content-modeling-best-practices

by sanity-io

Structured content modeling guidance for schema design, reusability, and multi-channel delivery. Covers core principles: treating content as data rather than pages, maintaining single sources of truth, designing for future channels, and optimizing for editor workflows Includes decision frameworks for references versus embedded objects, separation of concerns, and content reuse patterns Provides taxonomy and classification guidance for flat, hierarchical, and faceted approaches Applies to... npx skills add https://github.com/sanity-io/agent-toolkit --skill content-modeling-best-practices Download ZIPGitHub160

Content Modeling Best Practices

Principles for designing structured content that's flexible, reusable, and maintainable. These concepts apply to any headless CMS but include Sanity-specific implementation notes.

When to Apply

Reference these guidelines when:

• Starting a new project and designing the content model

• Evaluating whether content should be structured or free-form

• Deciding between references and embedded content

• Planning for multi-channel content delivery

• Refactoring existing content structures

Core Principles

• Content is data, not pages — Structure content for meaning, not presentation

• Single source of truth — Avoid content duplication

• Future-proof — Design for channels that don't exist yet

• Editor-centric — Optimize for the people creating content

References

Start with the reference that matches the modeling decision in front of you, instead of loading every topic at once. See references/ for detailed guidance on specific topics:

• references/separation-of-concerns.md — Separating content from presentation

• references/reference-vs-embedding.md — When to use references vs embedded objects

• references/content-reuse.md — Content reuse patterns and the reuse spectrum

• references/taxonomy-classification.md — Flat, hierarchical, and faceted classification