Getting Started

Build modern Vue interfaces with the awesome October CMS ecosystem.

LAIKA is a lightweight bridge between October CMS and a Vite-powered Vue application. It allows theme interfaces to be written as Vue single-file components while October continues to provide routing, server lifecycle methods, AJAX handlers, CMS components, partials, content blocks, snippets and plugin integrations.

The workflow is inspired by Inertia.js, but LAIKA does not turn October CMS into a conventional API or require the theme to become an isolated single-page application. October remains responsible for the server request and Vue remains responsible for the interactive interface presented in the browser.

Project Goal

LAIKA aims to provide a modern frontend development experience without replacing the parts of October CMS that already work well.

A LAIKA request involves both environments:

1. October CMS reads the theme source, resolves the route, runs the server lifecycle and prepares the page payload.
2. LAIKA transfers that payload and the active component information to the browser.
3. Vue renders the interface using the application compiled by Vite.
4. Subsequent navigation and AJAX requests continue to pass through October CMS.

This allows existing October plugins and CMS features to remain useful while theme developers gain Vue components, TypeScript, Vite bundling and hot module replacement.

CAUTION

LAIKA is currently experimental and may introduce breaking changes. Evaluate and test upgrades carefully before using them in production.

Requirements

LAIKA requires:

• PHP 8.4 or newer
• October CMS 4.2+
• Node.js and npm for compiling the frontend application
• A Vite-powered Vue theme

Install the October CMS Plugin OctoberCMS Docs

Install the RatMD.Laika plugin from the root directory of the October CMS application:

php artisan plugin:install RatMD.Laika

The plugin provides the server-side integration responsible for reading LAIKA components, preparing page payloads, handling navigation requests and connecting October CMS with the Vite application.

For additional information about installing and managing October CMS packages, see Installing Plugins and Themes in the October CMS documentation.

Install the Frontend Library

The Vue application uses the @ratmd/laika JavaScript package. Install it from the theme directory:

npm install @ratmd/laika

The package provides:

• The LAIKA application factory and Vue plugin
• Client-side navigation and payload handling
• Vue components and composables
• October CMS runtime helpers
• The @ratmd/laika/vite build plugin

The frontend package must be configured in the theme's application entry point and Vite configuration. Continue with the Frontend Getting Started guide for the complete client-side setup.

Example Theme

The optional OctoberCMS demo theme for LAIKA provides a complete example of a LAIKA-powered template:

php artisan theme:install RatMD.LaikaDemo

It demonstrates LAIKA components, layouts, navigation, October components, Tailor content and frontend asset compilation in a working theme.