When NuxtLabs joined Vercel, we promised to transform nuxt.studio from a hosted platform into a free, open-source module. Today, we're excited to announce the first alpha release of the Nuxt Studio module.
Discover the Nuxt Studio module on GitHub.You can now enable content editing directly in production, with real-time preview and GitHub integration, all from within your own Nuxt application.
Try editing this page🏠 From Hosted Platform to Self-Hosted Module
This milestone wouldn't have been possible without Vercel's support. Their backing allowed us to dedicate the resources needed to rebuild Studio as an open-source module.
What's Different?
Originally provided as a hosted platform at nuxt.studio, Studio is now a free and open-source Nuxt module that you can deploy alongside your Nuxt Content website.
This means content editors can manage and update content directly in production, on their website, without the need of local development tools or Git knowledge.
- Self-hosted — runs entirely on your infrastructure alongside your Nuxt app
- No external dependencies — no APIs or third-party services required
- Free and open-source — released under the MIT license
- Direct integration — a simple GitHub OAuth app is needed to get started
The only trade-off is that Studio now requires a server-side route for authentication. While static generation remains supported with Nuxt hybrid rendering, your site must be deployed on a platform that supports SSR.
📦 What's Shipped in Alpha
The alpha release focuses on core infrastructure and stability without risking any bugs introduced by the Visual editor. We're using Monaco editor to ensure all file operations and GitHub workflows are rock-solid before introducing visual editing.
Monaco Code Editor → IDE editing experience with syntax highlighting for Markdown, YAML, and JSON, including full MDC syntax support and split-screen diff viewer for conflicts.
File Operations → Complete CRUD operations for your content/ directory. Create, edit, delete, rename, and move files with built-in draft management.
Media Management → Centralized library for assets in your public/ directory with upload, organize, preview, and integrate capabilities.
Git Integration → Direct commits to GitHub via OAuth with conflict detection, author attribution, and custom commit messages.
Real-time Preview → Live preview of draft changes on your production website with instant updates and side-by-side editing.
🗺️ The Road Ahead
Beta Release Q4 2025
Inspired from what we've built on nuxt.studio, the beta phase will introduce the open-source visual editor, making Studio accessible to non-technical users:
- Markdown Editor — Notion-inspired experience for Markdown
- Form-based Editing — Schema-based forms for Markdown frontmatter, YAML, and JSON files
- Vue Component Edition — Visual interface for editing component props and slots
- Google OAuth — Alternative authentication for non-GitHub users
Stable Release End of Year 2025
Production-ready features, performance optimizations, and enhanced stability.
Beyond 2026
AI-powered content suggestions, multiple git providers, and community-driven features.
🗄️ Storage Architecture
Studio uses a three-tier storage architecture to keep content synchronized between your browser and GitHub.
Production Database SQLite WASM
When your Nuxt Content website loads, Nuxt Content v3 downloads a SQLite database dump from your server and initializes a local WASM database containing all content from your deployed branch. This database stays in sync with GitHub as long as your last deployment completed successfully. This is the production database updated by Studio when you edit content.
Draft Storage IndexedDB
Studio maintains a separate draft layer using unstorage backed by IndexedDB. When you edit content, changes are stored as drafts locally in your browser. Each time Studio loads, these drafts are merged with the SQLite database to render a drafted version of your production site.
GitHub Repository API Integration
When you publish, Studio commits your draft changes directly to GitHub through the GitHub API. Your CI/CD pipeline then rebuilds and redeploys your site automatically. After deployment, you'll need to refresh to update your browser database with the latest content.
🔄 The Sync Flow
Initial Load
Database Initialization
Nuxt Content downloads the SQLite database dump generated during the build process.
This file contains all parsed content from your content/ directory.
Draft Recovery
Studio checks IndexedDB for any existing drafts from previous sessions and loads them into the SQLite database.
Preview
Studio refreshes the site preview so you can view your latest drafts and edits directly on your production website.
Editing Content
Draft Modification
Changes are saved immediately in IndexedDB as draft items with a status of created, modified, or deleted.
Database Update
The local SQLite database is updated to include your draft content, allowing instant visual preview.
Conflict Detection
Studio compares your draft content against the latest version on GitHub to detect possible conflicts.
- Someone pushes a commit that modifies the same file and its version is currently building.
- A deployment fails or hasn’t completed, leaving the production out of date and unsync with GitHub.
Publishing Changes
Draft Collection
Studio gathers all draft items that contain changes.
GitHub Commit
Using the GitHub API, Studio creates a new commit with all updated files.
Deployment Trigger
Your CI/CD platform detects the commit and automatically rebuilds and redeploys your website.
Deployment Wait
After publication, Studio clears the local drafts and waits for the deployment to complete.
During this time, a loading state is shown while the production SQLite database catches up with your latest commit.
🚀 Get Started Today
Install the module and configure your GitHub OAuth app to start editing content in production:
npx nuxi module add nuxt-studio
Check out the setup guide for complete installation and configuration instructions.
We're excited to see what you build with Nuxt Studio. Join the conversation on GitHub Discussions or join our Discord to help shape the future of the module.