Environment, editing hosts and rendering hosts
A SitecoreAI environment code-base, when created using the Deploy app, contains:
-
The content management instance or authoring environment and all the setup required for running it in Docker containers.
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An editing host for enabling editing experiences in editors such as the Page builder or Design studio.
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A rendering host, which is the front-end application required for rendering and editing content, layout, and so on.
|
Term |
Purpose |
Audience |
Traffic |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Authoring environment |
Content management, editing, and setup |
Authors, Marketers |
Internal |
|
Editing host |
WYSIWYG editing experience (Page builder or Design studio) |
Authors (editing only) |
Internal |
|
Rendering host |
Public website/app rendering |
End users (site visitors) |
Public |
The authoring environment
The authoring environment is where the Content Management (CM) instance runs. It is used by content authors and marketers to create, edit, and manage content, layout, and experiences before publishing them for public consumption.
When you create a project in the Deploy app, an authoring environment is automatically provisioned, including the CM instance, databases, indexes, automation clients, and environment variables. Each environment is isolated, allowing for unique customizations and deployments.
The editing host
If you've enabled the beta feature that lets you deploy your environments and editing hosts separately, you can manage editing hosts from the Deploy app.
The editing host serves only to support editing experiences inside the authoring environment, and it is not set up or scaled for serving live traffic.
The editing host is, essentially, a set of configurations telling Sitecore which application code and settings to use for WYSIWYG editing and when displaying the pages of your site in an advanced content and layout editor such as the Page builder or the Design studio.
The editing host code is that of the rendering host application, and you update it with the latest changes when you deploy your solution to SitecoreAI. Therefore, when you develop your front-end application, you must propagate your changes to the environment. You do this by:
-
Committing and pushing your changes to the repository and branch you configured for automatic deployments.
When you create an environment using the Deploy app, the environment is set up with a default editing host. This editing host works out of the box on your remote instance.
You can also configure external editing hosts if needed. For any other scenarios, you must configure the editing host yourself.
The rendering host
The rendering host is the front-end application that displays the website to your audience. It serves live/public traffic.
It is hosted on platforms such as Vercel, Netlify, or Azure, and is scaled to handle live site visitors.
The rendering host consumes content from Sitecore (via Experience Edge) and renders it for end users.
The codebase for the rendering host is typically the same as the editing host, but the rendering host is configured and scaled for public delivery.
Editing hosts receive environment variables defined in the Deploy app, whereas externally hosted rendering hosts must be configured with environment variables through their own hosting platforms.