Squidex CMS

intermediate

Open-source headless CMS with event sourcing and GraphQL.

Overview

Squidex is an open-source headless CMS built on .NET that implements event sourcing architecture, making it unique among content management systems. Originally created by Sebastian Stehle in 2017, Squidex stores all changes as immutable events, providing complete audit trails and the ability to replay system state at any point in time. This event-driven approach, combined with automatic GraphQL and REST API generation, makes it particularly powerful for modern application architectures requiring content versioning and real-time synchronization. This stack pairs Squidex with MongoDB 7 to provide both event storage and content persistence in a single database solution. MongoDB's document-oriented structure aligns perfectly with Squidex's flexible schema system, while its change streams enable real-time content updates across connected applications. The combination leverages MongoDB's aggregation framework for complex content queries and its horizontal scaling capabilities for growing content volumes. This configuration is ideal for development teams building headless applications, content creators managing multi-channel publishing workflows, and enterprises requiring comprehensive content audit trails. The event sourcing architecture makes this stack particularly valuable for applications needing content versioning, collaborative editing, or compliance with data governance requirements.

Key Features

Event sourcing architecture with complete audit trail and time-travel debugging capabilities
Auto-generated GraphQL and REST APIs from custom content schemas
Real-time content synchronization using MongoDB change streams
Flexible content modeling with dynamic field types and validation rules
Built-in content versioning and draft/publish workflows
Multi-language content support with field-level localization
Advanced content querying using MongoDB aggregation pipelines
Webhook system for triggering external integrations on content changes

Common Use Cases

1Multi-channel content publishing for websites, mobile apps, and IoT devices
2E-commerce platforms requiring product catalog management with price history
3News and media sites needing editorial workflows and content scheduling
4SaaS applications providing customizable user interfaces and content
5Enterprise content hubs managing documentation across multiple departments
6Digital agencies building headless websites for multiple clients
7Compliance-heavy industries requiring complete content change auditing

Prerequisites

Minimum 2GB RAM available (MongoDB requires 1GB+, Squidex needs 512MB+)
Port 5000 available for Squidex web interface access
Valid email address and strong password for admin account setup
Basic understanding of headless CMS concepts and API consumption
Docker and Docker Compose installed with network creation permissions
Sufficient disk space for MongoDB data growth and event log storage

For development & testing. Review security settings, change default credentials, and test thoroughly before production use. See Terms

docker-compose.yml

1services: 
2  squidex: 
3    image: squidex/squidex:latest
4    container_name: squidex
5    restart: unless-stopped
6    environment: 
7      URLS__BASEURL: http://localhost:5000
8      EVENTSTORE__TYPE: MongoDb
9      EVENTSTORE__MONGODB__CONFIGURATION: mongodb://mongodb
10      STORE__TYPE: MongoDb
11      STORE__MONGODB__CONFIGURATION: mongodb://mongodb
12      IDENTITY__ADMINEMAIL: ${ADMIN_EMAIL}
13      IDENTITY__ADMINPASSWORD: ${ADMIN_PASSWORD}
14    ports: 
15      - "5000:5000"
16    depends_on: 
17      - mongodb
18    networks: 
19      - squidex-network
20
21  mongodb: 
22    image: mongo:7
23    container_name: squidex-mongodb
24    volumes: 
25      - mongodb_data:/data/db
26    networks: 
27      - squidex-network
28
29volumes: 
30  mongodb_data: 
31
32networks: 
33  squidex-network: 
34    driver: bridge

.env Template

.env

1ADMIN_EMAIL=admin@example.com
2ADMIN_PASSWORD=changeme123

Usage Notes

1Docs: https://docs.squidex.io/
2Access at http://localhost:5000 - login with ADMIN_EMAIL/ADMIN_PASSWORD
3Event sourcing: full audit trail, time travel debugging
4GraphQL and REST APIs auto-generated from schemas
5Built on .NET 8, MongoDB for storage
6Strong password required (min 8 chars, mixed case, numbers)

Individual Services(2 services)

Copy individual services to mix and match with your existing compose files.

squidex

squidex:
  image: squidex/squidex:latest
  container_name: squidex
  restart: unless-stopped
  environment:
    URLS__BASEURL: http://localhost:5000
    EVENTSTORE__TYPE: MongoDb
    EVENTSTORE__MONGODB__CONFIGURATION: mongodb://mongodb
    STORE__TYPE: MongoDb
    STORE__MONGODB__CONFIGURATION: mongodb://mongodb
    IDENTITY__ADMINEMAIL: ${ADMIN_EMAIL}
    IDENTITY__ADMINPASSWORD: ${ADMIN_PASSWORD}
  ports:
    - "5000:5000"
  depends_on:
    - mongodb
  networks:
    - squidex-network

mongodb

mongodb:
  image: mongo:7
  container_name: squidex-mongodb
  volumes:
    - mongodb_data:/data/db
  networks:
    - squidex-network

Quick Start

terminal

1# 1. Create the compose file
2cat > docker-compose.yml << 'EOF'
3services:
4  squidex:
5    image: squidex/squidex:latest
6    container_name: squidex
7    restart: unless-stopped
8    environment:
9      URLS__BASEURL: http://localhost:5000
10      EVENTSTORE__TYPE: MongoDb
11      EVENTSTORE__MONGODB__CONFIGURATION: mongodb://mongodb
12      STORE__TYPE: MongoDb
13      STORE__MONGODB__CONFIGURATION: mongodb://mongodb
14      IDENTITY__ADMINEMAIL: ${ADMIN_EMAIL}
15      IDENTITY__ADMINPASSWORD: ${ADMIN_PASSWORD}
16    ports:
17      - "5000:5000"
18    depends_on:
19      - mongodb
20    networks:
21      - squidex-network
22
23  mongodb:
24    image: mongo:7
25    container_name: squidex-mongodb
26    volumes:
27      - mongodb_data:/data/db
28    networks:
29      - squidex-network
30
31volumes:
32  mongodb_data:
33
34networks:
35  squidex-network:
36    driver: bridge
37EOF
38
39# 2. Create the .env file
40cat > .env << 'EOF'
41ADMIN_EMAIL=admin@example.com
42ADMIN_PASSWORD=changeme123
43EOF
44
45# 3. Start the services
46docker compose up -d
47
48# 4. View logs
49docker compose logs -f

One-Liner

Run this command to download and set up the recipe in one step:

terminal

1curl -fsSL https://docker.recipes/api/recipes/squidex/run | bash

Troubleshooting

Identity validation failed error: Ensure ADMIN_PASSWORD meets complexity requirements (8+ characters, mixed case, numbers)
MongoDB connection timeout: Check that mongodb container is fully started before squidex attempts connection
Port 5000 already in use: Change the host port mapping from 5000:5000 to another port like 5001:5000
Event store initialization failed: Clear mongodb_data volume and restart containers to reset database state
GraphQL schema not updating: Clear browser cache and wait for Squidex schema compilation to complete
High memory usage: Monitor MongoDB memory consumption and consider setting wiredTiger cache limits

Community Notes

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Components

squidexmongodb

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