JavaScript API Reference

EmDash exports functions for querying content, managing media, and working with the database.

Content Queries

EmDash’s query functions follow Astro’s live content collections pattern, returning { entries, error } or { entry, error } for graceful error handling.

getEmDashCollection()

Fetch all entries from a collection.

import { getEmDashCollection } from "emdash";

const { entries: posts, error } = await getEmDashCollection("posts");

if (error) {
  console.error("Failed to load posts:", error);
}

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description
collection	string	Collection slug
options	CollectionFilter	Optional filter options

Options

interface CollectionFilter {
  status?: "draft" | "published" | "archived";
  limit?: number;
  where?: Record<string, string | string[]>; // Filter by field or taxonomy
}

Returns

interface CollectionResult<T> {
  entries: ContentEntry<T>[]; // Empty array if error or none found
  error?: Error; // Set if query failed
}

Examples

// Get all published posts
const { entries: posts } = await getEmDashCollection("posts", {
  status: "published",
});

// Get latest 5 posts
const { entries: latest } = await getEmDashCollection("posts", {
  limit: 5,
  status: "published",
});

// Filter by taxonomy
const { entries: newsPosts } = await getEmDashCollection("posts", {
  status: "published",
  where: { category: "news" },
});

// Handle errors
const { entries, error } = await getEmDashCollection("posts");
if (error) {
  return new Response("Server error", { status: 500 });
}

getEmDashEntry()

Fetch a single entry by slug or ID.

import { getEmDashEntry } from "emdash";

const { entry: post, error } = await getEmDashEntry("posts", "my-post-slug");

if (!post) {
  return Astro.redirect("/404");
}

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description
collection	string	Collection slug
slugOrId	string	Entry slug or ID

Preview mode is handled automatically — the middleware detects _preview tokens and serves draft content via AsyncLocalStorage. No options parameter is needed.

Returns

interface EntryResult<T> {
  entry: ContentEntry<T> | null; // null if not found
  error?: Error; // Set only for actual errors, not "not found"
  isPreview: boolean; // true if draft content is being served
}

Examples

// Get by slug
const { entry: post } = await getEmDashEntry("posts", "hello-world");

// Get by ID
const { entry: post } = await getEmDashEntry("posts", "01HXK5MZSN0FVXT2Q3KPRT9M7D");

// Preview is automatic — isPreview is true when a valid _preview token is present
const { entry, isPreview, error } = await getEmDashEntry("posts", slug);

// Handle errors vs not-found
if (error) {
  return new Response("Server error", { status: 500 });
}
if (!entry) {
  return Astro.redirect("/404");
}

Content Types

ContentEntry

The entry returned by query functions:

interface ContentEntry<T = Record<string, unknown>> {
  id: string;
  data: T;
  edit: EditProxy; // Visual editing annotations
}

The edit proxy provides visual editing annotations. Spread it onto elements to enable inline editing: {...entry.edit.title}. In production, this produces no output.

The data object contains all content fields plus system fields:

• id - Unique identifier
• slug - URL-friendly identifier
• status - “draft” | “published” | “archived”
• createdAt - ISO timestamp
• updatedAt - ISO timestamp
• publishedAt - ISO timestamp or null
• Plus all custom fields defined in your collection schema

Database Functions

createDatabase()

Create a database connection.

import { createDatabase } from "emdash";

const db = createDatabase({ url: "file:./data.db" });

Caution

Direct database access is for advanced use cases. Prefer the query functions for content access.

runMigrations()

Run pending database migrations.

import { createDatabase, runMigrations } from "emdash";

const db = createDatabase({ url: "file:./data.db" });
const { applied } = await runMigrations(db);
console.log(`Applied ${applied.length} migrations`);

getMigrationStatus()

Check migration status.

import { createDatabase, getMigrationStatus } from "emdash";

const db = createDatabase({ url: "file:./data.db" });
const status = await getMigrationStatus(db);
// { applied: ["0001_core", ...], pending: [] }

Repositories

Low-level data access through repositories.

ContentRepository

import { ContentRepository, createDatabase } from "emdash";

const db = createDatabase({ url: "file:./data.db" });
const repo = new ContentRepository(db);

// Find many
const { items, nextCursor } = await repo.findMany("posts", {
  limit: 10,
  where: { status: "published" },
});

// Find by ID
const post = await repo.findById("posts", "01HXK5MZSN...");

// Create
const newPost = await repo.create({
  type: "posts",
  slug: "new-post",
  data: { title: "New Post", content: [] },
  status: "draft",
});

// Update
const updated = await repo.update("posts", "01HXK5MZSN...", {
  data: { title: "Updated Title" },
});

// Delete
await repo.delete("posts", "01HXK5MZSN...");

MediaRepository

import { MediaRepository, createDatabase } from "emdash";

const db = createDatabase({ url: "file:./data.db" });
const repo = new MediaRepository(db);

// List media
const { items } = await repo.findMany({ limit: 20 });

