What is Shio CMS?
Viglet Shio CMS is an open-source headless Content Management System. It allows you to model content with custom Post Types, query it via GraphQL or REST API, and build websites using server-side JavaScript with native caching and integrated full-text search.
Whether you need a traditional CMS with page rendering, a headless API for a single-page application, or a hybrid approach, Shio CMS adapts to your architecture.
What can you do with Shio CMS?
Model your content
Define custom Post Types with flexible fields — text, HTML, file uploads, relationships, date pickers, code editors, and more. Each Post Type becomes a reusable content template that editors can populate through the admin console.
Build websites with JavaScript
Create Page Layouts and Regions using server-side JavaScript. The Nashorn/Node.js engine renders pages dynamically, and the shObject API gives you access to content, navigation, and URL generation directly from your templates.
Query content via GraphQL
Use the built-in GraphQL endpoint with an interactive GraphiQL console to query posts, folders, and sites. Perfect for decoupled frontends and mobile applications.
Integrate with any stack
Consume Shio CMS from your application via REST API or GraphQL. All content operations — CRUD, search, file upload, user management — are available as JSON endpoints.
Search your content
Contents are indexed automatically and searchable through the embedded search engine. For advanced search, Shio integrates with Viglet Turing ES for faceted search, semantic navigation, and generative AI.
Cache for performance
Hazelcast distributed caching ensures your rendered pages and content objects are served fast. Cache invalidation happens automatically when content is updated.
How it works at a glance
Content authors create and manage content through the admin console. Shio CMS stores it, renders websites using JavaScript templates, and exposes it via REST and GraphQL APIs.
Key concepts
These are the main building blocks you will work with in Shio CMS. You do not need to understand all of them before getting started — come back to each one as you need it.
| Concept | What it is | Learn more |
|---|---|---|
| Site | The top-level container for a website. Defines URL, theme, and Post Type associations. | Core Concepts |
| Folder | Organizes content hierarchically within a site. Folders can be nested. | Core Concepts |
| Post | A content item — an instance of a Post Type with field values. | Core Concepts |
| Post Type | A content model that defines fields, labels, and publishing rules. | Content Modeling |
| Page Layout | A template that controls how a page is structured — defines regions and rendering logic. | Website Development |
| Region | A section within a Page Layout that renders content using component APIs. | Website Development |
| Component API | Reusable content source within a Region — Navigation Component, Query Component, etc. | Website Development |
| Publishing | Content lifecycle: Draft, Published, Stale, Unpublished. | Content Modeling |
| GraphQL | Query interface for accessing content programmatically. | GraphQL |
| Hazelcast Cache | Distributed cache for rendered pages and objects. | Search & Caching |
Where to go next
I want to understand how Shio CMS works
Read Core Concepts first, then Architecture Overview.
I want to set up Shio CMS
Go to the Installation Guide.
I want to model content
Start with Core Concepts then go to Content Modeling.
I want to build a website
Go to Website Development for Page Layouts, Regions, and JavaScript API.
I want to query content from an external app
I want to manage users and permissions
Go to Administration Guide.