How to Build a Website with a CMS and React
IntermediateQuick Answer
TL;DR
To build a website with a CMS and React, choose a headless CMS (Sanity, Contentful, Strapi), define your content model, scaffold a React app with Vite or Next.js, then fetch content via the CMS's REST or GraphQL API using `@sanity/client` or similar SDKs. The CMS owns content storage and delivery; React owns rendering and interactivity.
Key Takeaways
- Headless CMS decouples content from presentation — React consumes content via API, not templates
- Use `useEffect` + `fetch` for client-side data fetching, or Next.js/Remix for server-side rendering
- Type your API responses with TypeScript interfaces or auto-generated types to catch bugs early