Strapi CMS

Generic Strapi CMS development methodology. For project-specific configuration, content types, and deployment details, see cms-config.md.

Critical Development Rules

1. Use Content-Type Builder — define content types through the admin panel or content-types directory
2. REST API by default — Strapi exposes REST endpoints automatically; enable GraphQL plugin if needed
3. Extend controllers — implement src/api/<type>/controllers/<type>.js with wrapper logic that calls services
4. Implement services — place business logic in src/api/<type>/services/ and keep controllers thin
5. Use lifecycle hooks — add beforeCreate/afterUpdate handlers in src/api/<type>/lifecycles.js for side effects
6. Configure permissions per role — set public/authenticated access in Users & Permissions; keep environment configs under config/env/<env>/

API Patterns

REST API (Strapi-specific)

• Use populate to include relations
• Use filters with operators ($eq, $contains, $in, etc.)
• Pagination via pagination[page] and pagination[pageSize]
• Use fields to select attributes

Quick REST examples

GET with populate and filters (client-side fetch):

// GET /api/articles?populate=author,categories&filters[status][$eq]=published&pagination[page]=1&pagination[pageSize]=10
const res = await fetch('https://cms.example.com/api/articles?populate=author,categories&filters[status][$eq]=published');
const json = await res.json();
console.log(json.data[0].attributes.title);

Custom controller extension (server):

// src/api/article/controllers/article.js
const { createCoreController } = require('@strapi/strapi').factories;

module.exports = createCoreController('api::article.article', ({ strapi }) => ({
	async find(ctx) {
		// call default then modify response
		const res = await super.find(ctx);
		// add extra field
		res.meta.custom = { processedAt: new Date().toISOString() };
		return res;
	},
}));

Lifecycle hook example:

// src/api/article/content-types/article/lifecycles.js
module.exports = {
	async beforeCreate(event) {
		const { data } = event.params;
		if (data.title) data.slug = slugify(data.title);
	},
};

Quick workflow: create content type + custom controller + service

1. Create content type using Content-Type Builder or src/api/<type>/content-types/schema.json → commit schema.
2. Scaffold controller and service files under src/api/<type>/controllers/ and src/api/<type>/services/ with thin controller calling service functions.
3. Add lifecycle hooks (optional) in content-types/<type>/lifecycles.js for side effects.
4. Run local Strapi (yarn develop) → check admin UI for new content type.
   • Validation: create a test entry in admin UI and confirm via GET /api/<type>?pagination[page]=1 that fields exist.
   • If fail: check server logs, run yarn build to surface schema errors, verify schema.json validity.
5. Add permissions (Users & Permissions) for public/authenticated roles if API access required.
6. Add automated API test: fetch('/api/<type>?populate=*') in test suite to validate relations populate.

For more reference patterns and larger examples, see REFERENCE.md.