Documentation

Learn

Start here to understand Accent CMS and create your first site.

  • Getting Started – Install, initialize, and run your first Accent CMS site.
  • Markdown Guide – Write content with frontmatter, shortcodes, and syntax highlighting.
  • Content Workflow – Manage drafts, scheduled publishing, and content lifecycle.

Build

Customize your site’s appearance and functionality.

  • Theming – Choose and configure themes, create custom styles.
  • Templating Guide – Template inheritance, filters, functions, collections, media, and modular pages.
  • Search – Add instant client-side search with zero external dependencies.
  • Plugins – Extend Accent CMS with WASM plugins. {% edition edition=“free” /%}

Deploy

Put your site online.

  • Deployment – Choose between dynamic serving and static build, configure production settings.

Integrate

Connect Accent CMS to AI assistants and external services.

  • MCP Server – AI-assisted content management via Model Context Protocol.

Reference

Look up specific commands, settings, and solutions.

Community

Where to go when the docs run out.

  • Forum – Ask a question, report what tripped you up, or share what you built.
  • Hub – The signed registry of plugins, themes, and starter templates. See Publishing Artifacts to submit your own.

In this section

  • Getting Started with Accent

    Install Accent CMS, start the dev server, and edit your first page in the admin -- end to end in under five minutes.

  • Content Organization

    Choose between two content models -- media-rich pages with folders or lightweight documentation with plain files -- and mix them freely in the same site.

  • Content Workflow

    Control page visibility with draft status, scheduled publishing, and automatic archiving.

  • Markdown Guide

    A comprehensive guide to writing content with CommonMark markdown.

  • Markdown Extensions

    Configure and use markdown extensions including wiki links, math, admonitions, definition lists, and more.

  • Theming Guide

    Create beautiful custom themes with templates, assets, and CSS frameworks.

  • Templating Guide

    Learn how to build dynamic pages with MiniJinja templates, filters, functions, and content features.

  • Document Models

    Define content schemas with typed fields, validation rules, and defaults using YAML model files.

  • Content Mounts

    Attach additional content directories at specific points in your site's URL tree using filesystem mounts.

  • Asset Fingerprinting

    Add content hashes to asset filenames for CDN-friendly cache busting and Subresource Integrity (SRI).

  • Environment Variables in Templates

    Inject build-time and runtime configuration from environment variables into your templates.

  • Content Hashing in Templates

    Compute SHA hashes of files or strings for cache busting, Subresource Integrity (SRI), and content-addressed identifiers.

  • Theme Portability

    Write themes that work across development, production serving, and static builds without changes.

  • Search

    Add instant client-side search to your site with zero external dependencies.

  • Plugins

    Extend Accent CMS with sandboxed WebAssembly Component-Model plugins for hooks, filters, shortcodes, custom routes, media processing, and diagram renderers.

  • Contact Form Plugin

    Add a working contact form to your site with CSRF protection and email forwarding.

  • Islands Architecture

    Add isolated pockets of client-side interactivity to server-rendered pages while preserving Accent's zero-JS-by-default philosophy.

  • Multi-Language Content

    Serve the same site in several languages using filename suffixes -- the default language keeps its plain URLs, translations are served under language prefixes, and templates get a ready-made translation list for building a language switcher.

  • The Hub

    Install plugins and themes, and scaffold starter templates, from the signed Accent CMS ecosystem registry.

  • Email Notifications (SMTP)

    Configure the built-in SMTP service for plugin email sending and core notifications.

  • Data Store

    Persist user-generated content (comments, form submissions, votes) with the file-based data store and access it in templates.

  • Server Roles

    Control what your server can do in production with developer, publisher, and author roles.

  • Site Access Protection

    Restrict access to your site using HTTP Basic Authentication and IP allowlists for preview and staging deployments.

  • Git Deployment

    Deploy content from a git repository with automatic fetch and branch tracking.

  • Deployment

    Choose a deployment strategy for your Accent CMS site.

  • Integrations

    Connect Accent CMS to AI assistants and programmatic clients.

  • Admin UI

    Browse and edit pages, manage media, inspect content models, and watch the validation report through Accent Author's HTMX-native admin shell.

  • Troubleshooting

    Solutions for common issues, error messages, and debugging techniques.

  • References

    Complete reference documentation for every command, configuration field, syntax construct, and API endpoint in Accent CMS.