Collections & Fields

Collections are the foundation of EmDash’s content model. Each collection represents a content type (posts, pages, products) and contains field definitions that determine the shape of your data.

Creating Collections

Create collections through the admin panel under Content Types. Each collection has:

Collection Features

When creating a collection, enable the features you need:

// Example collection with all features enabled
{
  slug: "posts",
  label: "Blog Posts",
  labelSingular: "Post",
  supports: ["drafts", "revisions", "preview", "scheduling"]
}

Field Types

EmDash supports 15 field types that map to SQLite column types:

Text Fields

{ slug: "title", type: "string", label: "Title" }

{ slug: "excerpt", type: "text", label: "Excerpt" }

{ slug: "handle", type: "slug", label: "URL Handle" }

Rich Content

{ slug: "content", type: "portableText", label: "Content" }

{ slug: "metadata", type: "json", label: "Custom Metadata" }

Numbers

{ slug: "price", type: "number", label: "Price" }

{ slug: "quantity", type: "integer", label: "Stock Quantity" }

Booleans & Dates

{ slug: "featured", type: "boolean", label: "Featured Post" }

{ slug: "eventDate", type: "datetime", label: "Event Date" }

Selection

{
  slug: "status",
  type: "select",
  label: "Product Status",
  validation: {
    options: ["active", "discontinued", "coming_soon"]
  }
}

{
  slug: "features",
  type: "multiSelect",
  label: "Product Features",
  validation: {
    options: ["wireless", "waterproof", "eco-friendly"]
  }
}

Media & References

{ slug: "featuredImage", type: "image", label: "Featured Image" }

{ slug: "attachment", type: "file", label: "PDF Attachment" }

{
  slug: "author",
  type: "reference",
  label: "Author",
  options: {
    collection: "authors"
  }
}

Field Properties

Every field supports these properties:

Validation Rules

The validation object varies by field type:

interface FieldValidation {
	required?: boolean; // All types
	min?: number; // number, integer
	max?: number; // number, integer
	minLength?: number; // string, text
	maxLength?: number; // string, text
	pattern?: string; // string (regex)
	options?: string[]; // select, multiSelect
}

Example with validation:

{
  slug: "email",
  type: "string",
  label: "Email Address",
  required: true,
  unique: true,
  validation: {
    pattern: "^[a-zA-Z0-9._%+-]+@[a-zA-Z0-9.-]+\\.[a-zA-Z]{2,}$"
  }
}

Widget Options

The options object configures field-specific UI behavior:

interface FieldWidgetOptions {
	rows?: number; // text (textarea rows)
	showPreview?: boolean; // image, file
	collection?: string; // reference (target collection)
	allowMultiple?: boolean; // reference (multiple refs)
	[key: string]: unknown; // Custom widget options
}

Example reference field:

{
  slug: "relatedProducts",
  type: "reference",
  label: "Related Products",
  options: {
    collection: "products",
    allowMultiple: true
  }
}

Querying Collections

Use the provided query functions to fetch content. These follow Astro’s live collections pattern, returning structured results:

import { getEmDashCollection, getEmDashEntry } from "emdash";

// Get all entries - returns { entries, error }
const { entries: posts } = await getEmDashCollection("posts");

// Filter by status
const { entries: drafts } = await getEmDashCollection("posts", {
	status: "draft",
});

// Limit results
const { entries: recent } = await getEmDashCollection("posts", {
	limit: 5,
});

// Filter by taxonomy
const { entries: newsPosts } = await getEmDashCollection("posts", {
	where: { category: "news" },
});

// Get a single entry by slug - returns { entry, error, isPreview }
const { entry: post } = await getEmDashEntry("posts", "my-post-slug");

// Handle errors
const { entries, error } = await getEmDashCollection("posts");
if (error) {
	console.error("Failed to load posts:", error);
}

Type Generation

Run npx emdash types to generate TypeScript types from your schema:

// .emdash/types.ts (generated)
export interface Post {
	title: string;
	content: PortableTextBlock[];
	excerpt?: string;
	featuredImage?: string;
	author: string; // reference ID
}

export interface Product {
	title: string;
	price: number;
	description: PortableTextBlock[];
}

Database Mapping

Field types map to SQLite column types:

Next Steps