Show HN: PortalJS – AI-native, open-source framework for data portals

Datopian released PortalJS, an open-source, AI-native framework for building data portals that uses agentic skills to recommend architecture and scaffold Next.js code. The framework includes Claude Code commands for creating portals, adding datasets, and deploying, aiming to simplify data infrastructure decisions for teams.

The AI-native framework for building data portals. Describe the portal you want — your agent helps you choose an architecture, scaffolds it, and loads your data. Docs https://www.portaljs.com/docs · Discussions https://github.com/datopian/portaljs/discussions · Report a bug https://github.com/datopian/portaljs/issues/new https://www.npmjs.com/package/create-portaljs https://github.com/datopian/portaljs/stargazers https://discord.gg/krmj5HM6He /datopian/portaljs/blob/main/license Create a portal — one command, nothing to install beyond Node 22+: npm create portaljs@latest my-portal cd my-portal npm run dev → http://localhost:3000 You get the three surfaces — Home, a Catalog /search , and a dataset Showcase /@<namespace /<slug — over sample data. Plain, editable Next.js, no lock-in. Add your own CSV/JSON to datasets.json and it renders automatically. Build it with your AI assistant — PortalJS ships Claude Code https://claude.com/claude-code skills that do the assembly. Install them once into ~/.claude/commands : curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/datopian/portaljs/main/scripts/install-portaljs-skills.sh | bash Then, in a Claude Code session from any directory: /portaljs-architect not sure what stack you need? start here /portaljs-new-portal "Auckland Council open data portal" /portaljs-add-dataset ./data/air-quality.csv /portaljs-new-portal scaffolds the three surfaces; /portaljs-add-dataset or /portaljs-add-resource loads data; /portaljs-connect-ckan points it at a CKAN backend; /portaljs-deploy ships it. All skills + install → /datopian/portaljs/blob/main/.claude/INSTALL.md Prefer the bare template — plain Next.js, no AI, no lock-in: npx tiged datopian/portaljs/examples/portaljs-catalog my-portal cd my-portal && npm install && npm run dev → http://localhost:3000 You get Home, a Catalog /search , and a dataset Showcase /@<namespace /<slug over sample data. Add your own CSV/JSON to datasets.json and it renders automatically. ⭐ If it's useful, a star helps others find it. Building a data portal has always meant more than a website. You have to decide where the data lives, how it's versioned, how people search it, how it's served, and how it's governed — and then wire a frontend on top. Teams either over-build on a heavy data warehouse they don't need, or under-build on a pile of scripts that doesn't scale. PortalJS is an open-source, agentic skills framework that helps data teams build, develop, and ship data portals — and the data infrastructure underneath them. It isn't only a frontend. The skills do two jobs: Advise — given what you're building , what your data is , and what it's for , they recommend an architecture: storage, compute, catalog, access, hosting, metadata. Build — they scaffold that stack as plain, editable Next.js code with no lock-in. It is opinionated but open : the recommended modern path is git + object storage Cloudflare R2 + Parquet, queried with DuckDB https://duckdb.org/ — an open lakehouse instead of a classic warehouse. For living, incremental tables you can layer on DuckLake https://ducklake.select/ , and a traditional datastore CKAN, a warehouse stays a first-class option when you need it. You always own plain code. Built and maintained in the open by Datopian https://www.datopian.com/ and the PortalJS community. 🧑 you describe what you want to build │ ▼ ╭─ 🤖 AGENTIC SKILLS ────────────────────────────────── decide + build │ /portaljs-architect · /portaljs-new-portal · /portaljs-add-dataset · /portaljs-add-chart · /portaljs-add-map … ╰─ generates plain, editable Next.js code — no lock-in │ ▼ ╭─ 🖥️ SURFACES ──────────────────────────────────────── what users see │ 🏠 Home / 🔎 Catalog /search 📊 Showcase /@ns/slug ╰─ read data through one DataProvider contract │ ▼ ╭─ 🔌 PROVIDERS ─────────────────────────────────────── pluggable backends │ 📁 static·git 🐘 CKAN 🔭 OpenMetadata 🗂️ git-LFS + R2 ╰─ swap the source without touching a page │ ▼ 📦 STORAGE + COMPUTE — choose your point on the spectrum: flat files ─▶ Git-LFS + R2 ─▶ Parquet on R2 + 🦆 DuckDB ─▶ warehouse / CKAN simplest ⭐ open lakehouse default heaviest + DuckLake for living tables ☁️ Substrate — Cloudflare R2 storage · Workers runtime · D1 catalog · Pages static object storage stays S3-compatible — R2 is the default, never a lock-in Three surfaces. Every data portal is built from three: a Home page that explains it and offers search, a Catalog /search to discover datasets, and a Showcase /@<namespace /<slug to explore one dataset — metadata, preview, download/API, and charts/maps. Core concepts → https://www.portaljs.com/docs/core-concepts One seam. The surfaces read data only through a DataProvider , so the source — static files today, a CKAN or lakehouse backend tomorrow — can change without touching a page. See ROADMAP.md /datopian/portaljs/blob/main/ROADMAP.md for the full model and the architecture decision framework