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Brix

Hex.pm Hexdocs License

A structured content layer for Phoenix LiveView apps. Write content as YAML and Markdown files, Brix validates, loads, and serves it.

No GUI. No database (yet). Files are the authoring interface.

Setup

# mix.exs
{:brix, "~> 0.1.1"}

# config/config.exs
config :brix, store: Brix.Store.Filesystem

# application.ex
children = [
  {Brix.Store.Filesystem, content_dir: Path.expand("priv/content")}
]

Content directory

priv/content/
├── site.yml
├── authors/
│   └── maya.yml
├── tags/
│   └── coffee.yml
├── media/
│   ├── headshot.yml
│   └── files/
│       └── headshot.jpg
├── templates/
│   └── sections/
│       ├── hero.yml
│       └── richtext.yml
├── layouts/
│   └── default.yml
├── shared_sections/
│   ├── main-nav.yml
│   └── site-footer.yml
├── collections/
│   └── blog.yml
└── pages/
    ├── index/
    │   ├── page.yml
    │   └── versions/
    │       └── 20240315T090000Z/
    │           ├── version.yml
    │           └── sections/
    │               ├── 01-hero.yml
    │               ├── 02-gallery.yml
    │               ├── 02-gallery.slides/    # nested sections
    │               │   ├── 01-slide.yml
    │               │   └── 02-slide.yml
    │               └── 03-intro.md
    └── blog/
        └── morning-ritual/
            ├── page.yml
            └── versions/
                ├── 20240901T060000Z/
                │   ├── version.yml
                │   └── sections/
                │       ├── 01-hero.yml
                │       └── 02-body.md
                └── 20241115T140000Z/
                    ├── version.yml
                    └── sections/
                        ├── 01-hero.yml
                        ├── 02-body.md
                        └── 03-tips.yml

File formats

site.yml

name: Ember & Bloom
tagline: Coffee worth slowing down for
meta_title: Ember & Bloom | Specialty Coffee
meta_description: A neighborhood coffee shop.
domain: emberandbloom.coffee

authors/maya.yml

Slug is derived from the filename.

name: Maya Chen
bio: Founder and head roaster.
avatar: headshot          # references media slug
url: https://example.com

tags/coffee.yml

display_name: Coffee

media/headshot.yml

alt: Photo of Maya
caption: At the roaster
content_type: image/jpeg
path: files/headshot.jpg   # relative to media/

templates/sections/hero.yml

Defines the field contract for a section type. The validator checks content against these.

fields:
  heading:
    type: string
    required: true
  subheading:
    type: string
  image:
    type: media

Supported field types: string, richtext, media, url, integer, boolean, list, map, sections.

layouts/default.yml

Layouts define header and footer sections that wrap page content. Can reference shared sections or define sections inline.

header_sections:
  - shared_section: main-nav
footer_sections:
  - shared_section: site-footer

Or inline:

header_sections:
  - template: nav
    fields:
      links:
        - label: Home
          url: /
footer_sections:
  - template: footer
    fields:
      copyright: "2026"

shared_sections/main-nav.yml

Reusable content blocks. Define once, reference from layouts or page sections by name.

template: nav
fields:
  links:
    - label: Home
      url: /
    - label: About
      url: /about

collections/blog.yml

Named page groupings with filters and sorting.

name: Blog
filters:
  prefix: /blog/
sort_by: slug
sort_direction: asc
meta_title: Blog | Ember & Bloom
meta_description: Thoughts on coffee and craft.

Filter keys: prefix, tag, author. Sort fields: slug, title, published_at, updated_at.

pages/index/page.yml

Page slug is derived from directory path (pages/index/ → /, pages/blog/hello/ → /blog/hello). Can be overridden with slug:.

title: Home
layout: default
meta_title: Ember & Bloom | Home
meta_description: Specialty coffee in SE Portland.
authors: [maya]
tags: [coffee]
published_version: "20240315T090000Z"
slug_history:
  - /old-home-url

published_version points to the version directory name that serves as the live content. slug_history enables redirect lookups for old URLs.

versions/20240315T090000Z/version.yml

Each version directory is named with a compact ISO timestamp (YYYYMMDDTHHMMSSz). The version.yml contains per-version metadata:

published_at: "2024-03-15T09:00:00Z"
updated_at: "2024-03-15T09:00:00Z"

published_at controls draft/published status:

  • Absent or null → draft
  • Future datetime → scheduled (draft until that time)
  • Past datetime → published

updated_at tracks when the version was last modified — useful for "Edited" dates in collection UIs.

