The Manifest (hiveku.cms.json)

The manifest is a single JSON file at your project root that declares every collection in your CMS. It’s the source of truth for collection IDs, field schemas, on-disk paths, URL routes, and webhooks. The CMS panel reads this file to render forms; your build reads it to find entries; the AI reads it to know what’s editable.

The manifest is just a file in your repo — hiveku.cms.json at the root. You can edit it from the CMS panel’s Collection Manager, ask the AI to update it, or open it directly in the code editor.

File Location

your-project/
├── hiveku.cms.json        ← the manifest
├── content/
│   ├── blog/              ← entries for the "blog" collection
│   ├── authors/
│   └── products/
├── app/
└── package.json

The manifest must be at the repo root and named exactly hiveku.cms.json. The CMS panel won’t pick it up from a subdirectory.

Top-Level Schema

{
  "version": 1,
  "collections": [...],
  "webhooks": []
}

Key	Type	Required	Description
`version`	number	Yes	Schema version. Always `1` for the current format. Bumped if a future release introduces breaking changes.
`collections`	array	Yes	The list of collections. Order doesn’t affect behavior but does affect display order in the CMS panel’s collection picker.
`webhooks`	array	No	Outbound webhooks fired when entries change. Leave as `[]` if not used.

Per-Collection Schema

Each entry in collections looks like:

{
  "id": "blog",
  "name": "Blog Posts",
  "path": "content/blog",
  "format": "mdx",
  "slugFrom": "filename",
  "fields": [...],
  "routePattern": "/blog/{slug}",
  "defaultSort": "publishedAt desc"
}

Key	Type	Required	Description
`id`	string	Yes	Stable identifier used in references, AI tools, and API URLs. Lowercase, valid identifier characters only. Must be unique across the manifest.
`name`	string	Yes	Human-readable label shown in the CMS panel’s collection picker.
`path`	string	Yes	Directory (relative to repo root) where entries are stored. By convention `content/<id>` or `content/<plural-id>`.
`format`	`"mdx"` or `"json"`	Yes	Storage format. `mdx` for content with a long-form body, `json` for purely structured data.
`slugFrom`	`"filename"` or `"field:<name>"`	No	How to derive the slug. `"filename"` (default) uses the file’s basename; `"field:title"` derives from a field with auto-generated kebab-case.
`fields`	array	Yes	Field definitions. See Field Types.
`routePattern`	string	No	URL pattern using `{slug}` and other field placeholders. Leave off for collections that aren’t directly routed.
`defaultSort`	string	No	Default sort for the entry list, e.g. `"publishedAt desc"`, `"title asc"`.
`singleton`	boolean	No	Set `true` for collections that should only ever have one entry (site settings, homepage hero). The list view becomes a direct edit.

Validation Rules

The CMS panel and the AI tools validate the manifest before saving. Common rules:

Unique id per collection — two collections can’t share an ID.
Valid identifiers — id should match [a-z][a-z0-9-]*. Lowercase, no spaces, hyphens allowed.
Path must be a relative directory — no absolute paths, no .. traversal.
Exactly one isBody: true field per MDX collection — the body slot is required for MDX format. JSON collections must not have any isBody fields.
Field names are unique within a collection — no duplicate name values inside a single collection’s fields array.
References point at real collection IDs — a reference field’s collection value must match another collection’s id in the same manifest.
slugFrom: "field:<name>" requires a string field — and that field must be required: true.

If validation fails when saving from the CMS panel, you’ll get a 422 response with a list of errors. The Collection Manager surfaces them inline next to the offending field.

Full Example

Here’s a manifest covering a real site with blog posts, authors, products, and testimonials:

