Front Matter is a headless CMS extension for VS Code that brings a visual editing experience to your local development environment. It bridges the gap between raw Markdown files and a polished content management system, allowing you to manage metadata, SEO, and media assets directly from your sidebar. By providing a "dashboard" view within your IDE, it eliminates the need to jump between your browser and terminal, making it the ultimate tool for developers who prioritize a fast, local-first content workflow.

Key Features

• Visual Dashboard: View all your pages, posts, and media in a clean, filterable interface instead of a cluttered folder tree.

• SEO & Readability Checks: Get real-time feedback on your title lengths, meta descriptions, and keyword density as you type.

• Integrated Media Manager: Drag and drop images directly into your content, with built-in support for automated captioning and alt-text.

• Custom Framework Support: Works out of the box with Hugo, Jekyll, Docusaurus, Next.js, and any other static site generator.

• Git-Integrated Workflow: Since it lives in VS Code, your content updates integrate seamlessly with your existing version control and CI/CD pipelines.

Who This Is For

• Technical Bloggers: Writers who want to focus on Markdown but need a visual way to manage tags, categories, and SEO.

• Open Source Maintainers: Teams managing large documentation sites who need a consistent way to handle front matter metadata.

• Web Agencies: Developers building sites for clients who want a "CMS-like" feel while maintaining a lightweight static architecture.

Common Questions

Q: Does this store my data on an external server?

A: No. Front Matter is local-first. All your content, configuration, and media stay within your project folder and Git repository.

Q: Can I customize the metadata fields?

A: Highly. You can define custom content types and fields (date pickers, booleans, taxonomies) to match your specific site's architecture.

Q: Does it support real-time previews?

A: Yes, it can integrate with your local development server to show you exactly how your content will look once published.