The AI-agent CMS your clients can still edit visually.
Element Node is an open-source visual CMS built on Next.js 15 + Prisma/MySQL. AI agents build entire sites on it — through the official Claude Code skill or the MCP server (Cursor, Windsurf, any MCP client) — and after the agent is done, the site stays in an Elementor-style visual editor that a non-technical client can safely use. Self-hosted: your server, your data.
🇮🇹 Documentazione in italiano: elementnode.cloud/it/docs
The same page, published (built end-to-end by an AI agent via the official skill)
bash <(curl -fsSL https://elementnode.cloud/install.sh)Requirements: Node.js ≥ 20, MySQL/MariaDB. The installer clones the repo, installs dependencies, creates .env and the DB schema, builds, and leaves you at the /install wizard (admin user, site, AI).
Non-interactive mode (for AI agents / provisioning): export DB_NAME, DB_USER, DB_PASS, SITE_URL (optional DB_HOST, DB_PORT) before running — no prompts. For Plesk see PLESK_DEPLOY.md.
One-prompt setup: the entire path — server, CMS, skill and first site — can be driven by a single prompt pasted into Claude Code. Template: elementnode.cloud/it/docs#prompt
| Integration | For | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Official skill | Claude Code / Codex | Builds entire sites: from a brief, or pixel-perfect clones of existing sites verified by a visual-comparison agent (screenshot → diff → fix, until convergence) |
| MCP server | Cursor, Windsurf, any MCP client | Pages, theme, media, full Site Blueprint import/export, always-fresh widget docs |
| REST API | Anything else | Bearer API keys with scopes (site.import, site.export, …) |
Real production numbers (agent build time, human review on top): a 24-page WordPress migration in ~1 hour · a complete bilingual site in half a day · a React SPA cloned at 95/100 automated visual fidelity in ~2 hours. See showcase.
- Visual editor — 3-panel Elementor-style UI: widget library · canvas · properties. Drag & drop, inline text editing, undo/redo, revisions, responsive preview, style controls (spacing, borders, shadows, gradients)
- 51 native widgets — heading, text, button, image, video, icon-box, counters, tabs, accordion, gallery, contact form, posts grid, marquee, nav drawer, nested boxes…
- Theme blocks — global header/footer with display conditions + priority (per-URL-prefix → native multilingual sites)
- Content — pages (nested slugs), posts, custom post types + taxonomies, redirects, popups
- Forms — reusable form entities, submissions in DB, SMTP/Brevo delivery, GDPR consent fields
- Privacy — native cookie consent banner (variants per language, click-to-load embeds), site access modes (public / password / maintenance) with automatic noindex
- AI built in (bring your own Anthropic key) — editor chat that generates and edits sections, one-click SEO (title/description/keyword in the page's language)
- SEO — per-page meta, OG image, sitemap, robots, SEO score panel
- Media — local uploads, sharp-optimized thumbnails (WebP/AVIF), lazy loading
- Ops — 1-click self-update from the panel (with automatic pre-update DB backup), multi-user roles, API keys, health endpoint
- Performance — React Server Components, standalone output, HTTP cache + ISR. No plugin ecosystem needed: it's all native
Next.js 15 (App Router, standalone output) · Prisma + MySQL · NextAuth v5 · Tailwind · @dnd-kit · TipTap · sharp · Anthropic Claude (optional, BYO key)
- Public pages render through
PageRenderer(RSC) with a responsive core (columns stack under 768px, opt-out per column) - Content is a JSON tree: sections → columns → widgets (see skill/element-node-builder/references/widget-reference.md)
- Site Blueprint import/export moves whole sites as JSON (merge or replace)
- License validation is fail-open: the CMS works without a license — a license activates managed updates, security patches and support (pricing)
- CMS core: AGPL-3.0 — free to use, self-host and modify. Building and running your own sites (or client sites) carries no obligations; the AGPL kicks in only if you modify the CMS and offer it to others as a service.
- Claude Code skill and MCP server: MIT — integrate freely.
Managed updates, security patches, priority support and the white-label agency tier are commercial: elementnode.cloud/en/pricing. For commercial licensing outside AGPL terms, get in touch.