Why Go Headless
Experience Cloud’s native Lightning UIs have constraints — theming depth, performance, modern framework integration. Using it headlessly pairs Salesforce identity and data with React/Next.js frontend agility.
Architecture
Next.js on Vercel or similar. Salesforce SCIM/OAuth for auth. Salesforce APIs (REST, GraphQL, Pub/Sub) for data. Data Cloud for unified profile. Frontend builds against a well-defined API contract.
Challenges
Authentication flows need careful handling — session, refresh, logout. CORS configuration. Rate limits on APIs under heavy frontend use. Salesforce’s caching vs. your frontend’s cache strategy.
When It Fits
Customer portals with specific UX requirements. Mobile-first experiences. Marketing sites that need CRM data. Teams with deep React skills and CRM data dependencies.