AI Blog CMS Platform

Production-grade headless CMS built with Strapi v5 + Next.js 14 + PostgreSQL + Redis + Docker

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🚀 Features

Feature	Details
Strapi v5 Backend	Headless CMS with REST + GraphQL APIs
Next.js 14 Frontend	App Router, SSR, ISR, static generation
PostgreSQL	Primary database with connection pooling
Redis Caching	API response caching, rate limiting store
JWT Auth	Register, login, forgot password, email verify
RBAC	Admin, Moderator, Author, Public roles
Blog CMS	Draft/publish, slugs, SEO meta, OpenGraph
Comment System	Nested comments, moderation, spam detection
Newsletter	Subscribe, confirm, unsubscribe flows
AI Generation	OpenAI integration for content generation
Trending Engine	Score-based trending with decay algorithm
Search API	Full-text search across blogs
Related Posts	Category + tag based recommendations
Image Upload	Cloudinary (prod) / local (dev)
Docker	Dev + prod compose files, multi-stage builds
CI/CD	GitHub Actions — lint, test, build, deploy
Nginx	Reverse proxy, SSL, gzip, rate limiting

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📁 Project Structure

ai-blog-cms/
├── backend/                    # Strapi v5
│   ├── config/
│   │   ├── database.js         # PostgreSQL config
│   │   ├── server.js           # Host/port/admin
│   │   ├── middlewares.js      # Middleware stack
│   │   └── plugins.js          # GraphQL, email, upload
│   └── src/
│       ├── api/
│       │   ├── blog/           # Blog CRUD + custom endpoints
│       │   ├── category/       # Categories
│       │   ├── tag/            # Tags
│       │   ├── comment/        # Comments + moderation
│       │   └── newsletter/     # Newsletter subscription
│       ├── middlewares/
│       │   ├── rate-limit.js   # Redis-backed rate limiting
│       │   ├── redis-cache.js  # Response caching
│       │   └── audit-log.js    # Write operation logging
│       ├── policies/
│       │   ├── is-owner.js     # Resource ownership check
│       │   ├── is-admin.js     # Role-based access
│       │   └── is-authenticated.js
│       ├── extensions/
│       │   └── users-permissions/  # Custom auth + lifecycle hooks
│       └── index.js            # Cron jobs, health endpoint
│
├── frontend/                   # Next.js 14
│   └── src/
│       ├── app/
│       │   ├── page.tsx                    # Home (ISR)
│       │   ├── blog/page.tsx               # Blog list
│       │   ├── blog/[slug]/page.tsx        # Blog detail (SSG + ISR)
│       │   ├── (auth)/login/page.tsx
│       │   ├── (auth)/register/page.tsx
│       │   └── (dashboard)/dashboard/page.tsx
│       ├── components/
│       │   ├── blog/           # BlogCard, BlogList, RelatedPosts
│       │   ├── comment/        # CommentSection (nested)
│       │   └── layout/         # Header, Footer
│       ├── hooks/
│       │   ├── useAuth.ts      # Authentication hook
│       │   └── useBlogs.ts     # Blog data hooks
│       ├── lib/
│       │   ├── strapi.ts       # Axios API client
│       │   └── utils.ts        # Utilities
│       ├── store/
│       │   └── auth.store.ts   # Zustand auth store
│       └── types/index.ts      # TypeScript interfaces
│
├── nginx/nginx.conf            # Reverse proxy config
├── docker-compose.yml          # Development stack
├── docker-compose.prod.yml     # Production stack
└── .github/workflows/ci-cd.yml # GitHub Actions pipeline

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⚡ Quick Start (Docker — recommended)

Prerequisites

• Docker Desktop 4.x+
• Docker Compose v2+

# 1. Clone the repo
git clone https://github.com/yourusername/ai-blog-cms.git
cd ai-blog-cms

# 2. Copy environment files
cp backend/.env.example  backend/.env
cp frontend/.env.example frontend/.env.local

# 3. Edit backend/.env — set your secrets
nano backend/.env

# 4. Start all services
docker compose up -d

# 5. Open the apps
# Strapi Admin:  http://localhost:1337/admin
# Next.js:       http://localhost:3000
# PgAdmin:       http://localhost:5050
# GraphQL:       http://localhost:1337/graphql

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🛠 Local Development (without Docker)

Backend

cd backend
npm install
cp .env.example .env
# Edit .env with your PostgreSQL/Redis credentials
npm run develop

Frontend

cd frontend
npm install
cp .env.example .env.local
# Edit .env.local with NEXT_PUBLIC_STRAPI_URL
npm run dev

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🔑 Environment Variables

Backend (backend/.env)

Variable	Description	Example
DATABASE_CLIENT	DB driver	postgres
DATABASE_HOST	DB host	localhost
DATABASE_NAME	DB name	aiblog
DATABASE_USERNAME	DB user	aiblog
DATABASE_PASSWORD	DB password	secret
REDIS_HOST	Redis host	localhost
REDIS_PASSWORD	Redis password	secret
JWT_SECRET	32+ char secret	your_secret
OPENAI_API_KEY	OpenAI key	sk-...
CLOUDINARY_NAME	Cloudinary cloud	mycloud
SMTP_HOST	Email host	smtp.gmail.com

