We just wrapped a jam-packed Strapi community call, and if you couldn’t make it live, here’s a recap with the big updates, why they matter, and how to try them. Strapi AI, Plugin Generators, Cloud Upgrades, and New Starters.
TL;DR
- Strapi AI can now generate content types from Figma files, existing project code, or plain prompts. Media Library AI can auto-create image alt text and captions.
- Plugin generators (demoed by Boaz) make building plugins way faster by scaffolding content types, controllers, routes, and services—right inside your plugin.
- Strapi Cloud added project transfer, downloadable SQL backups, and a smoother multi-environment flow.
- Admin UX got better: homepage widgets (now draggable), first steps toward a responsive admin, and conditional fields support in custom fields.
- OpenAPI specs can be generated from your Strapi app to power docs, tooling, and AI-assisted UI generation.
- The team is doubling down on stability and GitHub issue resolution.
- Two solid starter projects to jump-start your builds: a community TanStack Start + Strapi starter, and NOTM’s Next.js + Strapi monorepo starter.
What’s New in Strapi
1) Strapi AI (a.k.a. the Architect)
Strapi AI helps you define your content structure faster:
- Import from Figma: Point to a design and let Strapi suggest collection types and components.
- Import from a project: Zip up your front-end code, upload it, and Strapi AI proposes a model that matches your UI.
- Prompt it: Describe what you want in plain English and refine with follow-up prompts before you save anything.
This is great when you’re unsure how to structure content. You can prototype, compare options, and commit only when it looks right.
Media Library AI is also available. Turn it on in settings and Strapi will auto-generate alt text and captions for images on upload—huge time saver and better accessibility.
On the horizon: automatic AI translations (text and media) to speed up multi-locale work.
2) Admin UX & Productivity
- Homepage widgets: Drag, drop, and position. Better yet, build your own widget as a plugin so clients see exactly the metrics or shortcuts they need when they log in.
- Responsive admin (first pass): Early steps toward a better experience on iPad and mobile.
- Conditional fields (now in custom fields too): Show/hide fields based on toggles or rules to keep editors focused on only what they need.
3) OpenAPI Spec Generation
Run a single command and get a machine-readable spec of your API. This is perfect for:
- Quickly exploring endpoints in Swagger-like tools
- Sharing precise API contracts with teammates and services
- Feeding AI tools a structured map of your endpoints (handy for codegen or UI generation)
4) Strapi Cloud Improvements
- Transfer ownership: Move a project to a client with a couple of clicks.
- Downloadable backups: Grab a raw SQL backup and inspect locally.
- Multi-environment flow: Keep dev, staging, and prod separate—especially databases. Golden rule: pull production data down for testing, never push dev DBs up.
Also: there’s a Free tier, and the Growth Plan includes live preview, release management, content history, basic support, and Strapi AI features.
5) Stability Focus
The team is actively closing GitHub issues and prioritizing the “paper cuts.” New features are great, but the near-term push is polishing the experience you already use daily.
You can find the full recording👇 highly recommend checking out the Plugin Deep Dive with Boaz.
Deep Dive: Plugins with Boaz
Boaz (Strapi Ecosystem Developer Advocate) joined to talk plugins—what’s possible, how the docs are improving, and how to build faster with plugin generators.
Why Plugins?
Plugins are like mini Strapi apps: a React admin frontend + a Node backend. They’re perfect for:
- Custom dashboards and homepage widgets
- Data ingest pipelines (e.g., social mentions → Strapi)
- Admin-only tools (internal workflows, moderation, approvals)
- Public endpoints to power front-ends or integrations
New: Plugin Generators (Demo)
Boaz showed a generator that creates a full content type inside a plugin, complete with:
- Schema
- Controller
- Service
- Router
- Permission hooks in Users & Permissions
You can also generate single parts (like “just a controller”), and future templates may include homepage widgets or content-manager sidebar widgets. The goal: remove boilerplate so you can focus on logic.
Big picture: the docs for plugin APIs are being expanded so more “hidden” capabilities become discoverable and supported.
Community Starters You Can Use Today
TanStack Start + Strapi (community project):
A starter with a dynamic landing page (via Strapi’s dynamic zones), blog with pagination and search, and auth (email + providers like GitHub). It’s meant to be extended and welcomes contributions.
- NOTM Next.js + Strapi:
A well-structured monorepo starter with a video walkthrough (Docker, DB, front-end, back-end). Great if you want a production-minded baseline without reinventing the wheel.
Video setup guilde.
Both are helpful when you don’t want to start from zero and need working patterns for routing, data fetching, auth, and content modeling.
If you want to experiment this week, try:
- Generating an OpenAPI spec and loading it into a client.
- Turning on Media Library AI and uploading a few images.
- Scaffolding a plugin with the generator and adding one homepage widget.
- Cloning a starter and wiring it to your Strapi instance.
Got a cool plugin or starter? Reach out. We love showcasing community work in future calls. Thanks for being part of the Strapi journey!