NecrotixLab CMS

An open-source CMS and digital lab for publishing, projects, services and modular tools.

Live site · Documentation · Installation · Addons guide · Contribute

Product

NecrotixLab is a self-hosted CMS for people who ship a public brand and the operations behind it from the same codebase. One Next.js app serves the site visitors see and the admin you work in. Content, media, projects, services, commerce and site controls live in PostgreSQL — not in a pile of disconnected plugins.

It is the system behind necrotixlab.com: journal and wiki publishing, a project archive, service pages, a tools catalogue, PWA install, and a GitHub-connected updater. Use the defaults, or extend the lab with themes and addons.

The project is experimental and in active development. Read the release notes and deployment requirements before you upgrade a production install.

Overview

Admin, operations, and the public tools surface — the product as it runs today.

Analytics dashboard — live visitors, pages in view, traffic and audience location.

Audience & traffic — session list, world map and device breakdown from the same operations desk.

Wiki — biography, FAQ and connected articles from one compact index.

Projects — portfolio items with type, status and revision history that drive the public archive.

Site mode — Normal, Maintenance, Coming Soon, Private or Archive, each with a dedicated holding template.

Progressive Web App — name, icons, splash, start URL and standalone chrome without changing the public site.

GitHub updater — pull from main, sync files, migrate, build and activate with a visible pipeline.

Tools & Addons — public utilities and service catalogue, managed as an installable addon rather than hardcoded pages.

## Why this CMS

• One product, two surfaces. Public site and protected admin share the same Next.js application, design system and data model.
• Built for a lab, not a brochure. Publishing, portfolio, services, commerce, analytics and site modes sit next to each other instead of behind extra platforms.
• Operations are first-class. Live audience, health, security and a GitHub → production updater are part of the CMS, not an afterthought.
• Installable as an app. SuperPWA-style controls generate icons, splash screens and a standalone shell from one source logo.
• Extend without forking first. Themes and addons live beside the core. The Tools collection is an addon you opt into.
• Honest about the runtime. This is a Node server with a database. It is not a static export and it will not run on PHP-only hosting.

What's included

Area	What you get
Publishing	Journal, custom pages, Wiki, comments, scheduling, revisions and SEO metadata
Portfolio	Projects and case studies, gallery, media library and homepage sections
Services	Service pages, request flows, pricing configuration and monitoring
Commerce	Digital products, private downloads, orders and optional payment integrations
Operations	Dashboard, audience analytics, site health, security settings and updater
Appearance	Navigation, footer, site modes, PWA settings and watermarks

The public Tools collection is the Tools addon. A fresh install does not activate it. Admins install and configure it from Admin → Addons. Source lives under Addons/, separate from CMS modules.

Current addon boundary: ZIP imports validate and stage packages. New executable addon routes require a reviewed CMS build; uploading a ZIP alone does not run arbitrary server code. See the Addons guide.

Who it is for

• Independent studios and personal brands that want a public site plus a real admin, not a page builder.
• Labs that publish writing, ship projects, sell digital work and run small service funnels in one place.
• Operators who want live traffic, site modes and a GitHub-backed update path without stitching five SaaS dashboards.

Stack

• Next.js 16, React 19, TypeScript and Tailwind CSS
• PostgreSQL and Prisma
• Auth.js, server actions and API routes
• Tiptap for rich content
• Node test runner, ESLint, TypeScript checks and Playwright
• Optional S3-compatible storage, SMTP and payment integrations

Get started locally

Requirements: Node.js 22, npm and PostgreSQL 14+ (full requirements).

git clone https://github.com/drnecrotix/NecrotixLab.git
cd NecrotixLab
npm ci
cp .env.example .env.local

On Windows PowerShell, use Copy-Item .env.example .env.local instead of cp. Set at least DATABASE_URL, AUTH_SECRET, OWNER_EMAIL, OWNER_PASSWORD and NEXT_PUBLIC_SITE_URL in .env.local. Use your own owner identity and strong secrets; never commit that file.

npm run db:migrate
npm run db:seed
npm run dev

Open http://localhost:3000 for the site and http://localhost:3000/admin for the CMS. For a production server use npm run db:deploy and the matching N0C, cPanel or home server guide. Run npm run production:preflight before a production build.

Addons

The admin Addons page has Available, Installed and Add New views. The catalogue reads addon manifests from the GitHub Addons/ directory. A package may be installed from its published archive or uploaded as a ZIP. Each addon has a separate folder and manifest.json; compatible Tools functionality can be activated and configured in its own settings page.

For the package format, versioning, GitHub publishing steps and current execution limits, read Create and install an Addon.

Development and verification

npm run typecheck
npm run lint
npm run test:unit
npm run build

npm run build:n0c is available for supported shared-host environments where native SWC cannot run. Run npm run test:visual when changing responsive UI. CI also validates production builds, updater behavior and deployment-sensitive changes.

Documentation

• Wiki index and Admin Dashboard
• Requirements and Troubleshooting
• Addons: create, publish and install
• Updates and CI
• License and credits

Contributing

Issues and focused pull requests are welcome. Create a branch from main, keep unrelated changes separate, and run the relevant checks before opening a PR. For addon contributions, follow the manifest and packaging rules in the Addons guide. Never include credentials, private customer data or production uploads in a PR.

License and attribution

NecrotixLab is licensed under MIT. The original PersonalBlog copyright notice by S. A. Almazril is retained. See License and Credits for attribution and redistribution details. Third-party integrations remain subject to their own terms.