Content Model

Your content model is the set of collections and fields your site stores. You define it in the admin panel or with the CLI, change it whenever you need to, and optionally generate TypeScript types from it. This page covers how to work with it.

Collections and fields

A collection is a type of content (posts, products, authors). Each collection has fields you define (a title, a body, a price). Every entry also has system fields EmDash manages for you.

You create and edit collections and fields visually in the admin panel under Content Types, or with the CLI. Changes take effect immediately, and a non-developer can do it.

System fields

In addition to the fields you define, every entry has these, always present:

Field	Purpose
id	Stable unique identifier
slug	URL-safe identifier, unique per locale
status	draft, published, or scheduled
author_id	The user who created the entry
created_at / updated_at / published_at	Timestamps
deleted_at	Set on soft delete; the row is kept
version	Increments on each save

Deleting an entry is a soft delete: it can be restored.

Changing the model anytime

You can add, rename, remove, or retype a field on a live collection at any time, through the admin panel or the CLI. Existing content is preserved.

Tip

Adding a field is always safe. Removing one drops its data. Rename rather than remove-and-recreate when you want to keep existing values.

TypeScript types

Type generation is optional but recommended. Generate types from your current model:

npx emdash types

This writes .emdash/types.ts with an interface per collection and typed query overloads, so getEmDashCollection("posts") returns fully typed entries:

.emdash/types.ts (generated)

export interface Post {
  title: string;
  content: PortableTextBlock[];
  excerpt?: string;
}

declare module "emdash" {
  export function getEmDashCollection(
    type: "posts",
  ): Promise<{ entries: ContentEntry<Post>[]; error?: Error }>;
}

Re-run the command after changing the model to keep types in sync.

Workflows

Both workflows change the same model.

A non-developer uses the admin panel:

1. Open Content Types in the admin panel.
2. Click Add Collection.
3. Define fields with the visual builder.
4. Start creating content.

A developer can use the CLI to generate types and move the model between environments:

npx emdash types                     # generate TypeScript types
npx emdash export-seed > seed.json   # export the model as a seed file

Seed files

A seed file is a JSON description of collections, taxonomies, and menus. Templates ship one, and you can export your own for version control or to set up another environment.

.emdash/seed.json

{
  "version": "1",
  "collections": [
    {
      "slug": "posts",
      "label": "Blog Posts",
      "labelSingular": "Post",
      "supports": ["drafts", "revisions", "preview"],
      "fields": [
        { "slug": "title", "type": "string", "required": true },
        { "slug": "content", "type": "portableText" }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "taxonomies": [{ "name": "category", "label": "Categories", "hierarchical": true }],
  "menus": [{ "name": "primary", "label": "Primary Navigation" }]
}

Applying a seed is idempotent, so it is safe to re-run:

import { applySeed, validateSeed } from "emdash/seed";
import seedData from "./.emdash/seed.json";

const { valid, errors } = validateSeed(seedData);
await applySeed(db, seedData, { includeContent: true, onConflict: "skip" });

See Seed file format for the full schema.

Next steps

Collections

Define field types and validation.

Admin Panel

See the admin panel.

Seeding

Set up sites with seed files.