https://www.portaljs.com/docs/architecture/decision-framework for how /portaljs-architect turns your needs into a stack.PortalJS ships Claude Code https://claude.com/claude-code skills that turn a brief into a working portal. Install the skills once into your personal scope so they're available from any directory: curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/datopian/portaljs/main/scripts/install-portaljs-skills.sh | bash Restart Claude Code or open a new session and type / to see them. See .claude/INSTALL.md /datopian/portaljs/blob/main/.claude/INSTALL.md for other install options versioned plugin, or running straight from a clone of this repo . If you're not sure how to set up your portal, start with the advisor, then build: /portaljs-architect we have ~200 public CSVs, updated quarterly, and must publish DCAT-AP /portaljs-new-portal "Auckland Council open data portal" /portaljs-add-dataset ./data/air-quality.csv /portaljs-add-dataset https://example.com/parks.geojson The skills are interactive — if your brief is thin, they interview you in short rounds rather than erroring. /portaljs-architect recommends a stack and hands off; /portaljs-new-portal scaffolds the three surfaces; /portaljs-add-dataset appends to the datasets.json manifest and the showcase renders automatically at /@<namespace /<slug . Run npm run dev and you have a portal. Prefer to build by hand? The skills are a convenience, not a requirement — scaffold the template directly with the CLI: npm create portaljs@latest my-portal Or grab the bare template with no prompts: npx tiged datopian/portaljs/examples/portaljs-catalog my-portal . | Skill | What it does | |---|---| /portaljs-architect | /portaljs-new-portal /portaljs-add-dataset /portaljs-add-resource /portaljs-add-chart /portaljs-add-map /portaljs-add-geo /portaljs-define-schema /portaljs-add-dcat /portaljs-connect-ckan /portaljs-check-data-quality /portaljs-migrate /arcgis-to-portaljs /data.json , export every FeatureService layer via the ArcGIS REST API, convert to the serverless dual tier PMTiles + GeoParquet , push to R2, and write a source-vs-derived parity report. /portaljs-deploy <slug .arc.portaljs.com URL.Large-data scaling — big files pushed to Cloudflare R2 via Git LFS — already ships in /portaljs-add-dataset . More skill families — metadata schemas Frictionless/DCAT , more backends OpenMetadata , a browser DuckDB query layer, and access control — are on the roadmap /datopian/portaljs/blob/main/ROADMAP.md . Write your own — see .claude/AUTHORING.md /datopian/portaljs/blob/main/.claude/AUTHORING.md . .claude/commands/ the agentic skills slash commands examples/ reference portals — portaljs-catalog is the canonical template packages/ core/ layout/UI components @portaljs/core ckan/ CKAN catalog UI + React @portaljs/ckan ckan-api-client-js/ pure CKAN API client @portaljs/ckan-api-client-js site/ portaljs.com — the marketing site + docs ROADMAP.md direction, the four contracts, sequencing The canonical template, examples/portaljs-catalog /datopian/portaljs/blob/main/examples/portaljs-catalog , is where the three surfaces and the DataProvider seam live — read it before building.- 🌱 Open source, MIT, no lock-in — every skill emits plain Next.js you can fork and own. - 🧭 Advisory, not just generative — /portaljs-architect helps you decide the infrastructure, not only scaffold a UI. - 🦆 Open lakehouse by default — git + R2 + Parquet queried with DuckDB, over a heavy warehouse; add DuckLake for living/incremental tables. A datastore/warehouse stays a supported choice. - ☁️ Cloudflare-first, portable — R2 / Workers / D1 / Pages as the default substrate, but object storage stays S3-compatible. - 🧩 Decoupled, any backend — one DataProvider contract in front of CKAN https://ckan.org/ , DKAN https://getdkan.org/ , OpenMetadata https://open-metadata.org/ , DataHub https://datahubproject.io/ , GitHub, Frictionless https://frictionlessdata.io/ , plain files — or your own. - 🎨 Bring your own stack — adopt the template or lift the skills and the three-surface model into an app you already have. Reference implementations live in examples/ /datopian/portaljs/blob/main/examples : | Example | Backend | |---|---| portaljs-catalog | Canonical template — Home + Catalog + Showcase over a static manifest portaljs-template · /datopian/portaljs/blob/main/examples/ckan ckan ckan-ssg github-backed-catalog dataset-frictionless · /datopian/portaljs/blob/main/examples/fivethirtyeight fivethirtyeight · /datopian/portaljs/blob/main/examples/openspending openspending turing - 💬 Discord — live chat and help: join the server https://discord.gg/krmj5HM6He - 🗣️ Discussions — questions, ideas, show-and-tell: github.com/datopian/portaljs/discussions https://github.com/datopian/portaljs/discussions - 🐛 Issues — bugs and feature requests: open an issue https://github.com/datopian/portaljs/issues/new - 📖 Docs — portaljs.com/docs https://www.portaljs.com/docs PortalJS is built in the open and we welcome contributions of all sizes — new skills, examples, docs, and fixes. See CONTRIBUTING.md /datopian/portaljs/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md to get started, and read ROADMAP.md /datopian/portaljs/blob/main/ROADMAP.md and VISION.md /datopian/portaljs/blob/main/VISION.md for where the project is headed.