# Plato
A schema-driven headless CMS for Phoenix applications. Create dynamic content types, manage relationships, and query content with a clean API. Includes a mountable admin UI for content management.
[](https://hex.pm/packages/plato)
[](https://hexdocs.pm/plato)
## Features
- **Schema-driven content**: Define content types dynamically through admin UI or code
- **Field types**: Text fields and reference fields (relationships between content)
- **Field options**: Multiline text fields with customizable textarea rows
- **Unique schemas**: Mark schemas as singleton (only one content instance allowed)
- **Clean API**: Query content by schema name with automatic field resolution
- **View helpers**: Template-friendly functions for easy content rendering
- **Mountable admin**: Admin UI can be mounted at any path in your router
- **Multi-tenant ready**: Support for multiple Plato instances with different databases
- **Code-managed schemas**: Define schemas in code for version control and consistency
## Installation
Add `plato` to your list of dependencies in `mix.exs`:
```elixir
def deps do
[
{:plato, "~> 0.0.9"}
]
end
```
Install dependencies and migrations:
```bash
mix deps.get
mix plato.install
mix ecto.migrate
```
## Quick Start
### 1. Configure
Configure Plato to use your application's repo in `config/config.exs`:
```elixir
config :my_app, :plato,
repo: MyApp.Repo
```
Or set a default otp_app:
```elixir
config :plato,
default_otp_app: :my_app
```
**Note:** Plato uses your application's repo - it does not start its own database connection.
### 2. Mount Admin UI
Import the Plato router and mount the admin interface in your `router.ex`:
```elixir
# lib/my_app_web/router.ex
import Plato.Router
scope "/" do
pipe_through :browser
# Mount admin at any path you want
plato_admin "/admin/cms", otp_app: :my_app
end
```
Now visit `/admin/cms` to manage your content schemas.
### 3. Define Schemas
#### Option A: Via Admin UI
1. Visit `/admin/cms`
2. Create a "Homepage" schema with `unique: true`
3. Add fields: "title" (text), "tagline" (text)
#### Option B: In Code (Recommended)
Define schemas in your application code for version control:
```elixir
# lib/my_app/content_schemas.ex
defmodule MyApp.ContentSchemas do
use Plato.SchemaBuilder
schema "homepage", unique: true do
field :title, :text
field :tagline, :text
end
schema "blog-post" do
field :title, :text
field :excerpt, :text, multiline: true
field :body, :text, multiline: true
field :author, :reference, to: "author"
end
schema "author" do
field :name, :text
field :bio, :text, multiline: true
end
end
```
Sync to database in your `application.ex`:
```elixir
def start(_type, _args) do
children = [
MyApp.Repo,
# ... other children
]
opts = [strategy: :one_for_one, name: MyApp.Supervisor]
{:ok, pid} = Supervisor.start_link(children, opts)
# Sync CMS schemas after repo starts
Plato.sync_schemas(MyApp.ContentSchemas, otp_app: :my_app)
{:ok, pid}
end
```
### 4. Query Content
```elixir
# Get unique content (singleton schemas)
{:ok, homepage} = Plato.get_content("homepage", otp_app: :my_app)
homepage.title
#=> "Welcome to My Site"
# List all content for a schema
{:ok, posts} = Plato.list_content("blog-post", otp_app: :my_app)
# Get content by ID
{:ok, post} = Plato.get_content_by_id(1, otp_app: :my_app)
```
### 5. Use View Helpers
Import helpers in your view module:
```elixir
# lib/my_app_web.ex
def html do
quote do
use Phoenix.Component
import Plato.Helpers
# ...
end
end
```
Use in templates:
```heex
<!-- Fetch single field value -->
<h1><%= plato_content("homepage", :title, otp_app: :my_app) %></h1>
<!-- Render content with a function -->
<%= plato_render("homepage", :hero, otp_app: :my_app, fn hero -> %>
<img src="<%= hero.url %>" alt="<%= hero.alt_text %>">
<% end) %>
<!-- List and render multiple items -->
<%= plato_list("blog-post", otp_app: :my_app, fn post -> %>
<article>
<h2><%= post.title %></h2>
<p><%= post.body %></p>
<small>By <%= post.author.name %></small>
</article>
<% end) %>
```
## API Reference
### Main Functions
- `Plato.sync_schemas/2` - Sync code-defined schemas to database
- `Plato.get_content/2` - Get unique content by schema name
- `Plato.get_content!/2` - Get unique content, raises on error
- `Plato.list_content/2` - List all content for a schema
- `Plato.get_content_by_id/2` - Get content by database ID
- `Plato.create_content/3` - Create new content
- `Plato.update_content/3` - Update existing content
### Schema Builder (DSL)
- `use Plato.SchemaBuilder` - Import schema definition macros
- `schema/2` - Define a schema with name and options
- `field/3` - Define a field within a schema
- Field options for text fields:
- `multiline: true` - Render as textarea instead of input (100% width, 250px height)
### View Helpers
- `Plato.Helpers.plato_content/3` - Fetch single field value
- `Plato.Helpers.plato_render/4` - Fetch and render with function
- `Plato.Helpers.plato_list/3` - List and render multiple items
## Admin UI Features
The admin interface provides:
- **Schemas**: Create and manage content types
- **Fields**: Add text fields and references to other schemas
- Text fields support multiline option for textarea rendering (100% width, 250px height)
- **Content**: Create and edit content instances
- Multiline fields automatically render as textareas
- **Code-managed schemas**: Read-only display for schemas defined in code
- **Unique validation**: Prevent multiple instances of unique schemas
- **Reference resolution**: Automatically resolve and display referenced content
- **Field deletion**: Validate which content would be affected before deleting fields
## Examples
See the [demo app](https://github.com/lassediercks/plato/tree/main/apps/plato_demo) for a complete working example.
## Development
This package is part of an umbrella project. To run tests:
```bash
cd apps/plato
docker-compose -f docker-compose.test.yml up -d
MIX_ENV=test mix ecto.create
MIX_ENV=test mix ecto.migrate
mix test
```
See [TESTING.md](TESTING.md) for more details.
## Contributing
Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.
## License
MIT License - see [LICENSE](LICENSE) for details.
## Links
- [Documentation](https://hexdocs.pm/plato)
- [GitHub](https://github.com/lassediercks/plato)
- [Hex.pm](https://hex.pm/packages/plato)
