Overview

A backend is JavaScript code that allows Static CMS to communicate with a service that stores content – typically a Git host like GitHub or GitLab. It provides functions that Static CMS can use to do things like read and update files using API’s provided by the service.

Backend Configuration

Individual backends provide their own configuration documentation, but there are some configuration options that are common to multiple backends. A full reference is below. Note that these are properties of the backend field, and should be nested under that field.

Name	Type	Default	Description
name	‘git-gateway’ \| ‘github’ \| ‘gitlab’ \| ‘bitbucket’ \| ‘gitea’ \|’test-repo’ \| ‘proxy’		The backend git provider
repo	string		Required for `github`, `gitlab`, `gitea` and `bitbucket` backends. Ignored by `git-gateway`. Follows the pattern `[org-or-username]/[repo-name]`
branch	string	`main`	Optional. The branch where published content is stored. All CMS commits and PRs are made to this branch
api_root	string	GitHub `https://api.github.com` GitLab `https://gitlab.com/api/v4` Bitbucket `https://api.bitbucket.org/2.0` Gitea `https://try.gitea.io/api/v1`	Optional. The API endpoint. Only necessary in certain cases, like with GitHub Enterprise or self-hosted GitLab
site_domain	string	`location.hostname` On `localhost` `cms.netlify.com`	Optional. Sets the `site_id` query param sent to the API endpoint. Non-Netlify auth setups will often need to set this for local development to work properly
base_url	string	GitHub or Bitbucket `https://api.netlify.com` GitLab `https://gitlab.com` Gitea `https://try.gitea.io`	Optional. OAuth client hostname (just the base domain, no path). Required when using an external OAuth server or self-hosted GitLab/Gitea
auth_endpoint	string	GitHub or Bitbucket `auth` GitLab `oauth/authorize`	Optional. Path to append to `base_url` for authentication requests.
cms_label_prefix	string	`cms/`	Pull (or Merge) Requests label prefix when using editorial workflow. Optional.

Creating a New Backend

Anyone can write a backend, but the API is not yet finalized and documented. If you would like to write your own backend for a service that does not have one currently, Static CMS recommends using the GitHub backend as a reference for API and best practices.

docs

Backend Configuration

Creating a New Backend