The Future of Hexta MDX

Overview of Hexta MDX

Hexta MDX serves as a content processing layer, initially developed for processing MDX files and as an alternative to Contentlayer.

Its primary functions include:

• Compiling and processing content.
• Offering interfaces to access compiled content.
• Ensuring type safety and compatibility across environments, such as browsers and Cloudflare Workers.

Comparison with CMS

Hexta MDX is not a content management system (CMS). A CMS encompasses more than content processing, it integrates features such as:

• Database Integration: For storing content.
• Version Control: To enable rollbacks, commits, and conflict resolution.
• Permission Management: To handle user access and roles.
• Authoring Workflow: Supporting stages like drafting, reviewing, and publishing.

Hexta MDX lacks these CMS capabilities independently, but they can be achieved through integration with Git and GitHub. This approach offers distinct benefits over traditional CMS solutions, including:

• Maintaining a unified history within Git, rather than distributing it across Git and a separate CMS.
• Composing content and code changes in a single pull request.

GitHub's collaboration tools, such as access controls, pull request reviews, and automation, support the implementation of authoring workflows.

Hexta MDX is not intended to evolve into a CMS; it remains a foundational content processing layer.

Roadmap

Hexta MDX is closely associated with Hexta AI, yet the content processing layer should ideally operate independently, without reliance on any specific documentation framework.

In the near future, certain components will transition to hexta-content, improving extensibility and introducing more APIs. Such as:

• Framework Agnostic: Hexta Content should work anywhere, including Vite, Turbopack/Webpack, and even JS runtimes.
• No Framework Defaults: the MDX preset of Hexta AI will be offered by hexta-core, likely as a Hexta Content plugin.
• Content Adapters: Expanding support beyond MDX and JSON files to include custom collection types, as well as an Obsidian plugin for handling editor-specific syntax.
• Zero breaking changes to Hexta MDX: we adopt Hexta Content under the hood, but surface APIs will not be changed. Ideally, it will be similar to how Vite leverages Rolldown.

API-wise, Hexta Content plugins will distinguish from bundler plugins, but plugins can leverage the built-in abstraction layer to implement loaders. Otherwise, we will encourage Unplugin for advanced needs.

Although hexta-content focuses on content processing, it provides a foundation for developing a CMS layer, such as plugins for MDX editing or remote databases. It will be a bigger goal.

The Current Progress

Hexta MDX already includes primitives for advanced setups, such as the new Workspace API, which enables content processing across multiple repositories.

We are welcome for feedbacks on GitHub Discussions!