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

<!-- Individual elements -->
<h1 class="insertr">Main Title</h1>
<p class="insertr">Description text</p>  
<a href="/contact" class="insertr">Contact Us</a>

<!-- Container expansion -->
<section class="insertr">
  <h1>Hero Title</h1>
  <p>Hero description</p>
  <button>Call to Action</button>
</section>

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)

# Clone and setup
git clone <repository-url>
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

# Alternative using npm
npm run install:all
npm run build
npm run dev

Available Commands

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

🔍 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

<!-- Regular visitors: zero overhead -->
<h1 class="insertr">Welcome to Our Site</h1>

<!-- Authenticated editors: rich editing -->
<h1 class="insertr" data-content-id="hero-title-abc123" 
    data-editor-loaded="true">Latest Content From Database</h1>

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

# 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

# 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

# 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

# .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

<!-- Semantic convenience: entire section editable -->
<section id="hero" class="insertr">
  <h1>Dynamic Title</h1>           <!-- → text input -->
  <p>Dynamic description</p>       <!-- → textarea -->  
  <button>Dynamic CTA</button>     <!-- → link editor -->
</section>

<!-- Granular control: specific elements -->
<nav>
  <h1 class="insertr">Site Name</h1>
  <ul>
    <li><a href="/" class="insertr">Home</a></li>
    <li><a href="/about" class="insertr">About</a></li>
  </ul>
</nav>

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

# 🔥 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)

# 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

• Command Reference - Complete command and configuration guide
• Development Guide - Setup and contribution workflow
• Research Document - Strategic analysis and market positioning
• Integration Summary - 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)

# 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

# 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 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