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AGENTS.md

This file provides guidance to AI Agents when working with code in this repository.

Package Manager

Always use yarn (v1) for all commands. This repository uses yarn workspaces, not npm.

Monorepo Structure

Ghost is a Yarn v1 + Nx monorepo with three workspace groups:

ghost/* - Core Ghost packages

  • ghost/core - Main Ghost application (Node.js/Express backend)
    • Core server: ghost/core/core/server/
    • Frontend rendering: ghost/core/core/frontend/
  • ghost/admin - Ember.js admin client (legacy, being migrated to React)
  • ghost/i18n - Centralized internationalization for all apps

apps/* - React-based UI applications

Two categories of apps:

Admin Apps (embedded in Ghost Admin):

  • admin-x-settings, admin-x-activitypub - Settings and integrations
  • posts, stats - Post analytics and site-wide analytics
  • Built with Vite + React + @tanstack/react-query

Public Apps (served to site visitors):

  • portal, comments-ui, signup-form, sodo-search, announcement-bar
  • Built as UMD bundles, loaded via CDN in site themes

Foundation Libraries:

  • admin-x-framework - Shared API hooks, routing, utilities
  • admin-x-design-system - Legacy design system (being phased out)
  • shade - New design system (shadcn/ui + Radix UI + react-hook-form + zod)

e2e/ - End-to-end tests

  • Playwright-based E2E tests with Docker container isolation
  • See e2e/CLAUDE.md for detailed testing guidance

Common Commands

Development

yarn                           # Install dependencies
yarn setup                     # First-time setup (installs deps + submodules)
yarn dev                       # Start development (Docker backend + host frontend dev servers)

Building

yarn build                     # Build all packages (Nx handles dependencies)
yarn build:clean               # Clean build artifacts and rebuild

Testing

# Unit tests (from root)
yarn test:unit                 # Run all unit tests in all packages

# Ghost core tests (from ghost/core/)
cd ghost/core
yarn test:unit                 # Unit tests only
yarn test:integration          # Integration tests
yarn test:e2e                  # E2E API tests (not browser)
yarn test:browser              # Playwright browser tests for core
yarn test:all                  # All test types

# E2E browser tests (from root)
yarn test:e2e                  # Run e2e/ Playwright tests

# Running a single test
cd ghost/core
yarn test:single test/unit/path/to/test.test.js

Linting

yarn lint                      # Lint all packages
cd ghost/core && yarn lint     # Lint Ghost core (server, shared, frontend, tests)
cd ghost/admin && yarn lint    # Lint Ember admin

Database

yarn knex-migrator migrate     # Run database migrations
yarn reset:data                # Reset database with test data (1000 members, 100 posts) (requires yarn dev running)
yarn reset:data:empty          # Reset database with no data (requires yarn dev running)

Docker

yarn docker:build              # Build Docker images
yarn docker:clean              # Stop containers, remove volumes and local images
yarn docker:down               # Stop containers

How yarn dev works

The yarn dev command uses a hybrid Docker + host development setup:

What runs in Docker:

  • Ghost Core backend (with hot-reload via mounted source)
  • MySQL, Redis, Mailpit
  • Caddy gateway/reverse proxy

What runs on host:

  • Frontend dev servers (Admin, Portal, Comments UI, etc.) in watch mode with HMR
  • Foundation libraries (shade, admin-x-framework, etc.)

Setup:

# Start everything (Docker + frontend dev servers)
yarn dev

# With optional services (uses Docker Compose file composition)
yarn dev:analytics             # Include Tinybird analytics
yarn dev:storage               # Include MinIO S3-compatible object storage
yarn dev:all                   # Include all optional services

Accessing Services:

  • Ghost: http://localhost:2368 (database: ghost_dev)
  • Mailpit UI: http://localhost:8025 (email testing)
  • MySQL: localhost:3306
  • Redis: localhost:6379
  • Tinybird: http://localhost:7181 (when analytics enabled)
  • MinIO Console: http://localhost:9001 (when storage enabled)
  • MinIO S3 API: http://localhost:9000 (when storage enabled)

Architecture Patterns

Admin Apps Integration (Micro-Frontend)

Build Process:

  1. Admin-x React apps build to apps/*/dist using Vite
  2. ghost/admin/lib/asset-delivery copies them to ghost/core/core/built/admin/assets/*
  3. Ghost admin serves from /ghost/assets/{app-name}/{app-name}.js

Runtime Loading:

  • Ember admin uses AdminXComponent to dynamically import React apps
  • React components wrapped in Suspense with error boundaries
  • Apps receive config via additionalProps() method

Public Apps Integration

  • Built as UMD bundles to apps/*/umd/*.min.js
  • Loaded via <script> tags in theme templates (injected by {{ghost_head}})
  • Configuration passed via data attributes

i18n Architecture

Centralized Translations:

  • Single source: ghost/i18n/locales/{locale}/{namespace}.json
  • Namespaces: ghost, portal, signup-form, comments, search
  • 60+ supported locales

Build Dependencies (Nx)

Critical build order (Nx handles automatically):

  1. shade + admin-x-design-system build
  2. admin-x-framework builds (depends on #1)
  3. Admin apps build (depend on #2)
  4. ghost/admin builds (depends on #3, copies via asset-delivery)
  5. ghost/core serves admin build

Code Guidelines

Commit Messages

Follow the project's commit message format:

  • 1st line: Max 80 chars, past tense, with emoji if user-facing
  • 2nd line: [blank]
  • 3rd line: ref, fixes, or closes with issue link
  • 4th line: Context (why this change, why now)

Emojis for user-facing changes:

  • ✨ Feature
  • 🎨 Improvement/change
  • 🐛 Bug fix
  • 🌐 i18n/translation
  • 💡 Other user-facing changes

Example:

✨ Added dark mode toggle to admin settings

fixes https://github.com/TryGhost/Ghost/issues/12345
Users requested ability to switch themes for better accessibility

When Working on Admin UI

  • New features: Build in React (apps/admin-x-* or apps/posts)
  • Use: admin-x-framework for API hooks (useBrowse, useEdit, etc.)
  • Use: shade design system for new components (not admin-x-design-system)
  • Translations: Add to ghost/i18n/locales/en/ghost.json

When Working on Public UI

  • Edit: apps/portal, apps/comments-ui, etc.
  • Translations: Separate namespaces (portal.json, comments.json)
  • Build: UMD bundles for CDN distribution

When Working on Backend

  • Core logic: ghost/core/core/server/
  • Database Schema: ghost/core/core/server/data/schema/
  • API routes: ghost/core/core/server/api/
  • Services: ghost/core/core/server/services/
  • Models: ghost/core/core/server/models/
  • Frontend & theme rendering: ghost/core/core/frontend/

Design System Usage

  • New components: Use shade (shadcn/ui-inspired)
  • Legacy: admin-x-design-system (being phased out, avoid for new work)

Analytics (Tinybird)

  • Local development: yarn dev:analytics (starts Tinybird + MySQL)
  • Config: Add Tinybird config to ghost/core/config.development.json
  • Scripts: ghost/core/core/server/data/tinybird/scripts/
  • Datafiles: ghost/core/core/server/data/tinybird/

Troubleshooting

Build Issues

yarn fix                       # Clean cache + node_modules + reinstall
yarn build:clean               # Clean build artifacts
yarn nx reset                  # Reset Nx cache

Test Issues

  • E2E failures: Check e2e/CLAUDE.md for debugging tips
  • Docker issues: yarn docker:clean && yarn docker:build