# Insertr
> **The Tailwind of CMS** - Zero-configuration content editing for any static site
Insertr adds editing capabilities to any HTML website by simply adding `class="insertr"` to elements. No complex setup, no architectural changes, no framework dependencies. Just mark what should be editable and get a production-ready CMS.
## ✨ Zero Configuration Philosophy
### **Just Add a Class**
```html
```
**That's it!** No manual IDs, no configuration files, no schema definitions.
### **Container Expansion**
Containers with `class="insertr"` automatically make their viable children editable:
- **Viable children**: Elements containing only text (h1-h6, p, span, a, button)
- **Automatic detection**: Skip complex nested elements
- **Semantic convenience**: One class enables section-wide editing
## 🎯 Three User Experiences
### 1. **Regular Visitors** (99% of traffic)
- Pure static HTML performance
- Zero editor assets loaded
- No runtime overhead
### 2. **Content Editors** (Authenticated users)
- Rich editing interface loads on demand
- Click-to-edit any marked element
- Smart input types: text, textarea, link editor, markdown
- Changes saved to database
### 3. **Developers** (You)
- Add `class="insertr"` to any element
- Use HTML `id` attributes for complex cases
- Never see or manage generated content IDs
- Works with any static site generator
## 🚀 Current Status
**✅ Complete Full-Stack CMS**
- **Professional Editor**: Modal forms, markdown support, authentication system
- **Content Persistence**: SQLite database with REST API, version control
- **Version History**: Complete edit history with user attribution and one-click rollback
- **Build Enhancement**: Parse HTML, inject database content, build-time optimization
- **Smart Detection**: Auto-detects content types (text/markdown/link)
- **Deterministic IDs**: Content-based ID generation for consistent developer experience
- **Full Integration**: Seamless development workflow with hot reload
**🔄 Ready for Production**
- Add authentication (JWT/OAuth)
- Deploy to cloud infrastructure
- Configure CDN for library assets
## 🛠️ Quick Start
### **Quick Start (Recommended)**
```bash
# Clone and setup
git clone
cd insertr
# Install dependencies and build everything
just install build
# Start full-stack development
just dev
```
This starts:
- **Demo site**: http://localhost:3000 (with live reload)
- **API server**: http://localhost:8080 (with content persistence)
### **Using NPM**
```bash
# Alternative using npm
npm run install:all
npm run build
npm run dev
```
### **Available Commands**
```bash
just --list # Show all available commands
# Development (Full-Stack by Default)
just dev # Start full-stack development (recommended)
just demo-only # Demo site only (no content persistence)
just serve # API server only (localhost:8080)
# Building
just build # Build library + unified binary (complete stack)
just build-lib # Build JavaScript library only
# Utilities
just check # Validate project setup
just status # Show project status
just clean # Clean build artifacts
```
## 🎯 **Complete Development Experience**
Running `just dev` gives you the **complete Insertr CMS**:
- ✅ **Professional Editor** - Modal forms, markdown support, authentication
- ✅ **Real-Time Persistence** - SQLite database with REST API
- ✅ **Version Control** - Complete edit history with user attribution and rollback
- ✅ **Content Management** - Create, read, update content via browser
- ✅ **Build Integration** - Binary enhances HTML with database content
- ✅ **Hot Reload** - Changes reflected immediately
## 📚 **Version Control Features**
### **Complete Edit History**
Every content change is automatically tracked with:
- **User Attribution** - Who made each change
- **Timestamps** - When changes were made
- **Content Snapshots** - Full content preserved for each version
### **Easy Rollback**
- **View History** button in any content editor
- **One-Click Restore** to any previous version
- **Version Comparison** - See what changed between versions
- **Safe Rollback** - Current content is preserved before restoration
### **Example Workflow**
```
1. Editor clicks on any element with class="insertr"
2. Professional editing modal opens
3. Click "View History" to see all previous versions
4. Each version shows: timestamp, author, content preview
5. Click "Restore" on any version to rollback instantly
6. All changes are tracked automatically
```
## 📊 Parser Output Example
```bash
🔍 Parsing HTML files in: ../demo-site/
📊 Parse Results:
Files processed: 2
Elements found: 40
Container expansions: 3
Generated IDs: 34
📝 Content Types:
text: 19 # Headlines, short content
markdown: 19 # Rich content, paragraphs
link: 2 # Buttons, navigation
🎯 Container Expansions:
hero-section → 3 children (h1, p, button)
services-grid → 6 children (3×h3, 3×p)
```
## 🏗️ Architecture: Unified Binary
### **Enhancement Pipeline**
```
Static Site Build → insertr enhance → Enhanced Deployment
↓ ↓ ↓
Pure HTML Parse + Inject Smart Loading
Database Content (Auth-dependent)
↓
Runtime Content API ← insertr serve ← Database (SQLite/PostgreSQL)
```
**Unified Commands:**
- `insertr enhance` - Build-time content injection
- `insertr serve` - Runtime API server
- Single binary handles both development and production workflows
### **Smart Loading Strategy**
```html
Welcome to Our Site
Latest Content From Database
```
**Benefits:**
- **Performance**: Zero runtime cost for regular visitors
- **Framework agnostic**: Works with Hugo, Next.js, Jekyll, etc.
