plain-cms/plain

plain is a content management system built around the idea that your website's content lives directly in a Git repository, instead of in a database. Content is stored as plain Markdown files for posts and pages and JSON files for settings. When you push a change, a build process turns those files into a fast static website, meaning a set of plain HTML and JSON files that any web host can serve without running a server. Setting it up starts by copying the project's template repository, turning on GitHub Pages for hosting, and editing a config file with your site's name and description. From then on, every change follows the same pattern: edit a file, commit it, and the live site updates automatically about 30 seconds later. Because everything is stored in Git, older versions of any page can always be restored. For people who do not want to work directly in files, the live site includes a built in admin screen at the address slash admin. It gives you a writing interface with draft and publish buttons, a live preview, image uploads, and the ability to restore earlier versions of a page with one click. Signing in uses a GitHub access token rather than a separate account system, and there is an optional AI assist feature where you can add your own Anthropic API key to get writing suggestions, though every suggestion has to be manually approved before it applies. The project ships with fifteen ready made design themes covering things like blogs, portfolios, restaurants, and documentation sites, plus a plugin system for adding features such as search or contact forms. It also includes tools to import an existing blog from platforms like Jekyll or VuePress, converting the old content and setting up redirects so existing links keep working. plain is aimed at developers or technical site owners who want a simple, database free way to manage a website's content using Git as the single source of truth.