Items as Resources plugin
Using the Sitecore CLI Items as Resources plugin, you can create an item package in a resource file with configurable options. Items as Resources is a capability that extends the possible sources for Sitecore items. It lets you load a subset of items from precompiled resource items on disk and merges them into the user-visible content tree.
Items are still loaded and presented in the content tree and work just like regular Sitecore items. When you make a change and save, it copies the entire item to the content database.
Items stored in resource files are considered immutable unless explicitly overridden. In contrast, items stored in the database reflect changes made through the Content Editor or by using Sitecore’s APIs during runtime.
You can check if an item exists in the resource file by clicking View Item Source on the Developer ribbon in the Content Editor.
This functionality supports and simplifies several scenarios:
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Continuous integration and container-friendly deployment.
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Disk-only installation of modules with easy composition and support for uninstallation.
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Continuous integration scenarios for solution developers with blue-green deployment of code and definition items together.
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Version upgrades.
You can use the CLI itemres command to determine whether an item has been overridden, to identify an item's storage location, and to return an item to its resource state.