--- title: How Does TinaCMS Work? last_edited: '2025-07-12T22:32:27.382Z' --- TinaCMS is a feature-rich and somewhat complex tool. If you just want a docs solution, feel free to skip over this chapter. If you yearn for knowledge, read on…. ## The TinaCMS Frontend The TinaCMS front-end is 2 fold: 1. An editing portal that runs on the same port as your website, by default at the `/admin/index.html` route. 2. Your content model definition (we call it your schema) and other configuration… this control what fields you get when editing your website. ![]( "Access the content portal on the /admin/index.html route of your website") ## The TinaCMS Backend The TinaCMS Backend is your GraphQL content API. Think of this as a database and server that indexes your flat Git files for efficient fetching and exposes the endpoints. ![]( "Data moves from GitHub to your website via the TinaCMS Backend") This set-up can be achieved with TinaCloud – a paid offering from the TinaCMS team, or by using your own database. > During local development, a local version of the server is running that allows for the same editing experience offline. ## Learn More About TinaCMS This kit won't go deep into TinaCMS other than basic usage – [their docs](https://tina.io/docs) have more info. Some useful links are highlighted below… ### The Beginner Series There's a series of intro tutorials called [the Beginner Series](https://tina.io/docs/beginner-tutorials/tutorial-overview) that teach you to integrate a website with the CMS, giving you a full website builder feature set (dragging blocks around a page, live previews and click to edit functionality). ### Usage Docs Some useful reference docs include… * What is [markdown vs mdx ](https://tina.io/docs/editing/markdown)and what is the supported [markdown spec](https://tina.io/docs/reference/markdown-spec) * Setup guide for [AI powered auto-translations and internationalization](https://tina.io/docs/guides/internationalization) (if useful for your project) * Media options, including [repo-based (Git) media](https://tina.io/docs/reference/media/repo-based) and [external media stores](https://tina.io/docs/reference/media/external/authentication)