Module

content_layer

Content Layer - Unified content abstraction for Bengal.

This module provides a content layer API that fetches content from any source:

local files, GitHub repos, REST APIs, Notion databases, and more.

Design Principle: ZERO-COST UNLESS USED

  • Local-only collections have zero overhead
  • Remote loaders only activate when configured
  • CMS SDKs are lazy-loaded (import only when their loader is used)
  • No network calls unless explicitly configured

Usage (Local Only - Default):

# collections.py
from bengal.collections import define_collection

collections = {
    "docs": define_collection(schema=Doc, directory="content/docs"),
}
# ☝️ No remote loaders = no network calls, no new dependencies

Usage (With Remote Sources - Opt-in):

from bengal.collections import define_collection
from bengal.content_layer import github_loader, notion_loader

collections = {
    "docs": define_collection(schema=Doc, directory="content/docs"),
    "blog": define_collection(
        schema=BlogPost,
        loader=notion_loader(database_id="abc123"),
    ),
    "api-docs": define_collection(
        schema=APIDoc,
        loader=github_loader(repo="myorg/api-docs", path="docs/"),
    ),
}

Installation:

pip install bengal              # Local-only (default)
pip install bengal[github]      # + GitHub source
pip install bengal[notion]      # + Notion source
pip install bengal[all-sources] # All remote sources

Related:

  • bengal/collections/: Content collections with schema validation
  • bengal/discovery/: Content discovery (uses content layer internally)
  • plan/active/rfc-content-layer-api.md: Design document
View source