content-modeling-best-practices

Structured content modeling guidance for schema design, content architecture, content reuse, references versus embedded objects, separation of concerns, and taxonomies across Sanity and other headless CMSes. Use this skill when designing or refactoring content types, deciding field shapes, debating reusable versus nested content, planning omnichannel content models, or reviewing whether a schema is too page-shaped or presentation-driven.

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

Resources

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

resources/separation-of-concerns.md — Separating content from presentation
resources/reference-vs-embedding.md — When to use references vs embedded objects
resources/content-reuse.md — Content reuse patterns and the reuse spectrum
resources/taxonomy-classification.md — Flat, hierarchical, and faceted classification