Total CMS

Total CMS

A modern flat-file CMS for PHP — no database required

Website • Documentation • Pricing • Free trial

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About

Total CMS is a content management system built on PHP 8.2+ and Slim 4 that stores content as flat JSON files instead of in a database. There is no MySQL to provision, no migrations to run, and no plugin ecosystem to keep patched — content lives on disk, so it version-controls, backs up, and deploys like the rest of your code.

It is designed for web designers, freelancers, and agencies who want structured content and a polished admin for their clients, on any commodity PHP host.

• No database — content is JSON on disk; deploy by copying files
• 33 built-in collection types — blog, image, gallery, file, and more — plus unlimited custom schemas
• Twig templating — 89 custom filters and 49 functions on top of stock Twig 3
• Site Builder — add a page in the admin and it is live; no build or generate step
• REST API — full CRUD for headless use, with API-key or OAuth 2.1 authentication
• Built-in MCP server — exposes your site's collections and search to AI agents (Pro)
• Automations — schedule, webhook, and event-triggered handlers with a job queue
• Extensions — a register/boot lifecycle with capability-based permissions
• Admin interface — form builder with 20+ field types, media management, passkey login
• CLI (tcms) — collections, schemas, objects, import/export, sync, and deploys
• Image processing — on-the-fly resizing, watermarking, and OKLCH color handling

Requirements

• PHP 8.2+ (8.4 supported)
• Composer 2.0+
• Apache or Nginx with URL rewriting
• PHP extensions: GD or ImageMagick, JSON, Fileinfo, OpenSSL

No database server. No Node.js runtime in production.

Installation

composer create-project totalcms/totalcms mysite
cd mysite

Point your web server's document root at public/, then open the site in a browser — the setup wizard handles the admin account, data directory, and license from there.

The installer also offers a subpath layout, which serves Total CMS from /tcms/ and leaves public/ free for your own frontend build. See the Installation Guide for web server configuration.

Twig templates

{% for post in cms.collection.objects('blog') %}
    <article>
        <h2>{{ post.title }}</h2>
        {{ post.content|markdown }}
    </article>
{% endfor %}

See the Twig documentation for the full filter and function reference.

CLI

vendor/bin/tcms collection:list
vendor/bin/tcms jumpstart:export backup.json
vendor/bin/tcms cache:clear
vendor/bin/tcms deploy

For AI agents

Total CMS is built to be worked on by coding agents:

• llms.txt and llms-full.txt — the complete documentation in one fetch
• Agent skill — installed into .claude/skills/ automatically on composer install, covering collections, schemas, the CLI, and the Site Builder workflow
• Built-in MCP server — point an agent at a live site to query its collections and schemas directly (Pro edition)

Documentation

Full documentation is at docs.totalcms.co.

Support

• Documentation
• Email Support

License

Total CMS is commercial software. A license is required for production use. See LICENSE.md for terms.

Free 45-day trials are available — no credit card required. Visit totalcms.co for details.