Headless CMS

Definitions

1. A content management system that provides content via API without a built-in frontend presentation layer. Content is managed in the CMS and consumed by any client — web, mobile, IoT. WordPress without the themes.

   In plain English: A system for managing content (articles, images, etc.) that delivers content through an API instead of building the website itself — letting developers build the frontend however they want.

2. Popular headless CMS platforms include Contentful, Strapi, Sanity, and Payload. The tradeoff vs. traditional CMS: more developer flexibility but no built-in frontend, meaning content editors can't preview their changes without custom tooling.

   Example: 'Content editors write in Sanity, the website pulls content via API, the mobile app pulls the same content. One CMS, multiple frontends — that's the headless advantage.'

   Source: platform landscape / tradeoff

Related Terms

• Eventual Consistency
• Twelve-Factor App
• SSR
• Paragraph
• Pipeline Stage
• Programming Paradigm
• REST API
• Capability Model
• Content Management
• Content Pipeline