Frontend (frontend/.env.local)

Variable	Description
NEXT_PUBLIC_STRAPI_URL	Strapi base URL
NEXT_PUBLIC_STRAPI_API_TOKEN	Strapi API token
NEXT_PUBLIC_SITE_URL	Your frontend URL
REVALIDATE_SECRET	ISR revalidation token

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📡 API Reference

REST Endpoints

Blogs

Method	Endpoint	Description
GET	/api/blogs	List blogs (paginated, filterable)
GET	/api/blogs/slug/:slug	Get blog by slug
GET	/api/blogs/trending	Get trending blogs
GET	/api/blogs/search?q=...	Full-text search
GET	/api/blogs/:id/related	Get related posts
POST	/api/blogs	Create blog (auth required)
PUT	/api/blogs/:id	Update blog (owner only)
DELETE	/api/blogs/:id	Delete blog (owner only)
POST	/api/blogs/generate	AI-generate content

Categories

Method	Endpoint	Description
GET	/api/categories	List all categories with blog count
GET	/api/categories/slug/:slug	Category + paginated blogs

Comments

Method	Endpoint	Description
GET	/api/comments/blog/:blogId	Get approved comments
POST	/api/comments	Post comment (auth required)
POST	/api/comments/:id/like	Like a comment
PATCH	/api/comments/:id/moderate	Moderate (admin only)

Auth

Method	Endpoint	Description
POST	/api/auth/local	Login
POST	/api/auth/local/register	Register
POST	/api/auth/forgot-password	Forgot password
POST	/api/auth/reset-password	Reset password
GET	/api/users/me	Get current user

Newsletter

Method	Endpoint	Description
POST	/api/newsletters/subscribe	Subscribe
GET	/api/newsletters/confirm?token=	Confirm email
GET	/api/newsletters/unsubscribe?email=	Unsubscribe

GraphQL

http://localhost:1337/graphql

Sample query:

query GetBlogs($page: Int, $pageSize: Int) {
  blogs(
    pagination: { page: $page, pageSize: $pageSize }
    sort: "publishedDate:desc"
    filters: { publishedAt: { notNull: true } }
  ) {
    data {
      id
      attributes {
        title
        slug
        excerpt
        publishedDate
        viewCount
        featuredImage { data { attributes { url } } }
        author { data { attributes { username firstName lastName } } }
        category { data { attributes { name slug } } }
      }
    }
    meta { pagination { total pageCount } }
  }
}

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🚀 Production Deployment

See DEPLOYMENT.md for the full production guide.

Quick summary:

# 1. Set production secrets in .env files
# 2. Build and start production stack
docker compose -f docker-compose.prod.yml up -d

# 3. Set up SSL (Let's Encrypt)
certbot certonly --webroot -w /var/www/certbot -d yourdomain.com

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🏗️ Architecture

                    ┌─────────────────┐
                    │   Nginx (443)   │  SSL termination, rate limiting
                    └────────┬────────┘
                  ┌──────────┴──────────┐
          ┌───────▼──────┐      ┌───────▼───────┐
          │  Next.js:3000│      │ Strapi:1337   │
          │  (SSR/ISR)   │      │ (REST/GraphQL)│
          └──────────────┘      └───────┬───────┘
                                ┌───────┴───────┐
                          ┌─────▼─────┐   ┌─────▼─────┐
                          │PostgreSQL │   │   Redis   │
                          │ (primary) │   │ (cache)   │
                          └───────────┘   └───────────┘

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🔐 RBAC Roles

Role	Permissions
Public	Read published blogs, categories, tags, comments
Authenticated	+ Create comments, like, subscribe
Author	+ Create/edit/delete own blogs
Moderator	+ Moderate comments, manage categories/tags
Administrator	Full access to everything + admin panel

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📊 Performance Features

• ISR (Incremental Static Regeneration) — blog pages cached and revalidated every 5 mins
• Redis caching — API responses cached (5min default, configurable per route)
• CDN-friendly — all static assets have immutable cache headers
• Image optimisation — Next.js <Image> with AVIF/WebP, Cloudinary CDN
• Connection pooling — PostgreSQL pool (min 2, max 10)
• Query optimisation — selective populate on every Strapi query
• Gzip compression — enabled in both Nginx and Next.js

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🤖 AI Content Generation

# POST /api/blogs/generate
curl -X POST http://localhost:1337/api/blogs/generate \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_JWT" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "topic":    "Strapi v5 Production Setup Guide",
    "tone":     "professional",
    "length":   "long",
    "keywords": ["strapi tutorial", "headless cms", "nodejs"]
  }'

Returns: { title, excerpt, content (markdown), tags, seoMeta }

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📄 License

MIT © 2024 AI Blog CMS — Open source and free to use.

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🌟 Keywords (SEO)

Strapi tutorial · Strapi CMS example · Strapi production setup · Strapi with Next.js · Strapi Docker setup · Strapi authentication · Strapi PostgreSQL guide · Build CMS with Strapi · Strapi REST API example · Strapi GraphQL tutorial