Introduction to Agility CMS

Agility CMS is a headless content management system that separates content management from presentation. This means:

Content is reusable: Create content once, use it anywhere
Flexible presentation: The same content can appear on websites, mobile apps, or other platforms
Modular approach: Pages are built using reusable components

Understanding Headless Architecture

Agility CMS follows a headless architecture pattern, where content management is completely separate from content delivery:

In a headless architecture, publishing makes your content available through the Content Fetch API and your images through the Asset CDN. Your website and other apps and channels read from them, and a publish webhook tells your site to revalidate. In the other direction, AI agents (through the MCP server) and scripts (through the SDKs and CLI) write content through the Management API.

Key Benefits:

Multi-channel publishing: Same content for web, mobile, and other platforms
Technology freedom: Use any frontend framework or technology
Performance: CDN delivery and optimized asset management
Scalability: Scale content management and frontend independently

Understanding the Data Model

Agility CMS organizes content using a structured data model that separates content from presentation:

Diagram of the Agility data model. A top row of models (page model, component model, content model) defines a row of instances below it. The sitemap maps the URL /blog/first-post to page 4 and content item 6. Page 4's main content zone uses a PostDetails component, the component displays content item 6 (a Post), and that post links to an Author content item.

The Agility data model shows how a Sitemap organizes Pages, Pages contain Components, and Components display Content Items. Each entity (Page, Component, Content) has a corresponding Model that defines its structure. This separation allows content to be reused across multiple pages and components.

Key Relationships:

Sitemap → Maps URLs to Pages
Pages → Contain multiple Components
Components → Display Content Items
Content Items → Standalone, reusable pieces of content

Understanding the Interface

The Agility CMS interface is organized into four main sections:

The Agility CMS interface is organized into four main sections:

Content: Manage Lists and Items (reusable content)
Assets: Manage Files, Images, and PDFs (media library)
Pages: Manage Sitemap, Pages, and Components (page structure)
Web Studio: Preview content before publishing

Key Concepts

Pages → Individual web pages organized in a sitemap Components → Reusable building blocks that display content on pages Content Items → Standalone pieces of content that can be linked to components Media → Images, documents, and other digital assets

What You'll Learn

This generic training guide will teach you:

How to navigate the Agility CMS interface
How to create and manage content items
How to build pages using components
How to work with the media library
How to publish and preview content
How to troubleshoot common issues

Each section focuses on how Agility CMS works in general, not how a specific instance is configured. This knowledge will apply to any Agility CMS instance you work with.

Next: Core Concepts - Deep dive into the Agility Data Model, Headless Architecture, and Sections