---
title: "The architecture of Sitecore Experience Edge for XM"
slug: "the-architecture-of-sitecore-experience-edge-for-xm"
abstract: "Learn more about the infrastructure design of Sitecore Experience Edge for XM."
---
# The architecture of Sitecore Experience Edge for XM

Sitecore Experience Edge for XM is a highly scalable delivery platform that enables you to build Jamstack architectures on the Sitecore platform. The following diagram shows the flow of data in a Sitecore XM solution based on Experience Edge.

![Edge_xm_arch.png](https://doc.sitecore.com/api/markdown-image/xp/en/developers/hd/23/sitecore-headless-development/images/Edge_xm_arch.png)

<details>
<summary><h2>The Experience Edge Connector</h2></summary>

To work with Experience Edge, you must have [the Experience Edge for XM Connector](https://doc.sitecore.com/xp/en/developers/hd/23/sitecore-headless-development/the-experience-edge-connector.html "The Experience Edge Connector") installed on your Sitecore Content Management (CM) role. The Connector connects a publishing target to the Sitecore-hosted Experience Edge Delivery Platform and publishes data including:

- Individual content items and their fields.
- A snapshot of the Layout Service output for any items with layout. This snapshot reflects any [extensions](https://doc.sitecore.com/xp/en/developers/hd/23/sitecore-headless-development/extending-the-layout-service.html "Extending the Layout Service") to the Layout Service output, including Rendering Content Resolvers.
- Media library assets.

</details>

<details>
<summary><h2>The Experience Edge Delivery Platform</h2></summary>

The Delivery Platform gives you access to the delivery endpoint where you can use the GraphQl API to pull all the published content. Experience Edge exposes item and layout data through a GraphQL API, and media via a CDN, which mimics the parameters available in the Sitecore media handler. You can query item and layout data build-time for static site generation, at runtime for server-side render or incremental static generation, and directly from the browser for client-side rendering.

</details>

<details>
<summary><h2>The Preview GraphQL endpoint</h2></summary>

The Sitecore Headless Services module includes a GraphQL endpoint that mirrors the schema and behavior of Experience Edge, based on the [Sitecore GraphQL API](https://doc.sitecore.com/xp/en/developers/hd/23/sitecore-headless-development/sitecore-graphql-api.html "Sitecore GraphQL API"). This enables preview, editing, and local development without publishing to Experience Edge.

> [!note]
> Even if you are not currently using Experience Edge, we recommend that you use this GraphQL endpoint in your headless development, to enable future use of Experience Edge.

![EE_environments.png](https://doc.sitecore.com/api/markdown-image/xp/en/developers/hd/23/sitecore-headless-development/images/EE_environments.png)

> [!note]
> Do not connect more than one Sitecore instance to an Edge instance.

> [!important]
> Extending the mirrored schema on your Sitecore CM and CD roles is not supported because this would break compatibility with Experience Edge.

</details>