README.md

Fast, smooth, and effortless publishing — live in about a minute.
One CLI · Full-stack CMS · Headless themes · Built for production deployment.

Theme live demo · Full stack demo · Theme Starter

Report Bug · Request Feature · Documentation · 中文文档

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Table of contents

• What is ReactPress?
• Why ReactPress?
• How to use
• Contributing

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What is ReactPress?

ReactPress is a publishing platform built around a CMS backend, an admin console, and optional frontends — install one CLI package to run the API, manage content in the admin, and connect a public theme when you are ready.

Component	Role
CMS backend (API)	Stores and serves posts, pages, media, categories, and settings
Admin console	Web UI for writing and managing content (included in full-stack setups)
Official theme	Recommended public site — search, knowledge base, comments, dark mode
CLI (reactpress)	Initialize, run locally, build, and deploy

What you can do

• Publish — posts, pages, scheduled publishing, categories, and tags
• Manage media — upload images and files, reuse across content
• Customize the site — title, logo, navigation, and appearance from the admin
• Choose your frontend — use the official theme or connect a custom one via the API
• Preview the theme instantly — sample-data mode in the theme repo, no backend required

Write once, publish everywhere. Create content in the admin; render it on the web or through any connected frontend.

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Why ReactPress?

Why use it?

Most publishing tools force a trade-off: either an easy CMS with a slow or tightly coupled frontend, or a fast static site without a proper editor. ReactPress is designed to reduce that trade-off.

What you need	What ReactPress gives you
Start quickly	One global install; init + dev brings up the CMS backend in about a minute¹
Write in a familiar way	Web admin for posts, pages, media, and categories
A site visitors enjoy	Official theme: fast pages, search, comments, knowledge base, dark mode
Room to grow	Headless API — swap or customize the public frontend without migrating content
Fewer moving parts	Core publishing features without assembling plugins; official theme demo scores Lighthouse 95 / 100 / 100 / 100²

In one line: WordPress-style content workflow + a modern public site — with a clearer path to performance and frontend flexibility.

¹ After Node.js and Docker are available; the first Docker image pull may take longer.
² Measured on the official theme live demo; your scores depend on hosting and content.

How it compares

	ReactPress	WordPress	Ghost	Static site (Hugo, Hexo, etc.)
Time to first running stack	init + dev — about 1 minute¹	Server, PHP, themes, and plugins	Managed hosting or self-hosted install	New repo and build pipeline per site
Content editing	Web admin	Web admin	Web admin	Markdown or MDX in Git
Public site speed & SEO	Lighthouse 95/100/100/100 (official theme demo)²	Varies widely by theme and plugins	Generally strong	Excellent, but no built-in CMS
Frontend flexibility	Headless — connect or replace the theme	Strong theme/plugin ecosystem, often coupled	Theme system tied to Ghost	Fixed at build time
Built-in publishing extras	Search, comments, knowledge base (official theme + API)	Often via plugins	Membership/newsletter focus	Build yourself
Best for	Blogs, content sites, custom publishing	General-purpose websites	Newsletters and publishing businesses	Docs and developer blogs

vs WordPress — Similar admin-driven publishing, with a faster default public theme path and less reliance on plugins for a modern frontend.

vs Ghost — Both target blogging and content publishing. ReactPress emphasizes a CLI-first, headless setup and a swappable Next.js theme; Ghost emphasizes its integrated publishing and membership stack.

vs static generators — Keep strong performance and SEO potential, while adding a CMS so editors can publish without working in Git.

Who is it for? Bloggers, indie creators, teams that need a content hub, and anyone who wants a production-capable stack without a week of integration work.

¹ After dependencies are installed; first Docker pull may take longer.
² Official theme demo at reactpress-theme-starter.vercel.app.

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How to use

1. Start the CMS backend

Requirements: Node.js 18+ · Docker recommended (for the bundled MySQL)

npm i -g @fecommunity/reactpress@3
mkdir my-blog && cd my-blog
reactpress init
reactpress dev

The CLI starts the CMS API and prints the URLs when ready:

Service	Typical URL
API	http://localhost:3002/api
API docs (Swagger)	http://localhost:3002/api
Health check	http://localhost:3002/api/health

Run reactpress anytime for the interactive menu. Use reactpress doctor if startup fails.

In a new project directory, reactpress dev starts the API first. Connect the official theme for the visitor-facing site, or see the docs for a full-stack setup with the admin console.

2. Preview the official theme (no backend)

Preview the theme UI with sample content — no ReactPress install required:

npx create-next-app@latest my-blog --example "https://github.com/fecommunity/reactpress-theme-starter" --use-pnpm
cd my-blog
pnpm dev:mock

Open http://localhost:3001 — same as the live demo.

3. Connect the public site

When the theme should show your content from the CMS:

1. Keep the ReactPress API running (reactpress init → reactpress dev, or reactpress dev --api-only).
2. Clone reactpress-theme-starter and run pnpm install.
3. Copy .env.example to .env, then run pnpm dev.

Open http://localhost:3001 for the public site. Customize colors, logo, and navigation in the ReactPress admin when running a full-stack deployment.

Full guide: theme starter README.

4. See it in action

Admin console	Live site

Full stack demo · Theme demo

5. Everyday commands

Command	What it does
reactpress	Open the interactive menu
reactpress init	Set up a new site
reactpress dev	Run the CMS API locally (add a theme for the public site)
reactpress build	Prepare for production
reactpress start	Run in production
reactpress doctor	Diagnose setup issues
reactpress status	See what is running

More options: documentation

6. Deploy to production

npm i -g @fecommunity/reactpress@3
reactpress build
reactpress start

For Docker, PM2, backups, and advanced setup, see the full documentation.

To deploy only the public theme, use reactpress-theme-starter and point it at your ReactPress API.

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Contributing

Thank you to everyone who has helped shape ReactPress.

Contributing Guide · Code of Conduct · Security Policy

FECommunity	SleepSheep	fantasticit	chenbo29	redteav2	trashken	franz007	funtime1
scottdeift	TwoDollars666	Xiaonan2020	redtea	m0_37981569

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MIT License · © ReactPress / FECommunity