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Prerequisites

Before using SimplCMS, ensure that your environment meets the following requirements and dependencies.

Compatibility

PackageSupported Versions
React>=17.0.0 <19.0.0
React DOM>=17.0.0 <19.0.0
Next.js^13.0.0, ^14.0.0, or ^15.0.0
Mongoose^8.9.5

Environment Variables

SimplCMS requires or optionally accepts the following environment variables:

VariableDescriptionRequiredExample Value
VERCEL_TOKENVercel deployment tokenYes...
VERCEL_TEAM_IDYour Vercel team IDYesteam_...
VERCEL_PROJECT_IDYour Vercel project IDYesprj_...
SIMPLCMS_HOST_PROVIDERHosting providerYesVercel
NEXT_PUBLIC_SITE_URLPublic URL of your siteYeshttps://your-domain.com (http://localhost:3000 for dev)
SIMPLCMS_DB_PROVIDERDatabase providerYesMongoDB
SIMPLCMS_MEDIA_STORAGE_PROVIDERSMedia storage serviceYesCloudinary
SIMPLCMS_OAUTH_PROVIDERSOAuth providersYesGoogle
NEXTAUTH_SECRETNextAuth.js secretYesd62fd6e645dc22...
NEXTAUTH_URLURL for NextAuth.jsYeshttps://your-domain.com (http://localhost:3000 for dev)
MONGO_URIMongoDB connection stringNomongodb+srv://...
CLOUDINARY_URLCloudinary connection URLNocloudinary://...
GOOGLE_OAUTH_CLIENT_SECRETGoogle OAuth Client SecretNo...
GOOGLE_OAUTH_CLIENT_IDGoogle OAuth Client IDNo...

Database Setup (MongoDB)

SimplCMS requires MongoDB.

  1. Create a free MongoDB Atlas account at mongodb.com/cloud/atlas.
  2. Create a new cluster and database user.
  3. Obtain your MongoDB connection string (MONGO_URI).

The CMS will automatically create a collection named simplCms.

Media Storage (Optional)

SimplCMS supports media storage via Cloudinary or AWS S3.

Cloudinary Setup

  • Sign up at Cloudinary.
  • Obtain your CLOUDINARY_URL from the Cloudinary dashboard.

AWS S3 Setup

Create an AWS S3 bucket with public access for media storage:

  • Create a new bucket in AWS S3.
  • Configure public access settings:

Bucket Policy:

{
"Version": "2012-10-17",
"Statement": [
{
"Sid": "AllowPublicRead",
"Effect": "Allow",
"Principal": "*",
"Action": ["s3:GetObject"],
"Resource": ["arn:aws:s3:::your-bucket-name/*"]
}
]
}

Replace your-bucket-name with your actual bucket name.

  • Create an IAM user with S3 permissions.
  • Generate access keys for use in your environment.

OAuth Provider Setup

SimplCMS supports OAuth authentication. Initially, you need to set up Google OAuth.

Google OAuth

  1. Go to the Google Cloud Console.
  2. Create a new project.
  3. Navigate to APIs & ServicesCredentials.
  4. Create new credentials → OAuth Client ID.
  5. Configure your authorized redirect URI (NEXTAUTH_URL/api/auth/callback/google).
  6. Save the generated Client ID and Client Secret into your environment variables.

Microsoft and GitHub OAuth

Support for Microsoft and GitHub OAuth will be added soon.


After completing these prerequisites, you can proceed to Installation and Setup.