rsnext/examples/cms-cosmic

A statically generated blog example using Next.js and Cosmic

This example showcases Next.js's Static Generation feature using Cosmic as the data source.

Demo

https://next-blog-cosmic.now.sh/

Related examples

• WordPress
• DatoCMS
• Sanity
• TakeShape
• Prismic
• Contentful
• Strapi
• Agility CMS
• Blog Starter

How to use

Execute create-next-app with npm or Yarn to bootstrap the example:

npm init next-app --example cms-cosmic cms-cosmic-app
# or
yarn create next-app --example cms-cosmic cms-cosmic-app

Configuration

Step 1. Create an account and a project on Cosmic

First, create an account on Cosmic.

Step 2. Install the Next.js Static Blog app

After creating an account, install the Next.js Static Blog app from the Cosmic App Marketplace.

Step 3. Set up environment variables

Go to the Settings menu at the sidebar and click Basic Settings.

Next, copy the .env.local.example file in this directory to .env.local (which will be ignored by Git):

cp .env.local.example .env.local

Then set each variable on .env.local:

• NEXT_EXAMPLE_CMS_COSMIC_BUCKET_SLUG should be the Bucket slug key under Basic Settings.
• NEXT_EXAMPLE_CMS_COSMIC_READ_KEY should be the Read Key under API Access.
• NEXT_EXAMPLE_CMS_COSMIC_PREVIEW_SECRET can be any random string (but avoid spaces) - this is used for Preview Mode.

Your .env.local file should look like this:

NEXT_EXAMPLE_CMS_COSMIC_BUCKET_SLUG=...
NEXT_EXAMPLE_CMS_COSMIC_READ_KEY=...
NEXT_EXAMPLE_CMS_COSMIC_PREVIEW_SECRET=...

Step 4. Run Next.js in development mode

npm install
npm run dev

# or

yarn install
yarn dev

Your blog should be up and running on http://localhost:3000! If it doesn't work, post on GitHub discussions.

Step 5. Try preview mode

To add the ability to preview content from your Cosmic dashboard go to Posts > Edit Settings and scroll down to the "Preview Link" section. (Screenshot below)

Add your live URL or localhost development URL which includes your chosen preview secret and [object_slug] shortcode. It should look like the following:

http://localhost:3000/api/preview?secret=<secret>&slug=[object_slug]

• <secret> is the string you entered for NEXT_EXAMPLE_CMS_COSMIC_PREVIEW_SECRET.
• [object_slug] shortcode will automatically be converted to the post's slug attribute.

On Cosmic, go to one of the posts you've created and:

• Update the title. For example, you can add [Draft] in front of the title.
• Click Save Draft, but DO NOT click Publish. By doing this, the post will be in the draft state.

Now, if you go to the post page directly on localhost, you won't see the updated title. However, if you use the Preview Mode, you'll be able to see the change (Documentation).

Next, click the Preview Link button on the Post to see the updated title. (Screenshot below)

To exit preview mode, you can click on Click here to exit preview mode at the top.

Step 6. Deploy on Vercel

You can deploy this app to the cloud with Vercel (Documentation).

To deploy on Vercel, you need to set the environment variables using the Vercel CLI (Documentation).

Install the Vercel CLI, log in to your account from the CLI, and run the following commands to add the environment variables. Replace <NEXT_EXAMPLE_CMS_COSMIC_BUCKET_SLUG>, <NEXT_EXAMPLE_CMS_COSMIC_READ_KEY> and <NEXT_EXAMPLE_CMS_COSMIC_PREVIEW_SECRET> with the corresponding strings in .env.local.

vercel secrets add next_example_cms_cosmic_bucket_slug <NEXT_EXAMPLE_CMS_COSMIC_BUCKET_SLUG>
vercel secrets add next_example_cms_cosmic_read_key <NEXT_EXAMPLE_CMS_COSMIC_READ_KEY>
vercel secrets add next_example_cms_cosmic_preview_secret <NEXT_EXAMPLE_CMS_COSMIC_PREVIEW_SECRET>

Then push the project to GitHub/GitLab/Bitbucket and import to Vercel to deploy.