Standalone server

What you'll learn

Run Easy CMS as its own server for a Vite, React, Vue or static frontend, and deploy it.

Before this page: Getting started.

Easy CMS can run as its own server instead of inside Nuxt or Next.js. Use it as the backend for a Vite, React, Vue, Svelte or static frontend, or when the CMS should live on its own domain.

Create a project

npm

npm create easy-cms@latest my-cms
cd my-cms
npm run dev

pnpm

pnpm create easy-cms my-cms
cd my-cms
pnpm dev

yarn

yarn create easy-cms my-cms
cd my-cms
yarn dev

bun

bun create easy-cms my-cms
cd my-cms
bun run dev

In a new or empty directory create-easy-cms sets up a standalone server: package.json with scripts, easy-cms.config.ts, and a secret in .env. In an existing project that is not Nuxt or Next.js, pass --standalone.

Open http://localhost:4000/admin and create the first admin. npm run dev runs easy-cms serve --watch, which reloads when the config or files it imports change; a config with an error is reported and the previous one keeps serving.

Routes

Path
/admin	Admin UI (admin.path)
/api/cms	REST API (routes.api)
/healthz	ok, for load balancers and container health checks
/	Redirects to the admin

Calling it from a frontend

List the frontend's origin in cors, then fetch from the browser:

// easy-cms.config.ts
export default defineConfig({
  // …
  cors: ['http://localhost:5173', 'https://www.example.com'],
})

// in the frontend
const { docs } = await fetch('https://cms.example.com/api/cms/posts?depth=1').then((r) => r.json())

Anonymous requests see what read access allows (typically published content). For typed responses, generate types with npx easy-cms generate:types and copy the file into the frontend.

Logged-in requests from another origin need either a bearer token (Authorization: Bearer <token>) or cookies. Cookies work when the frontend and the CMS are on the same site (e.g. www.example.com and cms.example.com) and the frontend's origin is in auth.trustedOrigins; send them with fetch(url, { credentials: 'include' }).

Options

easy-cms serve [--port <n>] [--host <host>] [--watch] [--trust-proxy]

Option	Default
--port	PORT, then 4000
--host	HOST, then all interfaces
--watch	off	Reload on changes (development)
--trust-proxy	off	Use X-Forwarded-For (login rate limiting) and X-Forwarded-Proto (secure cookies) from your reverse proxy

easy-cms serve reads .env from the project root, like every CLI command.

Deploying

Same as the adapters: create and apply migrations, then start with NODE_ENV=production, which refuses to start while migrations are pending. See Migrations & deployment.

npm

npx easy-cms migrate
NODE_ENV=production npx easy-cms serve --trust-proxy

pnpm

pnpm exec easy-cms migrate
NODE_ENV=production pnpm exec easy-cms serve --trust-proxy

yarn

yarn easy-cms migrate
NODE_ENV=production yarn easy-cms serve --trust-proxy

bun

bunx easy-cms migrate
NODE_ENV=production bunx easy-cms serve --trust-proxy

A Dockerfile:

FROM node:24-slim
WORKDIR /app
COPY package*.json ./
RUN npm ci --omit=dev
COPY . .
ENV NODE_ENV=production PORT=4000
EXPOSE 4000
HEALTHCHECK CMD node -e "fetch('http://localhost:4000/healthz').then(r => process.exit(r.ok ? 0 : 1))"
CMD ["sh", "-c", "npx easy-cms migrate && npx easy-cms serve"]

Uploads on local disk need a volume (/app/uploads); or use S3 storage.

Use your own server

createStandaloneHandler(cms) from easy-cms returns the same (Request) => Response handler, for Hono, Bun, Deno or any server that speaks Web requests:

import { createEasyCMS, loadConfig } from '@easy-cms/core'
import { createStandaloneHandler } from 'easy-cms'

const cms = await createEasyCMS(await loadConfig())
const handler = createStandaloneHandler(cms)
Bun.serve({ port: 4000, fetch: (request) => handler(request) })

Next steps

• REST API: call the API from your frontend.
• TypeScript: types for a frontend in another repository.