This year, the annual MODX Snowup was all about MODX and AI! We kicked things off on Thursday with a relaxed evening—sharing a meal, enjoying some beers, and catching up with MODX enthusiasts from around the world. On Friday morning, we took in the stunning surroundings and gorgeous weather before diving into the MODX Snowup sessions in the afternoon!
Friday - Presentation day.
Friday afternoon was all about presentations! From AI-assisted coding to automated content generation and translations, we explored the full potential of AI within MODX.
Gauke: our AI journey over the past months
At the MODX Meetup in Rome, we already discussed AI, but back then, it still felt like uncharted territory. A lot has changed since then. Gauke shared what we’ve accomplished with AI over the past months and the key insights we’ve gained along the way.
AI-assisted coding
Back in Rome, AI could only answer questions within a single file. Now, you can leverage AI across your entire project. Let AI review pull requests, analyze documentation, or even rewrite entire projects in a different programming language. This brings us closer to agentic coding, where AI takes on autonomous programming tasks.
AI content assistant
We also showcased our AI content assistant and discussed how to strategically integrate AI into client projects. When should you use RAG (retrieval-augmented generation)? How do you set up AI technically? And what key decisions should you make before starting an AI-driven project?
Gauke also introduced our AI translation tool. Instead of using DeepL, we’ve integrated OpenAI, allowing clients to manage everything within a single system. This way, each language can have its own assistant with a unique tone of voice, ensuring translations are perfectly tailored to the target audience.
Vasily: all-in-one local development with Docker
Vasily from Pixmill demonstrated how you can start development even without a working API. For a client, a MODX Extra needed to be developed that would integrate with a standalone API—except that API didn’t exist yet.
Using Docker, Vasily set up a complete local development environment, including a simulated API and Git Package Manager (GPM). This allowed the team to start development immediately and easily share progress with the client. Since the entire project ran in Docker, the client could launch the environment locally and follow along. Once the API was ready, the MODX Extra only needed to be tested and deployed.
The key takeaway? You don’t need a working API to start development. With Docker, you can use a simulated API and work locally—without dependencies.
Roca: scale your content with AI and MODX
How do you publish 20 posts a day as a news agency—without needing a full team of copywriters, marketers, editors, and designers? Roca from Marcadamnia demonstrated how AI and MODX can make content production scalable and efficient.
By leveraging the power of the MODX API, AI prompts, and automation tools like Make, the entire process becomes fully automated. AI generates not only the text and hashtags but also visual content. An image generator automatically fills in templates, and MODX centralizes the text and images in one place. A social media management tool then schedules the posts at the right time on the right platform—all seamlessly handled through automation.
Daniel: AI translations directly in MODX
Daniel introduced LocalAIze, a smart AI-powered tool for automated translations within MODX. With simple toggles in the template variables, you can decide which pages should be translated and into which languages.
How does it work?
- OpenAI generates the translation as soon as you hit ‘save.’
- Subpages are automatically linked within the correct hierarchy.
- Translations aren’t published immediately—a user reviews and validates the content first.
- You can choose to translate only specific elements, such as content, page titles, meta tags, or intro text.
Fabian: the impact of AI on development
Fabian wrapped up the day with a discussion about the future of AI in web development. How much longer will traditional websites exist? Will businesses soon rely solely on AI systems to be discovered? And what does this mean for the roles of developers and designers?
Opinions varied. Some predicted that websites as we know them will become less relevant, but company information will always need to be stored somewhere—after all, where else would AI get its data? Others believed that websites and AI will continue to coexist, as brands don’t just provide information; they also want to create experiences for their fans.
For developers and designers, this shift brings new challenges. Developers will focus more on structuring and making data accessible via APIs, while designers will craft user flows for AI-driven platforms.
We believe AI will transform the industry, but developers and designers will remain essential—only their focus will shift toward integration, structure, and intelligent interactions.
Zaterdag - Hackathon.
Saturday was all about the hackathon! After a hands-on kick-off on AI-assisted coding and Agentic Coding with GitHub Copilot and Cline, everyone got to work.
Some of the projects that took shape:
- Gauke tested Hugging Face and OpenRouter, two platforms offering hundreds of pre-trained AI models that can be easily used for prototyping.
- Joeke experimented with integrating the OpenRouter API into our own API.
- Mark Hamstra from modmore continued working on AIkit, an AI-powered chat interface within MODX that helps you find resources, create new ones, and even check the weather.
- Sinisa added AI-generated images to AIkit.
- Roel enhanced MODX Extra SEO Suite with AI, enabling automatic generation of meta titles and descriptions based on the page's content.
- Julian Weaver worked on AI integration within the MODX CLI.
And that was just the beginning—developers spent the day bringing countless ideas and prototypes to life!
Afterward, there was plenty of time to do your own thing—exploring Engelberg and its stunning surroundings or simply relaxing at the Gasthaus, enjoying good food, drinks, and the great company of the MODX community. On to the next edition!
