrate and start.

pnpm add @manablox/cli @manablox/server @manablox/admin @manablox/core @manablox/fields
npx manablox migrate && npx manablox start

Stuck, or want the details first? The documentation walks from the first command to a site in production.