When developing using Sitecore headless SDKs, what is the relationship between the rendering host and the Sitecore Content Delivery role?

In a Sitecore headless architecture, the system is decoupled into two primary components. The Sitecore Content Delivery (CD) role acts as the backend, hosting the Headless Services, such as the Layout Service and GraphQL endpoints. The rendering host is a separate, standalone front-end application (e.g., built with ASP.NET Core or Next.js). Its responsibility is to render the user interface by making HTTP requests to the headless services on the CD instance to fetch layout structure and content data in JSON format. This separation allows the front-end presentation layer to be developed and scaled independently of the Sitecore back-end.

B. The rendering host is entirely dependent on the Content Delivery role for all its content and layout data; they are fundamentally related.

C. The rendering host is a separate, standalone application, not a plugin that runs within the Content Delivery role's process.

D. The architecture is intentionally decoupled to separate concerns, which is the opposite of a highly-coupled system.

1. Sitecore Documentation

The rendering host: "In a headless architecture

the rendering host is a separate application that is responsible for rendering the user interface of a website or application. It communicates with the Sitecore Content Delivery role to retrieve content and presentation details..."

2. Sitecore Documentation

Architectural overview for Sitecore Headless Rendering: This document provides a diagram and explanation showing the Rendering Host making API calls (Layout Service

Media

Dictionary

GraphQL) to the Sitecore Content Delivery role. It explicitly states

"The Sitecore Content Delivery (CD) role is responsible for serving content to the rendering host."

3. Sitecore Documentation

Sitecore Headless Services: "Sitecore Headless Services is a set of services and APIs that enable developers to build applications using a headless architecture... The services run on the Sitecore server and provide data to the client application." This confirms the CD role hosts the services.