README

A template-first CMS aspect for fubber/mini. Adds inline editing, a media library, auto CRUD for database models, an admin panel, and an AI assistant — all layered on top of a plain Mini application without changing how the app itself works.

Requirements

• PHP 8.3+
• fubber/mini ^0.17.0

Installation

composer require fubber/mini-cms

Quick start

Create the content directory structure your site needs:

_content/
  routes.php       # Page definitions
  models.php       # Data model registrations
  site.json        # Site name and description
_views/            # Your templates (override CMS defaults)
_static/           # Your CSS, images, etc.
uploads/           # Media uploads (created at runtime)

Define pages

In _content/routes.php, map URL paths to pages:

<?php
use MiniCms\Page;

return [
    '/'      => new Page('pages/home', title: 'Home'),
    '/about' => new Page('pages/about', title: 'About'),
];

Each page points to a view template in _views/. Views are plain PHP using Mini's template inheritance.

Inline-editable content

Use helper functions in your views to create regions the admin can edit:

<?= cms_text('home.json', 'Hero|Heading', 1, 'Welcome', 'h1') ?>
<?= cms_html('home.json', 'Hero|Body', 2, '<p>Default content here.</p>') ?>
<?= cms_image('home.json', 'Hero|Background', 3, '/default.jpg', 'img', 'Alt text', '16x9') ?>

Content is stored as JSON files in _content/. When the admin is logged in, these regions become editable in-place.

Data models

Register database models for auto CRUD in _content/models.php:

<?php
use MiniCms\Entity;
use App\Testimonial;

return [
    'testimonials' => (new Entity(Testimonial::class, icon: 'bi-chat-quote', pluralTitle: 'Testimonials'))
        ->withDefaultOrder('sort_order ASC'),
];

The admin panel automatically provides list, create, edit, and detail views. Customize any view by overriding it:

'testimonials' => (new Entity(Testimonial::class, icon: 'bi-chat-quote'))
    ->withIndexView('admin/data/testimonials/index.php')
    ->withEditView('admin/data/testimonials/edit.php'),

Entity relationships

When a model has a #[ForeignKey] attribute pointing to another registered entity, the CMS renders the field as a searchable picker in forms and as an inline reference in detail views.

#[ForeignKey(navigation: 'customer')]
public int $customer_id;

Admin panel

The admin panel lives under /admin/ and provides:

• Page editor — inline editing with a component sidebar
• Media library — upload, browse, crop, and organize images
• Data management — auto-generated CRUD for registered models
• Site settings — edit site name and metadata
• AI assistant — chat with an AI agent that can read and edit your site files

Access the admin at /admin/ after configuring CMS_PASSWORD in your site.ini.

AI assistant

The CMS includes an AI assistant available as a drawer in the page editor and as a standalone page at /admin/ai/. It uses an adapter pattern — the default implementation (ClaudeCodeAgent) invokes the Claude Code CLI, but other backends can be swapped in by registering a different AgentInterface implementation.

The assistant has full context of your site structure and can read and modify files directly.

How aspects overlay

MiniCMS registers its routes, views, and static assets through Mini's path registry. Your application's files always take priority — if you define _views/partials/header.php, it overrides the CMS default. This lets you customize any part of the admin UI or public-facing templates without forking the package.

Building JS assets

If you need to modify the CMS JavaScript:

cd vendor/fubber/mini-cms
npm install
npm run build    # one-time build
npm run watch    # rebuild on changes

The bundle outputs to _static/admin/dist/cms.min.js. The built file is committed to the repo, so end users don't need Node.js.

Constraints

• No external CDNs. All assets (Bootstrap, AdminLTE, fonts, icons) are served locally. This is a privacy requirement.
• Filesystem content + git = versioning. All content lives in flat files, so your entire site is version-controlled by default.

License

MIT