EmDash CMS Skill by ara.so — Daily 2026 Skills collection. EmDash is a full-stack TypeScript CMS built on Astro and Cloudflare. It is the spiritual successor to WordPress: extensible, developer-friendly, and powered by a plugin system that runs plugins in sandboxed Worker isolates rather than with full filesystem/database access. EmDash stores rich text as Portable Text (structured JSON) rather than HTML, supports passkey-first auth, and runs on Cloudflare (D1 + R2 + Workers) or any Node.js server with SQLite. Installation Scaffold a new project npm create emdash@latest Follow the prompts to choose a template (blog, marketing, portfolio, starter, blank) and a platform (Cloudflare or Node.js/SQLite). Deploy to Cloudflare directly Use the one-click deploy button from the README, or: npm create emdash@latest -- --template blog-cloudflare cd my-site npm run deploy Add EmDash to an existing Astro project npm install emdash // astro.config.mjs import { defineConfig } from "astro/config" ; import emdash from "emdash/astro" ; import { d1 } from "emdash/db" ; export default defineConfig ( { integrations : [ emdash ( { database : d1 ( ) , // Cloudflare D1 } ) , ] , } ) ; For Node.js + SQLite (no Cloudflare account needed): // astro.config.mjs import { defineConfig } from "astro/config" ; import emdash from "emdash/astro" ; import { sqlite } from "emdash/db" ; export default defineConfig ( { integrations : [ emdash ( { database : sqlite ( { path : "./content.db" } ) , } ) , ] , } ) ; Key CLI Commands

Scaffold a new EmDash project

npm create emdash@latest

Generate TypeScript types from your live schema

npx emdash types

Seed the demo site with sample content

npx emdash seed

Run database migrations

npx emdash migrate

Start the dev server (standard Astro command)

npx astro dev

Build for production

npx astro build

Open admin panel (after dev server starts)

open http://localhost:4321/_emdash/admin Monorepo / contributor commands pnpm install pnpm build pnpm test

run all tests

pnpm typecheck

TypeScript check

pnpm lint:quick

fast lint (< 1s)

pnpm format

format with oxfmt

Run the demo (Node.js + SQLite, no Cloudflare needed)

pnpm --filter emdash-demo seed pnpm --filter emdash-demo dev Configuration Cloudflare (D1 + R2 + KV + Worker Loaders) // wrangler.jsonc { "name": "my-emdash-site", "compatibility_date": "2025-01-01", "d1_databases": [ { "binding": "DB", "database_name": "emdash-content", "database_id": "$DATABASE_ID" } ], "r2_buckets": [ { "binding": "MEDIA", "bucket_name": "emdash-media" } ], "kv_namespaces": [ { "binding": "SESSIONS", "id": "$KV_NAMESPACE_ID" } ], // Remove this block to disable sandboxed plugins (free accounts) "worker_loaders": [ { "binding": "PLUGIN_LOADER" } ] } // astro.config.mjs import emdash from "emdash/astro" ; import { d1 } from "emdash/db" ; import { r2 } from "emdash/storage" ; import { kv } from "emdash/sessions" ; export default defineConfig ( { integrations : [ emdash ( { database : d1 ( { binding : "DB" } ) , storage : r2 ( { binding : "MEDIA" } ) , sessions : kv ( { binding : "SESSIONS" } ) , } ) , ] , } ) ; Node.js + SQLite // astro.config.mjs import emdash from "emdash/astro" ; import { sqlite } from "emdash/db" ; import { localFiles } from "emdash/storage" ; export default defineConfig ( { integrations : [ emdash ( { database : sqlite ( { path : "./content.db" } ) , storage : localFiles ( { dir : "./public/uploads" } ) , } ) , ] , } ) ; PostgreSQL / Turso import { postgres } from "emdash/db" ; import { turso } from "emdash/db" ; // PostgreSQL database : postgres ( { url : process . env . DATABASE_URL } ) // Turso/libSQL database : turso ( { url : process . env . TURSO_DATABASE_URL , authToken : process . env . TURSO_AUTH_TOKEN , } ) Querying Content Content types are defined in the admin UI (no code required). After creating a collection, generate types: npx emdash types This writes type definitions to src/emdash.d.ts . Fetch a collection in an Astro page

// src/pages/blog/index.astro import { getEmDashCollection } from "emdash"; const { entries: posts } = await getEmDashCollection("posts", { filter: { status: "published" }, sort: { field: "publishedAt", direction: "desc" }, limit: 10, });

