---
title: "Vault CMS"
description: "Vault CMS is an open-source headless CMS that turns Obsidian into a publishing platform for your Astro site. Free, MIT licensed, and one command to install."
url: "https://davidvkimball.com/vaultcms"
---

# Vault CMS

Vault CMS is an open-source headless CMS I built that turns **Obsidian** into a publishing platform for your **Astro** site. Write in your vault, push to Git, publish anywhere.

Vault CMS has 391 GitHub stars, and my 16 Obsidian plugins have over 130,000 downloads.

![Vault CMS running inside Obsidian](https://davidvkimball.com/assets/vault-cms-hero.webp)

## Get Started

Run this at the root of your Astro project. The installer detects your project, defaults to `src/content`, and works with almost any Astro theme.

```bash
pnpm create vaultcms
```

- Free and open source under the [MIT license](https://github.com/davidvkimball/vaultcms/blob/master/LICENSE).
- Listed in [Astro's own CMS guides](https://docs.astro.build/en/guides/cms/vault-cms/), and the docs have a [full install guide](https://docs.vaultcms.org/get-started/installation/).
- AI agents can set it up for you: the [vaultcms-mcp server](https://docs.vaultcms.org/get-started/mcp-server/) ships in the same package and works with Claude Code, Cursor, Claude Desktop, and Codex.

## The Masterclass

A full walkthrough covering four themes, three hosts, and every skill level.

[Watch the masterclass](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnXoikTajfI)

## Free Companion Guide

A checklist PDF that follows the video chapter by chapter. Keyboard shortcuts, markdown feature matrix, and frontmatter reference for every theme covered.

Sign up for it at [/vaultcms](https://davidvkimball.com/vaultcms).

## This Site Is the Demo

This site runs on Vault CMS. Every post and most of the pages are notes in my Obsidian vault, and the links between them are ordinary Markdown links, so Obsidian's graph view and linked mentions work on the same notes you're reading right now.

The graph opens from the command palette (Ctrl or Cmd + K) on any page of this site.

## Themes and Zeku

Vault CMS works with almost any Astro theme. These are the ones I make for it.

- [Astro Modular](https://davidvkimball.com/store#astro-modular): Free. Open source, and built to look however you want.
- [Axis](https://davidvkimball.com/store#axis): $49.99. A full-featured blog with room for projects and docs.
- [Coffer](https://davidvkimball.com/store#coffer): $29.99. A digital garden of short notes that open as stacked panes.
- [Continuum](https://davidvkimball.com/store#continuum): $29.99. A Metro-inspired theme with a panorama home page and live tiles.

Or get [Axis, Coffer, Continuum, and Zeku together](https://davidvkimball.com/store#bundle) for $99.

Rather not use Obsidian? [Zeku](https://davidvkimball.com/store#zeku) is my native writing app for Astro sites. Pick Vault CMS if you already write in Obsidian and want a free, open-source setup, and pick Zeku if you want an app that opens your Astro project directly. It starts at $39, with a 14-day free trial.

## Writing

Posts about Vault CMS, Obsidian publishing, and the tools around them.

- [My Obsidian Plugins and Themes](https://davidvkimball.com/posts/my-obsidian-plugins-and-themes): Feb 15, 2026
- [Vault CMS: Use Obsidian To Write Astro Blog Posts](https://davidvkimball.com/posts/vault-cms-use-obsidian-to-write-astro-blog-posts): Feb 10, 2026
- [Astro Suite for Obsidian (Vault CMS Predecessor)](https://davidvkimball.com/posts/astro-suite-for-obsidian): Aug 27, 2025

## Links

- [vaultcms.org](https://vaultcms.org)
- [Documentation](https://docs.vaultcms.org)
- [GitHub](https://github.com/davidvkimball/vaultcms)