Strapi Custom Content Types Development

Custom Content Types in Strapi

Content Types in Strapi come in three varieties: Collection Type (list of entries), Single Type (one entry — site settings, home page), Component (reusable group of fields). All are described via JSON schema in src/api/ or src/components/.

Collection Type

// src/api/product/content-types/product/schema.json
{
  "kind": "collectionType",
  "collectionName": "products",
  "info": {
    "singularName": "product",
    "pluralName": "products",
    "displayName": "Product"
  },
  "options": { "draftAndPublish": true },
  "pluginOptions": { "i18n": { "localized": true } },
  "attributes": {
    "name": {
      "type": "string",
      "required": true,
      "pluginOptions": { "i18n": { "localized": true } }
    },
    "slug": { "type": "uid", "targetField": "name" },
    "description": {
      "type": "richtext",
      "pluginOptions": { "i18n": { "localized": true } }
    },
    "price": { "type": "decimal", "required": true, "min": 0 },
    "stock": { "type": "integer", "default": 0, "min": 0 },
    "images": { "type": "media", "multiple": true, "allowedTypes": ["images"] },
    "category": {
      "type": "relation",
      "relation": "manyToOne",
      "target": "api::category.category",
      "inversedBy": "products"
    },
    "specs": {
      "type": "component",
      "repeatable": true,
      "component": "product.spec"
    }
  }
}

Single Type

// src/api/homepage/content-types/homepage/schema.json
{
  "kind": "singleType",
  "collectionName": "homepages",
  "info": {
    "singularName": "homepage",
    "pluralName": "homepages",
    "displayName": "Home Page"
  },
  "attributes": {
    "hero": { "type": "component", "component": "sections.hero", "repeatable": false },
    "sections": { "type": "dynamiczone", "components": ["sections.text", "sections.gallery", "sections.cta"] },
    "seo": { "type": "component", "component": "shared.seo", "repeatable": false }
  }
}

Component

// src/components/shared/seo.json
{
  "collectionName": "components_shared_seos",
  "info": { "displayName": "SEO", "icon": "search" },
  "attributes": {
    "metaTitle": { "type": "string", "maxLength": 60 },
    "metaDescription": { "type": "text", "maxLength": 160 },
    "ogImage": { "type": "media", "multiple": false, "allowedTypes": ["images"] },
    "noIndex": { "type": "boolean", "default": false }
  }
}

API Requests to Content Types

# Collection Type
GET /api/products?populate=images,category,specs&sort=createdAt:desc

# Single Type
GET /api/homepage?populate=hero,sections,seo

# Dynamic Zone — need to populate each component
GET /api/homepage?populate[sections][populate]=*

Programmatic Entry Creation

// In Strapi controller or service
await strapi.entityService.create('api::product.product', {
  data: {
    name: 'New Product',
    slug: 'new-product',
    price: 1500,
    publishedAt: new Date(),
  },
})

Timeline

Creating 3–5 content types with components via Content-Type Builder and JSON takes 1–2 days.