{posts.map((post) => (
• {post.data.title} {post.data.publishedAt}
))}

Fetch a single entry

// src/pages/blog/[slug].astro import { getEmDashEntry, renderPortableText } from "emdash"; const { slug } = Astro.params; const post = await getEmDashEntry("posts", { slug }); if (!post) return Astro.redirect("/404"); const { Content } = await renderPortableText(post.data.body);

Pagination

import { getEmDashCollection } from "emdash"; const page = Number(Astro.params.page ?? 1); const { entries: posts, total } = await getEmDashCollection("posts", { filter: { status: "published" }, sort: { field: "publishedAt", direction: "desc" }, limit: 10, offset: (page - 1) * 10, });

Filtering by taxonomy

import { getEmDashCollection } from "emdash"; const { entries: posts } = await getEmDashCollection("posts", { filter: { status: "published", tags: { contains: "typescript" }, }, });

Portable Text Rendering EmDash stores rich text as Portable Text (structured JSON), not HTML.

import { renderPortableText } from "emdash"; const post = await getEmDashEntry("posts", { slug: Astro.params.slug }); const { Content } = await renderPortableText(post.data.body);

Custom block renderers // src/portable-text.ts import { definePortableTextComponents } from "emdash/blocks" ; export const components = definePortableTextComponents ( { types : { callout : ( { value } ) => `

, image : ( { value } ) =>

${ value . caption ? ` ` : "" }

, } , marks : { highlight : ( { children } ) => ${ children } ` , } , } ) ;

import { renderPortableText } from "emdash"; import { components } from "../portable-text"; const { Content } = await renderPortableText(post.data.body, { components });

Plugin Development Plugins are the primary extension mechanism. On Cloudflare, they run in sandboxed Worker isolates with a declared capability manifest. On Node.js, they run in-process (safe mode). Minimal plugin // plugins/my-plugin/index.ts import { definePlugin } from "emdash/plugin" ; export default ( ) => definePlugin ( { id : "my-plugin" , name : "My Plugin" , version : "1.0.0" , capabilities : [ ] , hooks : { } , } ) ; Plugin with content hooks and email import { definePlugin } from "emdash/plugin" ; export default ( ) => definePlugin ( { id : "notify-on-publish" , name : "Notify on Publish" , version : "1.0.0" , capabilities : [ "read:content" , "email:send" ] , hooks : { "content:afterSave" : async ( event , ctx ) => { if ( event . content . status !== "published" ) return ; await ctx . email . send ( { to : "editors@example.com" , subject : New post published: ${ event . content . title } , text : " ${ event . content . title } " is now live. , } ) ; } , } , } ) ; Plugin with KV storage and admin settings import { definePlugin } from "emdash/plugin" ; export default ( ) => definePlugin ( { id : "view-counter" , name : "View Counter" , version : "1.0.0" , capabilities : [ "read:content" , "kv:read" , "kv:write" ] , settings : { schema : { resetDaily : { type : "boolean" , default : false , label : "Reset counts daily" } , } , } , hooks : { "content:beforeRender" : async ( event , ctx ) => { const key = views: ${ event . content . id } ; const current = Number ( await ctx . kv . get ( key ) ?? 0 ) ; await ctx . kv . set ( key , String ( current + 1 ) ) ; event . content . meta . views = current + 1 ; } , } , adminPages : [ { path : "/analytics" , title : "View Analytics" , component : "ViewAnalytics" , } , ] , } ) ; Plugin with custom block type import { definePlugin } from "emdash/plugin" ; import { defineBlock } from "emdash/blocks" ; export default ( ) => definePlugin ( { id : "callout-block" , name : "Callout Block" , version : "1.0.0" , capabilities : [ ] , blocks : [ defineBlock ( { name : "callout" , title : "Callout" , fields : [ { name : "type" , type : "select" , options : [ "info" , "warning" , "danger" ] , default : "info" } , { name : "text" , type : "text" , label : "Message" } , ] , } ) , ] , hooks : { } , } ) ; Plugin with custom API route import { definePlugin } from "emdash/plugin" ; export default ( ) => definePlugin ( { id : "newsletter" , name : "Newsletter" , version : "1.0.0" , capabilities : [ "kv:write" ] , apiRoutes : [ { method : "POST" , path : "/subscribe" , handler : async ( request , ctx ) => { const { email } = await request . json ( ) ; await ctx . kv . set ( subscriber: ${ email } , "true" ) ; return new Response ( JSON . stringify ( { ok : true } ) , { headers : { "Content-Type" : "application/json" } , } ) ; } , } , ] , hooks : { } , } ) ; Available capabilities Capability What it allows read:content Read published content write:content Create and update content read:users Read user profiles email:send Send email via configured provider kv:read Read from plugin's KV namespace kv:write Write to plugin's KV namespace http:fetch Make outbound HTTP requests storage:read Read from media storage storage:write Write to media storage Available hooks // Content lifecycle "content:beforeSave" "content:afterSave" "content:beforeDelete" "content:afterDelete" "content:beforeRender" // Auth lifecycle "auth:afterLogin" "auth:afterLogout" "auth:afterRegister" // Media lifecycle "media:beforeUpload" "media:afterUpload" "media:beforeDelete" // Admin lifecycle "admin:init" Authentication EmDash uses passkey-first (WebAuthn) authentication with OAuth and magic link fallbacks. Configure OAuth providers // astro.config.mjs import emdash from "emdash/astro" ; import { github , google } from "emdash/auth" ; export default defineConfig ( { integrations : [ emdash ( { database : d1 ( ) , auth : { providers : [ github ( { clientId : process . env . GITHUB_CLIENT_ID , clientSecret : process . env . GITHUB_CLIENT_SECRET , } ) , google ( { clientId : process . env . GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID , clientSecret : process . env . GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET , } ) , ] , } , } ) , ] , } ) ; Configure magic link email auth : { providers : [ magicLink ( { from : "noreply@yourdomain.com" , // uses the configured email adapter } ) , ] , } Protect a page

