What is Svalla

A headless CMS designed for flexibility

Svalla is a headless content management system that separates content management from frontend presentation. You manage your content through a powerful back-office, and deliver it to any frontend — websites, mobile apps, or any platform — via a GraphQL API.

Unlike traditional CMS platforms that lock you into a specific theme or template engine, Svalla gives you complete freedom to build your frontend with the technologies you prefer, such as Next.js, React, or any framework that consumes APIs.

Built for teams that build websites

Svalla is designed for agencies, freelancers, and development teams that create and manage multiple websites for clients or internal projects.

• Developers — full GraphQL API, custom data structures, and complete frontend freedom
• Content editors — intuitive back-office with rich text editing, media management, and publishing workflows
• Project managers — multi-project management, role-based permissions, and team collaboration from a single dashboard

Everything you need to manage content at scale

• Custom post types — model any content structure: pages, articles, products, events, portfolios
• Visual section builder — define page layouts with reusable, configurable sections
• Multilingual by default — native multi-language support with per-language URLs and translations
• GraphQL API — query exactly the data you need with advanced filtering, pagination, and search
• Revision workflow — draft, schedule, approve, publish, and rollback content changes
• Media optimization — automatic image compression, WebP conversion, and blur placeholders
• Forms builder — create forms with validation, email notifications, and submission export
• Multi-project — manage multiple websites from a single Svalla installation
• Role-based access — granular permissions per project, post type, and user role
• Member areas — restricted content zones with frontend authentication

Content in, API out

The Svalla workflow follows a simple pattern:

• 1. Define your structure — create post types, templates, and sections that match your content needs
• 2. Add your content — use the back-office to write, upload media, and organize your pages
• 3. Publish — content goes through your chosen workflow (draft → review → publish) with optional scheduling
• 4. Deliver — your frontend fetches content via the GraphQL API and renders it however you want

This separation means your content team works independently from the development team. Content changes don't require code deployments, and frontend updates don't affect the content structure.

Modern stack, proven technologies

Svalla is built on a modern, reliable technology stack:

• Backend — Node.js with Express and Apollo GraphQL Server
• Database — PostgreSQL with Prisma ORM for type-safe database access
• File storage — AWS S3 for scalable cloud storage
• Authentication — JWT-based authentication with role-based access control
• Real-time — Socket.io for live content synchronization
• Back-office — React with Redux Toolkit, TailwindCSS, and Tiptap rich text editor