Welcome

October CMS is a minimalistic platform that gets back to basics. It is a self-hosted CMS built on the Laravel framework (opens new window), and it gives web developers the freedom to build websites however they want.

# What is October CMS?

Like all good things, October CMS can be understood at a glance. It takes care of what every website needs, such as content, user accounts, file storage, and backend administration, so you are free to focus on what makes your site yours. You work with it through a browser-based backend panel or straight from your code editor.

None of this is new. The principles it follows are natural ones that have existed in programming for a long time. We simply collected them and brought them into the realm of web development. Laravel is still there in full underneath, with a layer on top that makes it easier to use.

# What Can It Do?

Everything you need to build a professional website is here from the start:

• File-based templates. Pages, layouts, and partials are just files, one file per template. Your whole site lives happily in Git.
• Custom content types. Describe blog posts, team members, or product listings in simple YAML blueprints, and October CMS builds the backend forms, database, and admin navigation for you.
• Ready-made admin interfaces. Lists, forms, dashboards, and relations are built in. Describe them in configuration and skip the boilerplate.
• A simple AJAX framework. Bind a request to a form or a button with HTML attributes alone, no JavaScript required, and update parts of the page when it finishes.
• No build step by default. October CMS ships with vanilla JS and CSS, so there is nothing to compile and no npm to install. Just start the server and you are building. Reach for Tailwind, Vite, React, or a full toolchain the moment you want to, but never because you have to.
• Total frontend freedom. October CMS never forces a choice on you. Use whatever you like on the frontend, or go fully headless. No mystery markup, no locked-down templates. It is your canvas.
• An escape hatch when you need it. Blueprints and plugins share the same architecture, so when you want more control you can drop into the familiar MVC pattern without starting over.

The power and flexibility are hidden behind the mask of simplicity.

# What Does "October CMS" Stand For?

The name comes from the month the project launched, the spirit of a fresh start and a new season. The philosophy behind it echoes a well-known principle from Albert Einstein:

"Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler."

Websites are simple by nature, and building them should be too. You own your code, your data, and your infrastructure.

# Getting Started

The next few pages will get you set up and building:

• Terminal Basics: a quick introduction to the command line. Skip ahead if you are already comfortable.
• Text Editor: setting up VS Code with the October Code extension.
• Install October CMS: getting October CMS running using the Wizard Installer, DDEV, or Composer.

After that, we will tour the backend panel, create your first page, and start building real features.