Strapi CMS Integration

Strapi CMS Integration for Content Management

Strapi — open-source headless CMS on Node.js. Provides admin panel for content management and auto-generates REST and GraphQL APIs by created content types. Deploys on own server — data stays under control.

Architecture

Strapi consists of two parts: Admin Panel — React app for managing content, schemas, settings; Backend — Node.js/Koa server with auto-generated API routes.

Headless workflow:

Strapi Admin → creates content
Strapi API   → serves content to clients
Frontend     → Next.js / Nuxt / mobile app

Installation

npx create-strapi-app@latest my-cms --quickstart
# or with database
npx create-strapi-app@latest my-cms \
    --dbclient=postgres \
    --dbhost=127.0.0.1 \
    --dbport=5432 \
    --dbname=strapi \
    --dbusername=strapi \
    --dbpassword=secret

Supported databases: SQLite (development), PostgreSQL, MySQL/MariaDB.

Content Types

Create via Content-Type Builder in admin (drag-and-drop) or code:

src/api/article/content-types/article/schema.json

{
  "kind": "collectionType",
  "collectionName": "articles",
  "info": {
    "singularName": "article",
    "pluralName": "articles",
    "displayName": "Article"
  },
  "attributes": {
    "title":       { "type": "string", "required": true },
    "slug":        { "type": "uid", "targetField": "title" },
    "content":     { "type": "richtext" },
    "cover":       { "type": "media", "allowedTypes": ["images"] },
    "author":      { "type": "relation", "relation": "manyToOne", "target": "plugin::users-permissions.user" },
    "publishedAt": { "type": "datetime" }
  }
}

Schema changes auto-create migrations on next startup.

API Requests

# Get all articles
GET /api/articles

# With populate for relations
GET /api/articles?populate=cover,author

# Filtering
GET /api/articles?filters[title][$containsi]=strapi&filters[publishedAt][$notNull]=true

# Sorting and pagination
GET /api/articles?sort=publishedAt:desc&pagination[page]=1&pagination[pageSize]=10

Response:

{
  "data": [
    {
      "id": 1,
      "attributes": {
        "title": "Getting started with Strapi",
        "slug": "getting-started",
        "content": "<p>...</p>",
        "publishedAt": "2025-03-01T10:00:00.000Z",
        "cover": { "data": { "attributes": { "url": "/uploads/cover.jpg" } } }
      }
    }
  ],
  "meta": { "pagination": { "page": 1, "pageSize": 10, "total": 42 } }
}

Custom Routes and Controllers

// src/api/article/routes/custom-article.js
module.exports = {
  routes: [
    {
      method: 'GET',
      path: '/articles/featured',
      handler: 'article.featured',
    },
  ],
};

// src/api/article/controllers/article.js
module.exports = {
  async featured(ctx) {
    const articles = await strapi.entityService.findMany('api::article.article', {
      filters: { featured: true, publishedAt: { $notNull: true } },
      sort: { publishedAt: 'desc' },
      limit: 6,
      populate: ['cover'],
    });
    return { data: articles };
  },
};

Lifecycle Hooks

// src/api/article/content-types/article/lifecycles.js
module.exports = {
  async beforeCreate(event) {
    const { data } = event.params;
    if (!data.slug) {
      data.slug = slugify(data.title);
    }
  },
  async afterCreate(event) {
    const { result } = event;
    // notify channel, clear cache, index in Algolia
    await notifyChannel('new-article', result.id);
  },
};

Internationalization

Built-in i18n plugin:

# Enable in admin: Settings → Internationalization → Add locale

In schema, enable pluginOptions: { i18n: { localized: true } } for fields. API: GET /api/articles?locale=uk.

Production Deployment

# docker-compose.yml
services:
  strapi:
    image: node:20-alpine
    command: yarn start
    environment:
      NODE_ENV: production
      DATABASE_URL: postgres://user:pass@db:5432/strapi
      JWT_SECRET: ${JWT_SECRET}
  db:
    image: postgres:16

For production, move media to S3 via @strapi/provider-upload-aws-s3.

Timeline

Setup, content types, REST API, permissions, deploy — 3–5 days. With custom plugins, i18n, webhooks, monitoring — 1–2 weeks.