// src/pages/dashboard.astro import { requireAuth } from "emdash/auth"; const user = await requireAuth(Astro); // Redirects to /login if not authenticated

Welcome, {user.name}!

Get the current user (optional)

import { getUser } from "emdash/auth"; const user = await getUser(Astro); // null if not logged in

{user ?

Hello {user.name}

Writes to src/emdash.d.ts

Field types available in the schema builder text — short string richText — Portable Text (TipTap editor) number — integer or float boolean — true/false toggle date / datetime — date pickers select — single-choice dropdown multiSelect — multi-choice image — media library picker file — file attachment relation — link to another collection entry slug — URL-safe string, auto-generated from a source field json — raw JSON MCP Server (AI Tool Integration) EmDash includes a built-in MCP server so AI tools like Claude and ChatGPT can manage site content directly. // astro.config.mjs import emdash from "emdash/astro" ; export default defineConfig ( { integrations : [ emdash ( { database : d1 ( ) , mcp : { enabled : true , // Restrict to specific roles allowedRoles : [ "administrator" , "editor" ] , } , } ) , ] , } ) ; The MCP server is available at /_emdash/mcp . Connect Claude Desktop by adding to claude_desktop_config.json : { "mcpServers" : { "emdash" : { "url" : "https://yoursite.com/_emdash/mcp" , "headers" : { "Authorization" : "Bearer $EMDASH_MCP_TOKEN" } } } } Repository Structure packages/ core/ Astro integration, APIs, admin UI, CLI auth/ Authentication library blocks/ Portable Text block definitions cloudflare/ Cloudflare adapter (D1, R2, Worker Loader) plugins/ First-party plugins (forms, embeds, SEO, audit-log, etc.) create-emdash/ npm create emdash scaffolding gutenberg-to-portable-text/ WordPress block converter templates/ blog, marketing, portfolio, starter, blank demos/ Development example sites docs/ Starlight documentation site First-Party Plugins Install from the emdash/plugins package: import forms from "emdash/plugins/forms" ; import seo from "emdash/plugins/seo" ; import embeds from "emdash/plugins/embeds" ; import auditLog from "emdash/plugins/audit-log" ; export default defineConfig ( { integrations : [ emdash ( { database : d1 ( ) , plugins : [ forms ( ) , seo ( ) , embeds ( ) , auditLog ( ) ] , } ) , ] , } ) ; Troubleshooting "Dynamic Workers are not available on free accounts" Sandboxed plugins require a paid Cloudflare account ($5/mo+). To disable sandboxed plugins and run them in-process instead, remove the worker_loaders block from wrangler.jsonc : // wrangler.jsonc — remove this block on free accounts // "worker_loaders": [{ "binding": "PLUGIN_LOADER" }] Admin panel returns 404 Ensure the Astro integration is registered in astro.config.mjs and the dev server has been restarted after installing EmDash. TypeScript errors after schema changes Regenerate types after modifying collections in the admin UI: npx emdash types D1 binding errors locally Use wrangler dev instead of astro dev when developing with D1 bindings, or switch to SQLite for local development: database : process . env . CF_PAGES ? d1 ( ) : sqlite ( { path : "./content.db" } ) Migrations not applied npx emdash migrate

For Cloudflare D1 remote:

npx wrangler d1 migrations apply emdash-content --remote Plugin hook not firing Verify the plugin is listed in the plugins array in astro.config.mjs and that the capability required by the hook is declared in the plugin's capabilities array. Missing capabilities cause the sandbox to silently block the call.