A practical guide to setting up WordPress as a headless CMS, covering the three-layer architecture (WordPress backend, API layer, frontend), five implementation steps, and content modeling best practices. Explains how to choose between the REST API and WPGraphQL, how ACF structures content for predictable API responses, and how to pick a frontend framework (Next.js, Astro, or Gatsby). Includes a decision framework for when headless WordPress makes sense versus sticking with a traditional setup, and addresses operational concerns like deployment pipelines, SEO metadata, and editor preview.
Table of contents
What headless WordPress means for your stackFive steps to set up headless WordPressPicking a frontend frameworkDeciding if headless WordPress is right for your projectFAQs about WordPress as a headless CMSSort: