Sitecore 9 JSS implementation

Question

We want to use JSS (https://jss.sitecore.net/#/) for headless development and there are a couple of things that are not very clear in the documentation.

• We want to preserve XP Editor functionality. Does this require the javascript app to run in-proc, that is, within the Sitecore instance (integrated mode)? Or said differently, when we deploy the frontend app to a totally different server than the Sitecore CM one, is Sitecore XP editor support provided?
• Same question for Sitecore analytics functionality.
• If you want to use code-first approach, you must go with the integrated mode?

Answer 1

• For Experience Editor support, you would need to run what we call "integrated" mode. The JS app will be rendered by node.js on the same CM server (but out of proc). This will enable personalization and MV testing features. You cannot add Experience Editor on top without full Sitecore CM instance and our JS view engine bit in JSS.Server package.

• For the tracking/analytics to work, the JSS.server needs to be active on the Sitecore Content Delivery servers (you don't need to deploy the JS app there). If you want server-side rendering for the app, you can deploy it under node.js/express using our open sourced scaffolding as example. If you want to use an alternative server for SSR, you would need to replicate some of the http proxy middleware to facilitate personalization, etc.

• Code-first is not tied to integrated mode specifically. It is intended to bootstrap the items required for the app to run. Either you start code-first or not, the "Integrated" mode is there to enable full management of your app inside the Experience Editor tool.