What is Cratly?
Creating websites does not require an online content management system. All it takes is a content repository and a template engine — Cratly.
Cratly is our framework for creating websites, which are more efficient and more secure than most of today's websites.
Efficiency: The websites are built only on actual content changes. A visitor is then served with those pre-built files. Nothing is computed per visitor. Nothing is re-compiled every now and then. As a result, less software is involved in serving the website, which reduces long-term maintenance efforts and energy consumption.
Security: Website generation often takes place on dedicated servers which may reside behind firewalls. Serving them publicly requires far less software, which means far fewer security vulnerabilities to deal with.
What is the Cratly Editor?
The Cratly Editor is a browser-based Markdown editor for the content of GitLab-hosted static sites. Connect your repository, browse its file tree, and edit pages — no local clone, no terminal.
Features
- OAuth 2.0 PKCE authentication — connects to any GitLab instance, self-hosted or gitlab.com
- Live Markdown editing — full WYSIWYG editor powered by TipTap with real-time rendering
- File tree browser — navigate pages and media assets side by side
- Container blocks — wrap content in fenced
::: section :::blocks, nested arbitrarily deep - Front matter support — edit YAML metadata in a dedicated panel
- Commit on save — changes are committed directly to the repository branch
- Merge request workflow — optionally open an MR instead of pushing to the default branch
- Dark / light mode — follows your system preference and can be toggled at any time
- Localised UI — English and German out of the box
Quick start
- Open the editor at
/editor/on your deployment - Enter your GitLab instance URL and OAuth application credentials
- Authenticate — you'll be redirected back automatically
- Select a file from the tree and start writing