Morse: The Decentralized Headless CMS Protocol

A headless CMS protocol built on Sui and Walrus, for developers building content applications with on-chain ownership and decentralized storage.

Network status

Morse runs on Walrus Mainnet and testnet. On mainnet, gas and Walrus storage cost real SUI and WAL, and there is no faucet. Test on testnet first, and read Walrus Mainnet before you switch. Sui and Walrus testnets reset periodically (Walrus wipes every few months), so stored content and object IDs are lost on reset. Do not publish anything you cannot afford to lose.

What is Morse?

Morse lets developers build content applications (blogs, knowledge bases, gated media platforms) where the backend is an open protocol instead of a vendor service. You define content structures, set access policies, and publish through a CLI or TypeScript SDK; the contracts handle identity, permissions, and revision history so there is no central point of failure to trust or migrate away from.

Why Morse?

Traditional headless CMSs create several long-term constraints:

Trust concentration: one vendor backend controls all identity and data
Weak portability: publication identity and permissions do not travel with you
Opaque history: change and authorization history is hidden inside a closed system
Vendor lock-in: migrating requires re-building your backend from scratch

Morse solves these while keeping the ergonomics of headless CMS architecture. Publication identity is canonical on-chain. Write permissions are capability-based and verifiable. Every revision is auditable. And any team can integrate directly with the contracts, bypassing any specific service provider.

System architecture

Morse is composed of five layers. Only the contracts are the source of truth; all other layers are replaceable.

Control

Sui Blockchain

Publication Registry

Collections

Entries & Revisions

OwnerCap / PublisherCap

Storage

Walrus

Blob Storage

Quilt Storage

Access

Seal

Publisher Policy

Allowlist Policy

Query

Indexer

Content API

Develop

TypeScript SDK

CLI

The Morse Book

For the full architecture, from what a headless CMS is to how each layer of Morse fits together, read The Morse Book on Notion.

Key features

On-chain Permission Management

Publication identity, write permissions, and state transitions are enforced by Move smart contracts: transparent and auditable.

Walrus Storage

Content payloads and assets live in Walrus decentralized storage. Contracts store verifiable references, not bytes.

Capability-Based Auth

OwnerCap and PublisherCap separate permission management from publishing. Revocation is instant and denylist-based.

Immutable Revisions

Every content change is an appended revision. Draft and public heads enable editorial workflows without losing history.

Access Policies

Public, publisher-gated, and subscription access policies control payload retrieval via Seal encryption.

Open Protocol

Anyone can build integrations directly on contracts. Off-chain services are optional ergonomics, not gatekeepers.

Agent-First by Design

A coding agent can provision publications, publish content, and operate the entire backend via CLI or SDK. No centralized provisioning required.

Component status

Component	Status	Description
Move Contracts	Active	Publication, collection, entry, and revision management. Deployed on testnet and mainnet.
TypeScript SDK	Active	Wraps Sui, Walrus, and Seal behind a small adapter pattern. Published as `@arcadiasystems/morse-sdk` on npm (testnet and mainnet).
CLI	Active	Terminal tool for managing publications, collections, and entries. Published as `@arcadiasystems/morse-cli` on npm (testnet and mainnet).
Indexer	Planned	Listens to on-chain events and builds read-optimized state.
Content API	Planned	REST API for querying publications, collections, and entries.

Next steps

Quick Start

Choose your path (CLI, SDK, or contracts) and go from zero to published content on testnet.

Live Demo

A working blog running on Morse: wallet-native publishing, on-chain revisions, Seal-gated premium posts. No wallet needed to read.

Core Concepts

Understand the Publication → Collection → Entry model.

CLI

Manage publications and content from your terminal. Encrypted keystore, active context, no IDs to paste.

SDK

Build on Morse from Node or the browser. Adapter pattern, branded IDs, structured errors.

React Uploader

Drop-in React components and hooks to upload files to Walrus, public or encrypted, and share them with a link.