CockpitOS — Platform Overview
CockpitOS is the operating system for shopping centers — not “another CMS”, but an integrated platform that unifies editorial work, center operations, visitor-facing channels, and partner integrations on one shared data core.
This page explains concept and architecture for anyone encountering the system for the first time: leadership, owners, partners, press — without requiring a technical background, but with enough depth to see why this combination is rare.
The problem: digital fragmentation
Shopping centers typically run many disconnected worlds:
- Website (often WordPress or an agency project)
- Social media (separate tool + manual approval)
- Displays and kiosks (dedicated signage software)
- QR apps or visitor web apps
- Tenant communication, issues, property data
- Analytics in yet another tool
Each channel has its own logins, its own maintenance, its own truth. Shops, events, and opening hours are entered multiple times — errors, delay, and high effort follow. AI assistants fail on scattered, outdated sources.
Our approach: one core, all channels
CockpitOS solves this with a clear principle:
Maintain once — use everywhere.
The dashboard is the central control room. All center data lives here: shops, events, news, offers, floor plans, social posts, approvals, issues, and more. Website, digital signage, NOW web app, WordPress plugin, and social publishing read from this core — they are channels, not second databases.
That is the key difference from a toolbox: not integration via export/import, but one platform with many outputs.
Why this depth is rarely combined
The market mostly offers partial solutions:
| Typical market | CockpitOS |
|---|---|
| CMS or website builder | CMS plus operational cockpit |
| Signage without editorial workflow | Signage from the same content pool |
| Social tool without center master data | Social with approval, Outstand publish, engage & reporting in the cockpit |
| Chatbot without live data | AI assistant with shops, events, wayfinding from the core |
| Property/tenant tools separate from marketing | Issues, dispatch, workflow alongside content in one UI |
| One hard-wired website per center | Multi-tenant: many centers, one platform, modular activation |
CockpitOS connects editorial, approval, distribution, visitor experience, analytics, and partner APIs in one product. That end-to-end integration across properties, channels, and roles is what we consider unique — not a single feature, but the overall architecture.
What the platform includes
Modular per organization and role — but conceptually one system:
| Area | What it does |
|---|---|
| Mall Cockpit | Shops, events, news, offers, services, jobs, categories, media |
| Editorial flow | Dispatch (email inbox), workflow approvals, content planner |
| Social Cockpit | Create posts, approval (internal + external link), Outstand publish, engage, reporting |
| Digital Experience | Center website, templates, v0/Vercel hosting, signage, companion, QR, reserve & collect |
| Wayfinding | Floor plans, routing — on website, kiosk, and NOW web app |
| Community & operations | Feedback, issues, broadcast, chatbot analytics |
| Analytics | Content performance, footfall (preparation), social KPIs |
| Center Manager app | Mobile submission, issues, social — for teams on site |
| Integrations | WordPress plugin, AgencyOS (partner API), public API, MCP (Claude/Cursor) |
Menu paths and module IDs: Navigation & modules.
Conceptual pillars
1. Single source of truth
All channels use the same master data. When opening hours change, they are immediately consistent on website, displays, and in the assistant — without manual sync jobs.
2. Operational cockpit, not just editorial
The /dashboard home is a control room: open approvals, dispatch, social queue, planner, issues — depending on role and selected center. CockpitOS thinks operations and marketing together, not just “save article”.
3. AI with context — not generic
The visitor assistant uses real center data (shops, events, hours, wayfinding). Editors work with Claude via MCP or v0 directly against APIs and approval workflows — AI is built into the process, not bolted on.
4. Multi-tenancy & scale
One installation manages many centers and organizations. Modules are enabled per subscription and role. Websites can run on Render, Vercel/v0, or hybrid — the data core stays the same.
5. Open to partners
AgencyOS lets agencies and integrators push content via API. The public center website API feeds modern frontends (v0, custom React apps). That is platform thinking: CockpitOS remains the core; frontends can change.
Technical architecture (short)
| Layer | Contents |
|---|---|
| Infrastructure | PostgreSQL, Redis, Render (Frankfurt); media via Bunny CDN; email (Resend); analytics (Umami); AI (OpenAI, optional Pinecone) |
| Core | Monorepo (pnpm/Turborepo): dashboard as the only app with direct DB access and all REST APIs |
| Shared packages | database, ui, ai-context, wayfinding, mcp-cockpit-os, … |
| Channels | center-website, digital-signage, center-manager — API clients to the dashboard |
| Control | Modules (ModuleConfig), roles, organizations, center assignments |
Security principle: Secrets and DB access live server-side in the dashboard (and controlled in channel backends). Frontends never receive raw DB credentials.
Developer details: Developer guide · Public API · AgencyOS.
Typical data flow
- Editorial creates or submits content (dashboard, Center Manager, dispatch, Claude/v0).
- Approval (website drafts, social posts) runs through workflow — including external approval links and notifications.
- After approval: automatic distribution to website (revalidate), signage, social (Outstand), optionally WordPress sync.
- Visitors use website, QR/NOW web app, or kiosk — always with the same data.
- Analytics & social reporting measure impact at platform level.
Who CockpitOS is for
| Role | Value |
|---|---|
| Center operator / owner | One platform instead of tool silos; measurable digitalization of the asset |
| Editorial & marketing | Less duplicate work; social, website, and signage from one place |
| Center managers on site | Mobile app for issues, content submission, social insights |
| Tech & agencies | Public API, AgencyOS, MCP — extensible without replacing the core |
Further reading
| Topic | Document |
|---|---|
| Press & short copy | Press release texts |
| Modules & apps | Core features & modules |
| Dashboard navigation | Navigation & modules |
| Social end-to-end | Social media approval |
| v0 / Vercel go-live | Go-live DNS, Vercel & UD |
| Internal architecture note (code snapshot) | docs/COCKPITOS-SYSTEMARCHITEKTUR-VOLLSTAENDIG.md — if in doubt, this page and the code win |
Maintained with the product. Questions: sb@schickma.de
Nutzungsstatistik: Seitenaufrufe werden anonymisiert erfasst. Im Umami-Dashboard nach diesem Pfad filtern: /en/plattform/plattform-ueberblick