Page-level data (shared across versions): slug, title, layout, authors, tags, meta_, og_, slug_history, extra, published_version.

Version-level data (per version): sections, published_at, updated_at.

The page struct's sections and published_at are populated from the published version for backward compatibility.

Page sections

Sections live in pages/*/versions/*/sections/. Filename prefix sets order: 01-hero.yml before 02-body.md.

YAML sections — structured data:

template: hero
fields:
  heading: Hello, I'm Maya
  subheading: I roast coffee
  image: headshot

Markdown sections — long-form content with frontmatter:

---
template: richtext
---

This is the about section with **bold** and *italic*.

The markdown body becomes the body field, converted to HTML at load time.

Mixed sections — structured YAML fields plus a richtext markdown field:

A .yml file paired with a sibling .field.md file. The convention is {position}-{name}.{fieldname}.md:

sections/
├── 03-cta.yml          # structured fields
└── 03-cta.body.md      # richtext for the "body" field

03-cta.yml:

template: cta
fields:
  heading: Come Visit Us
  subheading: We'd love to meet you.

03-cta.body.md:

We're open **seven days a week** in SE Portland.

The loader merges them into a single Section struct with all fields combined. The markdown is converted to HTML. This avoids awkward inline richtext in YAML files.

Shared section references — reuse a shared section:

shared_section: main-nav

Nested sections — sections that contain child sections:

Child sections live in subdirectories named {NN}-{template}.{field}/ alongside their parent file. The directory name ties to the parent by matching the {NN}-{template} prefix, and the .{field} suffix names the field.

sections/
├── 02-gallery.yml
├── 02-gallery.slides/           # children for the "slides" field
│   ├── 01-slide.yml
│   ├── 01-slide.caption.md      # mixed markdown works in children too
│   └── 02-slide.yml

Declare nested fields in the section template with type: sections:

# templates/sections/gallery.yml
fields:
  title:
    type: string
    required: true
  slides:
    type: sections
    of: slide           # constrains to "slide" template (single name or list)
    required: true

Render children in components using Brix.Render.child_sections/1:

def gallery(assigns) do
  ~H"""
  <div class="gallery">
    <h2>{@fields["title"]}</h2>
    <Brix.Render.child_sections module={@module} children={@children} field="slides" />
  </div>
  """
end

The @children assign is a %{field_name => [Section]} map. @module is passed through so child rendering dispatches to the same component module. Nesting is recursive — children can have their own children.

API

Core

# Site
Brix.get_site()
# => %Brix.Site{name: "Ember & Bloom", ...}

# Pages — returns published version's sections by default
Brix.get_page("/blog/morning-ritual")
# => {:ok, %Brix.Page{title: "The Morning Ritual", sections: [...], ...}}

# Request a specific version (e.g. preview a draft)
Brix.get_page("/blog/morning-ritual", version: ~U[2024-11-15 14:00:00Z])
# => {:ok, %Brix.Page{sections: [draft sections...], ...}}

# Access all versions
{:ok, page} = Brix.get_page("/blog/morning-ritual")
page.versions       # => [%Brix.Version{}, ...]
page.published_version  # => ~U[2024-09-01 06:00:00Z]
page.updated_at     # => ~U[2024-11-15 14:00:00Z]  (from latest version)

Brix.list_pages()
# => [%Brix.Page{}, ...]

# Filtered
Brix.list_pages(tag: "coffee")
Brix.list_pages(author: "maya")
Brix.list_pages(prefix: "/blog/")
Brix.list_pages(status: :published)
Brix.list_pages(status: :draft)
Brix.list_pages(tag: "coffee", prefix: "/blog/", status: :published)

# Layouts
Brix.get_layout("default")
# => {:ok, %Brix.Layout{header_sections: [...], footer_sections: [...]}}

# Authors, Tags, Media
Brix.get_author("maya")
Brix.list_authors()
Brix.get_tag("coffee")
Brix.list_tags()
Brix.get_media("headshot")
Brix.list_media()

# Section templates
Brix.get_section_template("hero")
Brix.list_section_templates()

Collections

Brix.list_collections()
# => [%Brix.Collection{slug: "blog", name: "Blog", ...}, ...]

{:ok, blog} = Brix.get_collection("blog")

blog
|> Brix.list_collection_pages()
|> Enum.map(& &1.title)
# => ["The Morning Ritual"]

Shared sections

Brix.list_shared_sections()
# => [%Brix.SharedSection{name: "main-nav", template: "nav", ...}, ...]

