Foundation CMS is the content management system Swarm Labs builds and runs websites on, this one included. It holds a site's content and hands it over as whole, typed records, while the site's own code draws every page.
Foundation CMS is made for agencies and the clients they look after. Each client edits in an admin on their own hq. address that already knows their content types, fields and brand, and every site runs as its own Cloudflare Worker with its own database, so a new site is an API call, not a deploy.
What is Foundation CMS?
Foundation CMS keeps content and layout apart. Editors write in an admin built from configuration, so what differs between two sites is data, not code. Every field becomes a generated TypeScript type, made on request from the live schema, and every read returns the whole record, so a field added in the CMS today is in the site's payload today. The CMS hands over data and a way to fetch it, and never markup.
How a Site Runs
- Its own Worker: every site is a Cloudflare Worker holding its own D1 database and R2 media bucket
- Nothing shared on the visitor's path but a small dispatcher that maps a hostname to its site
- Still serving if the CMS is offline: editors wait until it is back, visitors notice nothing
- The client's own domain through Cloudflare for SaaS, with one DNS record on their side
What It Connects To
- A content API with keys scoped to one site and named abilities, so automations such as n8n workflows can read the schema and content and publish entries the way an editor saves them
- Forms that deliver by email, a signed webhook or a mapped call into a CRM, with Turnstile or reCAPTCHA per site
- Search engines told through IndexNow after every publish, with structured data and crawler rules for search and AI answers built in
What You Walk Away With
- An admin that already knows your content, on your own hq. address
- A site that keeps serving even when the CMS is offline
- Revisions, a bin and scheduled publishing, so nothing is lost to a bad save
- Your content, files and content model to take with you if you ever leave
Foundation CMS is part of the Swarm Labs family alongside Apiary and Barb. Read how it works inside, or find out more at foundationcms.org.
Frequently asked questions
Is Foundation CMS a website builder?
No. It holds the content and hands it to the site as typed records, and the site's own code draws the pages, so the design is never limited to what a theme allows.
Does my site go down if the CMS does?
No. Every site is its own Cloudflare Worker with its own database and media bucket, so it keeps serving while the CMS is offline.
Can automations publish to Foundation CMS?
Yes. The content API takes keys scoped to one site and to named abilities, and a write through it is saved the way an editor's is, with a revision recorded first. This website's blog posts and integration pages are published that way.
Can I take my content with me if I leave?
Yes. A leaving client takes their content as a database file, their stored files and their content model.