{
  "version": 1,
  "collections": [
    {
      "id": "authors",
      "name": "Authors",
      "path": "content/authors",
      "format": "json",
      "slugFrom": "field:name",
      "fields": [
        { "name": "name", "type": "string", "required": true },
        { "name": "bio", "type": "markdown" },
        { "name": "avatar", "type": "image" },
        { "name": "twitter", "type": "url" }
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "blog",
      "name": "Blog Posts",
      "path": "content/blog",
      "format": "mdx",
      "slugFrom": "filename",
      "fields": [
        { "name": "title", "type": "string", "required": true },
        { "name": "excerpt", "type": "string" },
        { "name": "publishedAt", "type": "date", "required": true },
        { "name": "status", "type": "select", "options": ["draft", "published"], "default": "draft" },
        { "name": "author", "type": "reference", "collection": "authors", "required": true },
        { "name": "heroImage", "type": "image" },
        { "name": "tags", "type": "array", "items": "string" },
        { "name": "body", "type": "markdown", "isBody": true }
      ],
      "routePattern": "/blog/{slug}",
      "defaultSort": "publishedAt desc"
    },
    {
      "id": "products",
      "name": "Products",
      "path": "content/products",
      "format": "json",
      "slugFrom": "filename",
      "fields": [
        { "name": "name", "type": "string", "required": true },
        { "name": "sku", "type": "string", "required": true },
        { "name": "price", "type": "number", "required": true },
        { "name": "currency", "type": "select", "options": ["USD", "EUR", "GBP"], "default": "USD" },
        { "name": "inStock", "type": "boolean", "default": true },
        { "name": "images", "type": "array", "items": "image" },
        { "name": "description", "type": "markdown" },
        { "name": "category", "type": "string" }
      ],
      "routePattern": "/products/{slug}",
      "defaultSort": "name asc"
    },
    {
      "id": "testimonials",
      "name": "Testimonials",
      "path": "content/testimonials",
      "format": "json",
      "slugFrom": "filename",
      "fields": [
        { "name": "name", "type": "string", "required": true },
        { "name": "company", "type": "string" },
        { "name": "quote", "type": "string", "required": true },
        { "name": "avatar", "type": "image" },
        { "name": "featured", "type": "boolean", "default": false }
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "site-settings",
      "name": "Site Settings",
      "path": "content/site-settings",
      "format": "json",
      "singleton": true,
      "fields": [
        { "name": "siteName", "type": "string", "required": true },
        { "name": "tagline", "type": "string" },
        { "name": "logo", "type": "image" },
        { "name": "primaryColor", "type": "color" }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "webhooks": [
    {
      "id": "rebuild-on-publish",
      "url": "https://api.hiveku.com/projects/your-project-id/rebuild",
      "events": ["entry.created", "entry.updated", "entry.deleted"],
      "collections": ["blog", "products"]
    }
  ]
}

Webhooks

Webhooks fire when CMS entries change. Each webhook entry takes:

Key	Type	Description
`id`	string	Unique webhook identifier
`url`	string	The endpoint to POST to
`events`	array	Subset of `entry.created`, `entry.updated`, `entry.deleted`, `manifest.updated`
`collections`	array	Which collection IDs to listen to. Omit or use `["*"]` for all
`secret`	string	Optional shared secret; included as `x-hiveku-signature` HMAC header

Hiveku retries failed webhook deliveries up to 3 times with exponential backoff.

Editing the Manifest

From the AI
From the CMS Panel
From the Code Editor

Just describe what you want:

Add a "case-studies" collection with title, client, summary,
body, and a hero image. Route it at /case-studies/{slug}.

The AI reads the manifest, proposes the addition, and saves it after you confirm.

Open hiveku.cms.json in the file tree and edit it as JSON. Save — the CMS panel reloads and validates. Invalid manifests show an error banner with the offending field.

Versioning

Every edit to hiveku.cms.json is versioned the same way as any other file in your project, through the builder_code_versions system. Open the version history drawer for the manifest from the code editor to roll back schema changes.

Removing a field from the manifest doesn’t delete data from existing entries — the data stays in the file but won’t show in the form. Re-adding a field with the same name restores the editor for that data. Renaming a field, however, orphans the old data; ask the AI to write a migration if you need to rename safely.

What’s Next?

Field Types

Every supported field type with examples

Collections

Naming, format choice, and reusable patterns

Add a Collection

Three ways to add a new collection

Initialize Your CMS

Scaffold a manifest from scratch

Get Started

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The Manifest (hiveku.cms.json)

File Location

Top-Level Schema

Per-Collection Schema

Validation Rules

Full Example

Webhooks

Editing the Manifest

Versioning

What’s Next?

Field Types

Collections

Add a Collection

Initialize Your CMS

​File Location

​Top-Level Schema

​Per-Collection Schema

​Validation Rules

​Full Example

​Webhooks

​Editing the Manifest

​Versioning

​What’s Next?

Field Types

Collections

Add a Collection

Initialize Your CMS

File Location

Top-Level Schema

Per-Collection Schema

Validation Rules

Full Example

Webhooks

Editing the Manifest

Versioning

What’s Next?