Where TachyonCMS is headed, and ten places to jump in

[jamesconwaydev]

Most CMS choices make you pick a side. You get one the developers love and the editors dread, or one the editors can use and the developers patch forever. I started TachyonCMS because I don't think you should have to choose. It's one Rust binary and one Postgres database, and the API comes from the content types you define.

Here's where it stands, and what's next.

What works today

Content types defined over the API or kept in a JSON file you diff and apply. Twenty-odd field types, including relationships, groups, arrays and map points. Filters that reach through relationships and into lists, joins, and select/populate so you only fetch what you need. Sign-in with sessions or bearer tokens, scoped API keys, roles, and access rules down to a single field. The README has the full list, with examples.

What I'm building now

What I'm building toward is running tachyoncms.com on TachyonCMS itself. That decides the order:

1. Rich text and blocks. Long-form writing with code samples and tables, and pages built from reusable sections. Under way.
2. Drafts, versions and scheduled publishing, so nothing goes live before it's meant to.
3. Media: upload once, reuse anywhere, responsive images.
4. Live preview of a draft before it's published.
5. Authoring tools: Markdown in and out, and bulk import.

After that comes the admin screen, and the bar for it is that anyone who has used WordPress can pick it up without training.

The first release, v0.1.0, is close. It will be pre-alpha, with binaries for Linux and macOS and a Docker image, all signed.

Where you come in

I've opened ten issues that are ready to pick up. Each one says which files to change, how to test it, and when it's done. Some are a ten-minute fix; three harden security paths and get a careful review. Say you're taking one and it's yours.

And if something on that list is in the wrong order for you, vote on what comes next, or tell me here. I'd much rather hear it now than after it ships. Building a site on top? Tell me which front end and I'll build that starter first.

James