XM Cloud Implementation Patterns

Frontend Hosting Options

Since Sitecore doesn’t host your rendering application, you need to choose a hosting platform:

Vercel (Recommended by Sitecore)

• Excellent Next.js support (built by Vercel)
• Edge caching, automatic scaling
• Simple deployment (connect GitHub repo)
• Cost: $20-$2,000+/month depending on traffic

Azure Static Web Apps

• Good Next.js support
• Integrates well if you’re already on Azure
• Cost: $0-$500+/month

Netlify, AWS Amplify

• Similar capabilities to Vercel
• Choose based on existing cloud relationship

Custom Node.js Hosting

• Azure App Service, AWS ECS, Google Cloud Run
• More control, more operational overhead

Serialization: Sitecore CLI (SCS)

XM Cloud uses Sitecore Content Serialization (SCS) to manage templates, settings, and optionally content in version control.

SCS replaces:

• TDS (Team Development for Sitecore): Commercial tool, discontinued, no longer works with XM Cloud
• Unicorn: Community tool, still works with XP/XM but not recommended for XM Cloud

SCS Basics:

Items are serialized as YAML files:

/serialization/templates/ArticlePage.yml

---
ID: "110d559f-dea5-42ea-9c1c-8a5df7e70ef9"
Path: /sitecore/templates/Project/Article Page
Template: "{AB86861A-6030-46C5-B394-E8F99E8B87DB}"
SharedFields:
- ID: "{12C33F3F-86C5-43A5-AEB4-5598CEC45116}"
  Value: "Article Page"
Fields:
- ID: "{A4F985D9-98B3-4B52-AAAF-4344F6E747C6}"
  Name: "Title"
  Type: "Single-Line Text"

Configuration (module.json):

{
  "$schema": "https://sitecore.io/schemas/module.json",
  "namespace": "MyProject",
  "items": {
    "includes": [
      {
        "name": "templates",
        "path": "/sitecore/templates/MyProject",
        "scope": "ItemAndDescendants"
      },
      {
        "name": "content",
        "path": "/sitecore/content/MyProject",
        "rules": [
          {
            "path": "/Home",
            "scope": "ItemAndChildren",
            "allowedPushOperations": "createUpdateAndDelete"
          }
        ]
      }
    ]
  }
}

Common CLI commands:

# Pull items from XM Cloud to local
dotnet sitecore ser pull

# Push local items to XM Cloud
dotnet sitecore ser push

# Watch for changes and auto-sync
dotnet sitecore ser watch

CI/CD Integration

Using Deploy App (Built-In):

1. Connect your GitHub or Azure DevOps repo to XM Cloud
2. Sitecore generates a default GitHub Actions workflow
3. Push to main branch → Deploy App builds and deploys automatically

Using Custom CI/CD:

If you have existing CI/CD (Jenkins, GitLab CI, etc.), use Sitecore CLI commands in your pipeline:

# Example GitHub Actions workflow
- name: Login to XM Cloud
  run: dotnet sitecore cloud login --client-id ${{ secrets.SITECORE_CLIENT_ID }} --client-secret ${{ secrets.SITECORE_CLIENT_SECRET }}

- name: Push serialized items
  run: dotnet sitecore ser push

- name: Trigger XM Cloud publish
  run: dotnet sitecore cloud deployment create --environment-id ${{ secrets.ENV_ID }}