Gentics Mesh is an open-source, Java-based headless content management system that gives developers content APIs instead of a bundled front end, and it is aimed at development teams building websites, mobile apps, IoT applications, smart devices and digital signage solutions.
What it is
Gentics Mesh is a headless CMS written in Java and released under the Apache-2.0 licence. It stores and manages content and exposes it through APIs, so the application that consumes the content is built separately with whatever framework, language and tooling the team prefers. The project describes itself as API-first, and its topic list names api-first, cms, cms-api, gentics-mesh, graphql-api and headless-cms. It lives inside the Java ecosystem and forms one component of Gentics CMP, alongside Gentics CMS and Gentics Portal.
The concrete problem it solves is the coupled content and presentation layer of a traditional CMS. In a conventional setup the CMS also delivers the front end, so content is bound to one rendering channel and typically serves a website and little else. Gentics Mesh removes that layer entirely: content managers work in a channel-agnostic way, and external applications pull the content and handle delivery themselves. The result is content that can be reused across web, mobile apps, audio guides and IoT devices without being rebuilt for each channel. It also replaces hand-rolled infrastructure for permissions, multi-language content and search, which the platform handles rather than the consuming application.
Key capabilities
- Separate API surfaces for content access and modification, with the README documenting both a REST API and a GraphQL API.
- Built-in user management that covers administration and editing features and extends to controlling access to content.
- Platform-level handling of permissions, multi-language content and search, so applications do not implement those concerns themselves.
- A modern user interface for content editing and administration, giving non-developers a working environment.
- Technology independence: the delivery layer can be built in any language or framework, and the platform runs on Windows, Linux and macOS.
- Deployment flexibility, with hosting chosen locally or in the cloud by the operator.
- Apache-2.0 licensing that permits use, modification and improvement of the software.
Who uses it and how
- Development teams building multi-channel products, where one content pool feeds a website, a mobile app, a smart device or a digital signage installation.
- Front-end teams that want full control of the delivery layer and prefer to load content into applications built with their own frameworks instead of inheriting a CMS presentation layer.
- Organisations that need content managers working through a user interface while developers consume the same content over REST or GraphQL.
- Operators who need to decide hosting themselves, whether that means running the platform locally or in the cloud.
- Teams already using the Gentics CMP stack, where Mesh sits alongside Gentics CMS and Gentics Portal.
Getting started
The README directs readers to the Getting Started Guide at https://www.gentics.com/mesh/docs/getting-started/, which explains the basic concepts of Gentics Mesh and serves as the quick-start entry point. Deployment is left to the operator, who chooses between local hosting and the cloud.
How it compares
Gentics Mesh is one of three components in Gentics CMP, sitting alongside Gentics CMS and Gentics Portal, with Gentics CMS and Mesh available as both open-source software and an Enterprise Edition. The facts name no comparable headless CMS products, so on this registry it stands alone rather than against a listed set of alternatives.
When to use it — and when not to
A self-hoster takes on running a Java service and whatever the deployment documentation requires, and should be comfortable reading concepts and setup outside this repository, since installation details live in the external Getting Started Guide. Teams that want a CMS to deliver the front end as well, or that need Gentics Portal Java or PHP, should look elsewhere, because the portal components are only available with the Enterprise Edition. The entry also carries 135 open issues, and no release or tag information is recorded here, so anyone evaluating it should check the project's own issue tracker and documentation before committing.
project readme (upstream, from github) — read inline
Gentics Mesh is your friendly, enterprise-grade, open-source headless CMS
To be honest, it’s more than that: it’s your application development platform
to develop your websites, your IoT applications, your mobile apps, your smart
devices and your digital signage solutions. With its best-in-class APIs, a
complete feature list and great documentation, you’ll get your projects done
successfully in less time, no matter which technology you prefer.
Quick Start
Check out our Getting Started Guide
for an explanation of the basic concepts of Gentics Mesh.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Gentics CMP
Gentics CMP (Content Management Platform) is composed of the following components: Gentics CMS, Gentics Mesh, and Gentics Portal. Gentics CMS and Mesh are available as both open-source software (OSS) and Enterprise Edition (EE). Gentics Portal Java and PHP can only be acquired with the Enterprise Edition. You can find the EE features here: Open-Source and Enterprise Edition. For more information about the EE, please contact [email protected].
Here are the links to our open-source projects:
What is a Headless CMS?
Traditional CMSes are "coupled", which means that the CMS also takes care of
the presentation layer responsible for delivering the content to the
clients. The content and the presentation are closely interlinked. Typically,
content managers create and manage their content through tools like "What you see is what you get" (WYSIWYG)
editors. The CMS then delivers the content according to the front-end delivery
layer built into the CMS. Typically, a traditional CMS supports your websites
but not much else.
A pure headless CMS is different, because it offers no front-end capabilities
at all, giving you full control of your customer experience via APIs. The CMS
typically provides content managers with a presentation and channel agnostic
way of managing content. It requires a front-end development team to manage the
rest with the frameworks and tools they prefer: The content can be loaded by
external applications which handle the content delivery to the client, meaning
that the content can be (re-)used by multiple applications and channels (web,
mobile app, audio guides, IOT).
Why pick Gentics Mesh?
Gentics Mesh is the platform that holds your content, gives you great APIs to
access and modify it, while relieving you from handling permissions,
multi-language aspects, search, and much more. You can use its modern user
interface that makes content editing and administration enjoyable. At the same
time, we don’t lock you in: You choose the technology and programming language
you want to implement your application with. You decide whether you want to
host it locally or in the cloud. We don’t care if you’re a Windows, Linux or
Mac guy or girl. Also, with its Apache 2.0 license, you are free to use it, modify
it and improve it.
What makes Gentics Mesh special over other headless CMSes is:
- its built-in user management not only covers the admin and editor features,
but can also be used for handling access to your application.
- it thinks in content trees (just like websites do), which brings you many
things for free: automatic navigation menus, automatic beautiful URLs,
built-in link resolving, …
- it is scalable and clustering-friendly, so your deployment can grow with
your project’s success.
Status
Gentics Mesh is actively developed by a dedicated team at Gentics Software GmbH in Vienna,
Austria.
The Gentics Mesh core team consists of the following members: