Getting Started

Contentrain AI is an open-source content governance infrastructure. Your AI agent creates and manages content through Model Context Protocol (MCP) tools — Contentrain ensures that content is structured, validated, reviewed, and deliverable to any platform.

Prerequisites

• Node.js 22+
• Git
• An MCP-compatible AI agent (Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf, or similar)

Choose Your Path

New Project

# Start with structured content from day one
npx contentrain init

Existing Project

# Already have hardcoded strings? Extract them
npx contentrain init
# Then tell your agent: "Scan my project and extract all hardcoded strings"

Quick Start: New Project

1. Initialize

npx contentrain init

This creates .contentrain/ in your project root with configuration, model definitions, and content directories. If the directory is not a git repo, it runs git init automatically.

2. Connect your AI agent

Add the Contentrain MCP server to your IDE:

Claude Code (.mcp.json)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "contentrain": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["contentrain", "serve", "--stdio"]
    }
  }
}

Cursor (.cursor/mcp.json)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "contentrain": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["contentrain", "serve", "--stdio"]
    }
  }
}

Windsurf

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "contentrain": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["contentrain", "serve", "--stdio"]
    }
  }
}

3. Create a content model

Tell your agent:

Create a hero section model with title, subtitle, and CTA fields

The agent calls contentrain_model_save and creates:

.contentrain/
  models/hero-section.json
  content/marketing/hero-section/en.json

4. Add content

Add content to the hero section: title is "Build faster with AI",
subtitle is "Content governance for any platform"

5. Use your content

The content is plain JSON — you can read it directly from any language or platform:

{
  "title": "Build faster with AI",
  "subtitle": "Content governance for any platform"
}

For TypeScript projects, generate a typed SDK client for convenience:

npx contentrain generate

import { singleton } from '#contentrain'

const hero = singleton('hero-section').locale('en').get()
console.log(hero.title) // "Build faster with AI"

SDK is optional

The generated TypeScript SDK provides type-safe queries, but the content files are plain JSON and Markdown. Any platform that reads JSON — Go, Python, Swift, Kotlin, Rust — can consume your content directly.

6. Review with the local UI

npx contentrain serve

Open http://localhost:3333 to browse models, content, validation results, and pending branches.

Quick Start: Existing Project

Already have hardcoded strings scattered across your codebase? The Normalize Flow extracts them into structured content:

You: "Scan my project and extract all hardcoded strings"
Agent: scans 47 files → finds 523 strings → classifies → creates models → patches source
You: review in UI → approve → structured content, ready for any language

See the Normalize Flow guide for the complete walkthrough.

The Content Pipeline

Every operation follows the same governance pipeline:

Agent generates → MCP validates → Human reviews → Git commits → Content delivered

• Agent decides what to create (your AI, your choice — BYOA)
• MCP enforces structure, validation, and canonical serialization
• Human reviews and approves through the local UI or Studio
• Git stores everything — full history, rollback, audit trail
• Content is delivered as plain JSON/Markdown to any platform

Packages

All packages are published on npm:

Package	Description	Install
contentrain	CLI (init, serve, generate, validate)	npx contentrain init
@contentrain/mcp	13 MCP tools for AI agents	pnpm add @contentrain/mcp
@contentrain/query	TypeScript query SDK (optional)	pnpm add @contentrain/query
@contentrain/types	Shared TypeScript types	pnpm add @contentrain/types
@contentrain/rules	AI agent quality rules	pnpm add @contentrain/rules
@contentrain/skills	AI agent workflow procedures	pnpm add @contentrain/skills

What's Next?

• Core Concepts — Models, content kinds, domains, and the governance architecture
• MCP Tools — All 13 tools available to your agent
• Normalize Flow — Extract hardcoded strings from existing code
• i18n Workflow — Add languages to your content
• Framework Integration — Platform-specific setup patterns

Contentrain Studio

When you need team collaboration, visual diff review, and content CDN for non-web platforms — Contentrain Studio extends everything with a hosted governance UI.