// Get by ID
const media = await repo.findById("01HXK5MZSN...");

// Create (after upload)
const newMedia = await repo.create({
  filename: "photo.jpg",
  mimeType: "image/jpeg",
  size: 12345,
  storageKey: "uploads/photo.jpg",
});

Schema Registry

Programmatic schema management.

import { SchemaRegistry, createDatabase } from "emdash";

const db = createDatabase({ url: "file:./data.db" });
const registry = new SchemaRegistry(db);

// List collections
const collections = await registry.listCollections();

// Get collection with fields
const postsSchema = await registry.getCollectionWithFields("posts");

// Create collection
await registry.createCollection({
  slug: "products",
  label: "Products",
  labelSingular: "Product",
  supports: ["drafts", "revisions"],
});

// Add field
await registry.createField("products", {
  slug: "price",
  label: "Price",
  type: "number",
  required: true,
});

Preview System

generatePreviewToken()

Generate a preview token for draft content.

import { generatePreviewToken } from "emdash";

const token = await generatePreviewToken({
  contentId: "posts:01HXK5MZSN...",
  secret: process.env.EMDASH_ADMIN_SECRET,
  expiresIn: 3600, // 1 hour
});

verifyPreviewToken()

Verify a preview token.

import { verifyPreviewToken } from "emdash";

const result = await verifyPreviewToken({
  token,
  secret: process.env.EMDASH_ADMIN_SECRET,
});

if (result.valid) {
  const { cid, exp, iat } = result.payload;
  // cid is "collection:id" format, e.g. "posts:my-draft-post"
}

isPreviewRequest()

Check if a request includes a preview token.

import { isPreviewRequest, getPreviewToken } from "emdash";

if (isPreviewRequest(Astro.request)) {
  const token = getPreviewToken(Astro.request);
  // Verify and show preview content
}

Content Converters

Convert between Portable Text and ProseMirror formats.

import { prosemirrorToPortableText, portableTextToProsemirror } from "emdash";

// From ProseMirror (editor) to Portable Text (storage)
const portableText = prosemirrorToPortableText(prosemirrorDoc);

// From Portable Text to ProseMirror
const prosemirrorDoc = portableTextToProsemirror(portableText);

Site Settings

import { getSiteSettings, getSiteSetting } from "emdash";

// Get all settings
const settings = await getSiteSettings();

// Get single setting
const title = await getSiteSetting("siteTitle");

Settings are read-only from the runtime API. Use the admin API to update them.

Menus

import { getMenu, getMenus } from "emdash";

// Get all menus
const menus = await getMenus();

// Get specific menu with items
const primaryMenu = await getMenu("primary");

if (primaryMenu) {
  primaryMenu.items.forEach(item => {
    console.log(item.label, item.url);
    // Nested items for dropdowns
    item.children.forEach(child => console.log("  -", child.label));
  });
}

Taxonomies

import { getTaxonomyTerms, getTerm, getEntryTerms, getEntriesByTerm } from "emdash";

// Get all terms for a taxonomy (tree structure for hierarchical)
const categories = await getTaxonomyTerms("category");

// Get single term
const news = await getTerm("category", "news");

// Get terms assigned to a content entry
const postCategories = await getEntryTerms("posts", "post-123", "category");

// Get entries with a specific term
const newsPosts = await getEntriesByTerm("posts", "category", "news");

Widget Areas

import { getWidgetArea, getWidgetAreas } from "emdash";

// Get all widget areas
const areas = await getWidgetAreas();

// Get specific widget area with widgets
const sidebar = await getWidgetArea("sidebar");

if (sidebar) {
  sidebar.widgets.forEach(widget => {
    console.log(widget.type, widget.title);
  });
}

Sections

import { getSection, getSections, getSectionCategories } from "emdash";

// Get all sections
const sections = await getSections();

// Filter sections
const heroes = await getSections({ category: "hero" });
const themeSections = await getSections({ source: "theme" });
const results = await getSections({ search: "newsletter" });

// Get single section
const cta = await getSection("newsletter-cta");

// Get categories
const categories = await getSectionCategories();

Search

import { search, searchCollection } from "emdash";

// Global search across collections
const results = await search("hello world", {
  collections: ["posts", "pages"],
  status: "published",
  limit: 20,
});

// Results include snippets with highlights
results.forEach(result => {
  console.log(result.title);
  console.log(result.snippet); // Contains <mark> tags
  console.log(result.score);
});

// Collection-specific search
const posts = await searchCollection("posts", "typescript", {
  limit: 10,
});

Error Handling

EmDash exports error classes for handling specific failures:

import {
  EmDashDatabaseError,
  EmDashValidationError,
  EmDashStorageError,
  SchemaError,
} from "emdash";

try {
  await repo.create({ ... });
} catch (error) {
  if (error instanceof EmDashValidationError) {
    console.error("Validation failed:", error.message);
  }
  if (error instanceof SchemaError) {
    console.error("Schema error:", error.code, error.details);
  }
}