Developer Documentation

Welcome to the LusterCMS developer documentation. This section covers everything you need to build plugins, themes, and integrations.

Architecture Overview

LusterCMS is built with a modern, modular architecture:

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                     Frontend (Next.js)                       │
│  ┌─────────────┐  ┌─────────────┐  ┌─────────────┐         │
│  │   Admin UI  │  │   Editor    │  │  Plugins UI │         │
│  │   (React)   │  │   (Puck)    │  │  (Dynamic)  │         │
│  └─────────────┘  └─────────────┘  └─────────────┘         │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                     API Layer                                │
│  ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐   │
│  │  GraphQL (Strawberry)  │  REST (FastAPI)            │   │
│  └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘   │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                     Backend (Python)                         │
│  ┌───────────┐  ┌───────────┐  ┌───────────┐  ┌─────────┐ │
│  │   Core    │  │  Plugins  │  │    AI     │  │  Hooks  │ │
│  │  Services │  │  (Pluggy) │  │  Service  │  │ System  │ │
│  └───────────┘  └───────────┘  └───────────┘  └─────────┘ │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                     Data Layer                               │
│  ┌───────────┐  ┌───────────┐  ┌───────────┐               │
│  │ PostgreSQL│  │   Redis   │  │    Y.js   │               │
│  │  (Data)   │  │  (Cache)  │  │  (Collab) │               │
│  └───────────┘  └───────────┘  └───────────┘               │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Tech Stack

Layer	Technology
Frontend	Next.js 14, React 18, TypeScript, MUI
Editor	Puck (visual builder)
API	FastAPI, Strawberry GraphQL
Backend	Python 3.11+, SQLAlchemy 2.0
Plugins	Pluggy (hook system)
Database	PostgreSQL 15+
Cache	Redis
Collaboration	Y.js, WebSocket
AI	OpenAI, Anthropic (configurable)

Key Concepts

Plugins

Plugins extend LusterCMS without modifying core code:

• Add new admin pages
• Extend GraphQL/REST APIs
• Hook into content lifecycle
• Create custom blocks

→ Plugin Development Guide

Themes

Themes control the visual appearance:

• Define color schemes
• Configure typography
• Create block styles
• Build page templates

→ Theme Development Guide

Hooks

The hook system allows plugins to:

• React to content events
• Modify data before/after operations
• Extend core functionality

→ Hooks Reference

API

Two API options:

• GraphQL — Primary API for all operations
• REST — Helper endpoints for specific tasks

→ API Reference

Quick Links

🔌 Build a Plugin

Create your first plugin

🎨 Create a Theme

Design custom themes

🔗 API Reference

GraphQL & REST docs

⌨️ CLI Tools

Command line utilities

Development Environment

Prerequisites

• Python 3.11+
• Node.js 18+
• Docker & Docker Compose
• PostgreSQL 15+ (or use Docker)

Quick Start

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/lustercms/lustercms.git
cd lustercms

# Start with Docker
docker compose up -d

# Or run locally
pip install -r requirements.txt
npm install
python main.py  # Backend
npm run dev     # Frontend

Environment Variables

Key variables to configure:

DATABASE_URL=postgresql://user:pass@localhost/lustercms
REDIS_URL=redis://localhost:6379
OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-...
SECRET_KEY=your-secret-key

See Environment Variables for full list.

Getting Help

• Documentation — You're here!
• GitHub Issues — Bug reports and feature requests
• Email — hello@lustercms.com

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🚀 Ready to Build?

Start with the Plugin Development Guide to create your first extension.