emdash-cms/emdash

EmDash is a content management system, which is the type of software that powers websites like blogs, portfolios, and marketing pages, letting non-developers write and publish content through an admin panel. The project positions itself as a modern replacement for WordPress, built with current web technologies instead of PHP. The system runs on Astro, a framework for building fast websites, and is designed to run best on Cloudflare's infrastructure, which handles the database, file storage, and server execution. It can also run on a regular server using SQLite, a simple local database. Setup starts with a single command that creates a new project, and the admin panel is included automatically. One of the main design differences from WordPress is how plugins work. In WordPress, plugins run with full access to the database and files, which means a single buggy or malicious plugin can damage the whole site. In EmDash, each plugin declares in advance what it is allowed to do, such as sending email or reading content, and runs in an isolated execution environment that enforces those limits. The README cites research claiming 96 percent of WordPress security problems come from plugins, which is the problem this architecture is meant to address. Content is stored in structured JSON format rather than as raw HTML. The README explains this means the same content can be displayed on a web page, a mobile app, or an email without having to parse HTML. EmDash ships with three starter templates: a blog, a marketing landing page, and a portfolio. The admin panel includes a visual schema builder, a media library for images and files, full-text search, scheduled publishing, and a tool for importing existing WordPress content. Authentication supports passkeys, OAuth, and magic links. There is also built-in support for AI tools: the README describes a Model Context Protocol server that lets AI assistants interact with the site directly, and CLI tools designed for AI-assisted plugin development. The project is in beta preview as of the README.