- **Zero configuration**: No schema files or content mappings
- **Developer friendly**: Stay in HTML markup, no context switching
## 🔧 Unified Binary Commands
### **Build-Time Enhancement**
```bash
# Production build with remote API
./insertr enhance src/ --output ./dist --api https://cms.example.com --api-key xyz
# Development build with local database
./insertr enhance demo-site/ --output ./dist --db ./content.db
# Development build with mock data
./insertr enhance demo-site/ --output ./dist --mock
# Use justfile shortcuts
just enhance # Default: demo-site/ → dist/ with mock data
just enhance input="src" output="public" # Custom paths
```
### **Runtime API Server**
```bash
# Production server with PostgreSQL
./insertr serve --db "postgresql://user:pass@host:5432/dbname"
# Development server with SQLite
./insertr serve --dev-mode --port 8080 --db ./dev.db
# Production server with custom config
./insertr --config ./production.yaml serve
# Use justfile shortcuts
just serve # Development server on :8080
just serve-prod port="443" # Production server
```
### **Configuration Options**
```bash
# YAML configuration file
./insertr --config ./custom.yaml [command]
# Environment variables
export INSERTR_DB_PATH="./content.db"
export INSERTR_API_URL="https://api.example.com"
export INSERTR_API_KEY="your-api-key"
export INSERTR_SITE_ID="production"
# Command-line flags (highest priority)
./insertr --db ./custom.db --site-id staging serve --port 3000
# Show all options
./insertr --help
./insertr enhance --help
./insertr serve --help
```
## 📚 Integration Examples
### **GitHub Actions Workflow**
```yaml
# .github/workflows/deploy.yml
- name: Build static site
run: hugo --minify
- name: Enhance with Insertr
run: insertr enhance ./public --output ./dist
- name: Deploy enhanced site
uses: peaceiris/actions-gh-pages@v3
with:
publish_dir: ./dist
```
### **Container vs Individual Elements**
```html
Dynamic Title
Dynamic description
```
### **Content Type Detection**
- **Headlines** (`h1-h6`) → Text input with character limits
- **Paragraphs** (`p`) → Markdown textarea for rich content
- **Links/Buttons** (`a`, `button`) → Text + URL fields
- **Containers** (`div`, `section`) → Expand to viable children
## 🔧 Development Workflow
### **Live Development with Hot Reload**
```bash
# 🔥 Hot Reload: watches BOTH library AND unified binary
just air
# Alternative: Watch library only
just watch
# or: cd lib && npm run dev
# Library changes: lib/src/**/*.js → Auto rebuild library + binary
# Binary changes: cmd/**/*.go, internal/**/*.go → Auto rebuild binary
# Both trigger server restart with latest embedded assets
# Visit localhost:3000 → Refresh to see changes
```
**What Gets Hot Reloaded:**
- JavaScript library changes (`lib/src/`)
- Go unified binary changes (`cmd/`, `internal/`)
- Enhanced HTML output (real-time content injection)
### **Content ID Management**
**Development Phase:**
- Generated IDs are disposable and change freely
- Focus on markup, ignore content persistence
- Use HTML `id` attributes for complex cases
**Production Phase:**
- Preserve existing content mappings for stability
- Binary warns about orphaned content
- Simple migration tools for structural changes
## ⚙️ Configuration
### **YAML Configuration (insertr.yaml)**
```yaml
# Database configuration
database:
path: "./insertr.db" # SQLite file or PostgreSQL connection string
# API configuration (for remote content API)
api:
url: "" # Content API URL (leave empty to use local database)
key: "" # API authentication key
# Server configuration
server:
