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Basehim

About Basehim

Basehim is an open-source PHP CMS with a full REST API and a built-in MCP server for AI agents. It requires PHP 8.1 and MySQL or MariaDB, and it's free under the MIT license.

The API comes first

Most content management systems were built around one way in: a person clicking through an admin screen. Anything else, such as a mobile app, another service or an AI assistant, has to work around it.

In Basehim, everything the dashboard can do, the REST API can do too. The dashboard is one client among several, so a script, another system or a separate front end can publish, edit and organise your content in the same way.

AI agents, with permissions you approve

Every Basehim site has a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server. An assistant such as Claude can search your content, draft posts, tidy metadata or answer questions about what you've published, through named tools rather than by reading web pages.

Each connection is scoped. You see which permissions an assistant asks for and grant only those: one allowed to draft posts can't read your users or change your settings. Apps can give assistants their own tools under the same rules.

Build your site with an AI agent

An AI agent can do more than manage content. Install the free Basehim Dev Tools app from the Marketplace in your dashboard, connect an agent such as Claude, and it can build and change your theme, write apps, read logs and fix problems on the site itself. You choose what it may do: nothing, read-only, or development. Every code change is checked before it is kept and can be rolled back.

Setup, modes and safety checks: Basehim Dev Tools: build and manage your site with an AI agent.

Themes and apps

Themes, apps, blocks, widgets and hooks are separate pieces. A theme change never touches your content. An app can be switched off and on again without losing its settings, and if an app fails, Basehim switches it off and keeps the site running.

Themes and apps can be installed from the marketplace in the dashboard, and every download is checked against its checksum before it's installed.

Requirements and deployment

Basehim requires PHP 8.1 or later and MySQL 5.7+ or MariaDB 10.3+, on Apache, LiteSpeed or nginx. It runs on managed hosting with cPanel, Plesk or DirectAdmin as well as on a VPS or dedicated server. The full list, including PHP extensions, is on the Download page.

To deploy, upload the release archive and open the site in a browser. The installer checks the server, sets up the database and creates the first account in about five minutes. Shell access is not required. New versions install from the dashboard's Updates screen.

Open source

Basehim is MIT licensed. The source code, every release and the issue tracker are on GitHub. The first public release, 1.0.1, came out on 14 August 2026.

Where to go next