This post details the development of a Python microservice named “MarkItLikeItsHot,” designed to streamline content conversion into Markdown within Willow CMS. This microservice uses a FastAPI wrapper around Microsoft’s powerful MarkItDown library, enabling seamless conversion of files, URLs, and raw text into clean, formatted Markdown. We’ll explore the underlying technologies, get into the code structure, and highlight key aspects like Docker deployment, testing, and configuration.

This article provides a comprehensive breakdown of Docker Compose configuration for Willow CMS's development environment. The setup includes multiple containerized services: the main WillowCMS application server, MySQL database, phpMyAdmin, Jenkins for CI/CD, Mailpit for email testing, and Redis Commander for cache management. Each service is carefully configured with specific ports, volumes, and environment variables to ensure smooth integration and development workflow. The environment can be easily started using a custom setup script that handles initialization, database setup, and provides options for managing the development environment. The article concludes with a detailed explanation of the WillowCMS Dockerfile, covering everything from base image selection to service configuration and process management.