Brix.get_shared_section("main-nav")
# => {:ok, %Brix.SharedSection{...}}

Drafts and publishing

# Clock-aware: pages with published_at in the future are still drafts
Brix.list_pages(status: :published)    # published_at <= now
Brix.list_pages(status: :draft)        # published_at is nil or in the future

# Check a single page
{:ok, page} = Brix.get_page("/blog/upcoming")
Brix.Page.published?(page)
# => false (if published_at is in the future)

Slug redirects

# When a page has slug_history entries, old slugs resolve to the current one
Brix.find_redirect("/about-us")
# => {:ok, "/about"}

Brix.find_redirect("/nonexistent")
# => :error

SEO metadata with fallbacks

site = Brix.get_site()
{:ok, page} = Brix.get_page("/careers")

Brix.Meta.title(page, site)
# => page.meta_title || page.title || site.meta_title || site.name

Brix.Meta.description(page, site)
# => page.meta_description || site.meta_description

Brix.Meta.og_title(page, site)
# => page.og_title || Meta.title(page, site)

Brix.Meta.og_image(page, site)
# => page.og_image || site.og_image

Rendering in LiveView

1. Define section components

One function per section template name. All fields arrive in @fields as a string-keyed map.

defmodule MyAppWeb.Sections do
  use Phoenix.Component
  import Phoenix.HTML, only: [raw: 1]

  def hero(assigns) do
    ~H"""
    <section class="hero">
      <h1>{@fields["heading"]}</h1>
      <p :if={@fields["subheading"]}>{@fields["subheading"]}</p>
      <img :if={@fields["image"]} src={Brix.Render.media_url(@fields["image"])} />
    </section>
    """
  end

  def richtext(assigns) do
    ~H"""
    <div class="prose">{raw(@fields["body"])}</div>
    """
  end

  def nav(assigns) do
    ~H"""
    <nav>
      <a :for={link <- @fields["links"]} href={link["url"]}>{link["label"]}</a>
    </nav>
    """
  end

  def footer(assigns) do
    ~H"""
    <footer>&copy; {@fields["copyright"]}</footer>
    """
  end
end

2. LiveView

defmodule MyAppWeb.PageLive do
  use MyAppWeb, :live_view

  def handle_params(params, _uri, socket) do
    slug = case params do
      %{"slug" => parts} -> "/" <> Enum.join(parts, "/")
      _ -> "/"
    end

    case Brix.get_page(slug) do
      {:ok, page} ->
        {:ok, layout} = Brix.get_layout(page.layout)
        site = Brix.get_site()
        {:noreply, assign(socket, page: page, layout: layout, site: site)}

      :error ->
        # Check for slug redirect
        case Brix.find_redirect(slug) do
          {:ok, new_slug} -> {:noreply, redirect(socket, to: new_slug)}
          :error -> raise MyAppWeb.NotFoundError
        end
    end
  end

  def render(assigns) do
    ~H"""
    <Brix.Render.layout layout={@layout} module={MyAppWeb.Sections}>
      <Brix.Render.sections sections={@page.sections} module={MyAppWeb.Sections} />
    </Brix.Render.layout>
    """
  end
end

3. SEO in root layout

<head>
  <title>{Brix.Meta.title(@page, @site)}</title>
  <meta name="description" content={Brix.Meta.description(@page, @site)} />
  <meta property="og:title" content={Brix.Meta.og_title(@page, @site)} />
  <meta property="og:description" content={Brix.Meta.og_description(@page, @site)} />
</head>

Validation

Brix validates content on boot. Errors block loading. Warnings are logged.

Checked:

  • Required fields present
  • Field types match template schemas
  • All references resolve (layouts, templates, authors, tags, media, shared sections)
  • Media files exist on disk
  • Unknown fields flagged with "did you mean?" suggestions
result = Brix.Validator.validate("priv/content")
# => %{errors: [], warnings: []}

Lifecycle

Author → Validate → Load → Serve
  1. Write YAML/MD files in priv/content/
  2. Boot validates all content against templates and cross-references
  3. Valid content is parsed into structs, markdown converted to HTML, cached in ETS
  4. LiveView calls Brix.get_page(slug), renders via section components

Validation gates loading. Bad content never enters the store.

About

Structured content layer for Phoenix apps. File-based CMS with validation.

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MIT license
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