EmDash CMS + Freeform (Solspace example)

Public reference site showing how to run EmDash with Freeform — Solspace’s form builder for EmDash.

The front end is a Solspace Freeform product demo (same idea as demo.solspace.com for Craft) — try forms, AI chat intake, submissions, and theming without a fictional brand story.

Piece	Role
EmDash	Headless CMS (Astro + Cloudflare)
Freeform plugin (@solspace.com/freeform)	Admin builder, submissions, notifications, webhooks
@solspace/freeform-astro	Public form routes + <FreeformForm> / <FreeformChat>

Plugin source & deeper docs: solspace/emdash-freeform

---

What this demo shows

• Install Freeform from the EmDash plugin registry
• Wire @solspace/freeform-astro into astro.config.mjs
• Embed a form by handle (<FreeformForm formId="contact" />)
• Optional AI concierge chat that can fill and submit the same form
• Theme unstyled Freeform markup with data-freeform-* CSS (see /contact)
• Machine-readable discovery via /.well-known/freeform.json and /llms.txt

---

Requirements

• Node.js ≥ 22.16
• pnpm ≥ 11
• Cloudflare account (D1 + R2) for deploy; local astro dev works for exploring the UI

---

Quick start

git clone https://github.com/solspace/emdash-cms.git
cd emdash-cms
pnpm install
pnpm dev

Open:

• Site — http://127.0.0.1:4321/
• Admin — http://127.0.0.1:4321/_emdash/admin
• Contact form — http://127.0.0.1:4321/contact

On first admin visit, complete EmDash setup (or use the printed dev bypass URL from the terminal).

1. Install the Freeform plugin

In admin: Plugins → Registry → search freeform → Install.
Approve capabilities (network:request, email:send as requested).

Confirm from a terminal if you like:

npx @emdash-cms/plugin-cli info solspace.com freeform

2. Astro integration (already in this repo)

pnpm add @solspace/freeform-astro

// astro.config.mjs
import emdash from "emdash/astro";
import freeformAstro from "@solspace/freeform-astro";

export default defineConfig({
  integrations: [
    emdash({
      registry: "https://registry.emdashcms.com",
      // …database / storage…
    }),
    freeformAstro(),
  ],
});

3. Create a form & embed it

1. Admin → Freeform → create a form with handle contact (or use a starter).
2. Embed anywhere:

---
import { FreeformForm } from "@solspace/freeform-astro/components";
---

<FreeformForm formId="contact" />

Components are unstyled by design. Style via data-freeform-* attributes — this site’s /contact page is a full themed example.

Optional AI chat on the same form:

---
import { FreeformChat } from "@solspace/freeform-astro/components";
---

<FreeformChat
  formHandle="contact"
  siteName="Solspace Freeform"
  salesContext="Short product/context blurb for the concierge…"
/>

4. Email (Cloudflare)

Production uses EmDash’s email pipeline via cloudflareEmail() and a Wrangler send_email binding (EMAIL). Freeform notifications, invites, and magic links all go through Settings → Email.

1. Onboard a sender domain for Cloudflare Email Sending on the same Cloudflare account that owns this Worker (zone + Worker must match). Example:

   pnpm exec wrangler email sending enable solspace.net
   # add the DNS records it prints, then:
   pnpm exec wrangler email sending settings solspace.net

2. Optional From overrides at build/deploy time (defaults: noreply@solspace.net):

   export FREEFORM_EMAIL_FROM=noreply@solspace.net
   export FREEFORM_EMAIL_FROM_NAME="Freeform Demo"
   export FREEFORM_EMAIL_REPLY_TO=hello@solspace.com

3. Deploy, open Settings → Email, confirm the Cloudflare provider is selected, and send a test.

Until the domain is accepted on this account, the provider is installed but sends will fail. If the Worker lives on a personal account without the Solspace zone, either move the Worker to the account that has solspace.net, or onboard another zone you control there.

5. Optional AI features

Form generation, spam scoring, and submission briefs need your own OpenAI API key under Freeform → Settings → AI & spam. Without a key, hand-built forms, submissions, email, and webhooks still work.

---

Project layout

astro.config.mjs          EmDash + Freeform Astro integrations
src/pages/contact.astro   Themed FreeformForm + FreeformChat example
src/pages/forms/[handle]  Generic form pages by handle
src/pages/demo.astro      Minimal light-theme Freeform embed
src/llms-txt.ts           /llms.txt for agents
seed/seed.json            Demo content & site identity
scripts/                  Optional local Freeform sync (maintainers)

---

Scripts

Command	Description
pnpm dev	Start Astro (syncs local Freeform if a sibling ../freeform checkout exists)
pnpm freeform:sync	Rebuild/sync local Freeform + clear Vite cache
pnpm build	Production build
pnpm deploy	Build and deploy with Wrangler

---

Developing next to Freeform source

Solspace maintainers often keep this site beside emdash-freeform:

emdash/
  freeform/     ← emdash-freeform clone
  cms/          ← this repo

With that layout, package.json can use file:../freeform dependencies and scripts/dev.mjs will rebuild/sync the plugin when Freeform changes. Public clones should use the published @solspace/freeform-astro package and the registry plugin (as above).

---

Links

• Freeform on the EmDash plugin registry
• emdash-freeform on GitHub
• @solspace/freeform-astro on npm
• EmDash documentation

---

License

MIT © Solspace