port: 8080 # HTTP server port
dev_mode: false # Enable development mode features
# Build configuration
build:
input: "./src" # Default input directory
output: "./dist" # Default output directory
# Global settings
site_id: "demo" # Site ID for content lookup
mock_content: false # Use mock content instead of real data
```
### **Configuration Precedence**
1. **CLI flags** (highest priority) - `./insertr --db ./custom.db serve`
2. **Environment variables** - `INSERTR_DB_PATH=./custom.db`
3. **YAML config file** - `insertr.yaml` or `--config custom.yaml`
4. **Smart defaults** (lowest priority)
### **Environment Variables**
- `INSERTR_DB_PATH` - Database path
- `INSERTR_API_URL` - Remote API URL
- `INSERTR_API_KEY` - API authentication key
- `INSERTR_SITE_ID` - Site identifier
## 📖 Documentation
- **[Development Guide](DEVELOPMENT.md)** - Setup and contribution workflow
- **[Research Document](RESEARCH.md)** - Strategic analysis and market positioning
- **[Integration Summary](INTEGRATION-SUMMARY.md)** - Complete architecture overview
## 🎯 Market Position: "The Tailwind of CMS"
**Tailwind CSS Approach:**
- Utility-first classes: `class="text-lg font-bold"`
- Zero configuration, build-time optimization
- Framework agnostic, developer workflow integration
**Insertr CMS Approach:**
- Content-first classes: `class="insertr"`
- Zero configuration, build-time enhancement
- Framework agnostic, developer workflow integration
**Shared Principles:**
- Stay in markup, don't context switch
- Build-time optimization, zero runtime overhead
- Works with any framework or generator
- Developer experience focused
## ⚙️ Configuration
### **YAML Configuration (insertr.yaml)**
```yaml
# Database configuration
database:
path: "./insertr.db" # SQLite file path or PostgreSQL connection string
# API configuration (for remote content API)
api:
url: "" # Content API URL (leave empty to use local database)
key: "" # API authentication key
# Server configuration
server:
port: 8080 # HTTP server port
dev_mode: false # Enable development mode features
# Build configuration
build:
input: "./src" # Default input directory for enhancement
output: "./dist" # Default output directory for enhanced files
# Global settings
site_id: "demo" # Default site ID for content lookup
mock_content: false # Use mock content instead of real data
```
### **Environment Variables**
- `INSERTR_DB_PATH` - Database path override
- `INSERTR_API_URL` - Remote API URL override
- `INSERTR_API_KEY` - API authentication key
- `INSERTR_SITE_ID` - Site identifier override
### **Configuration Precedence**
1. **CLI flags** (highest priority)
2. **Environment variables**
3. **YAML config file**
4. **Smart defaults** (lowest priority)
### **Database Options**
```bash
# SQLite (development)
./insertr serve --db "./content.db"
# PostgreSQL (production)
./insertr serve --db "postgresql://user:pass@host:5432/insertr"
# Environment-based
export INSERTR_DB_PATH="postgresql://prod-host/insertr"
./insertr serve
```
## 🤝 Contributing
This project follows the "Tailwind philosophy" of developer-first design:
1. **Zero configuration** - Markup-driven approach
2. **Build-time optimization** - No runtime performance cost
3. **Framework agnostic** - Works with any tech stack
4. **Developer friendly** - Minimal cognitive overhead
See [DEVELOPMENT.md](DEVELOPMENT.md) for technical setup and contribution guidelines.
## 📄 License
MIT License - see LICENSE file for details.
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**Built with ❤️ for developers who want powerful editing without the complexity**