You can switch your Kanorio website between "Build with Kanorio" and "Headless (Custom Frontend)" modes at any time. When you switch, all your data collections, blog posts, online forms, and subscription plan quotas remain intact—no need to rebuild your site or migrate data.
| Comparison | Start with Kanorio (Default) | Headless Frontend |
|---|---|---|
| Who renders the website pages | Rendered directly by Kanorio; adjust layout and colors in "Edit Website" | Rendered by your own frontend (e.g., Cursor, Claude Code, Codex, Lovable, v0, Next.js, or Astro) via API |
| Do you need to click "Publish" | Yes, the site must be published for visitors to see it | No publishing required; APIs, form submissions, post publishing, and customer login are always active |
| Backend sidebar and menu | Displays full items (including "Edit Website", "Blog", "Promotions", "Tracking Code") | Automatically collapses to a backend-only view; retains Home, Blog, SEO, Tables, Media, Store, Orders, Marketing, Customers, Analytics, and Settings |
| Mobile bottom navigation | Home, Edit Website, Analytics, Store, More | Home, Tables, Analytics, Store, More |
| Blog writing | Access via "Blog" in the sidebar; the editor previews brand colors, fonts, and layout in real-time | Access via "Blog" in the sidebar (or "Tables › blog"); the editor switches to a clean writing interface without simulating the hosted layout |
We provide two entry points in the dashboard (requires "Manage Website Settings" permission):
Additionally, if you plan to build your own frontend when creating a new site, you can select the "Headless (Custom Frontend)" card on the "Create Website" page. Fill in the site language and brand name, and the system will create a headless site, skip the 4-step setup wizard, and automatically open the configuration panel for you to copy the AI starter kit.
After clicking "Headless (Custom Frontend)" in the configuration panel, complete the following steps:
The panel automatically generates an "AI Starter Kit Prompt" and "System API URL" based on your site, including:
https://s-xxxxxxxxxxxx.kanorio.com/api/v1)@kanorio/sdk and @kanorio/elementshttps://app.kanorio.com/api/mcp)/sitemap.xml, /robots.txt, /llms.txt, /llms-full.txt, /feed.xml, and JSON-LD structured dataX-Kanorio-Cache-Tags updates and <KanorioAnalytics /> view reportingClick the copy button in the top right and paste it directly into Cursor, Claude Code, Codex, Lovable, v0, or share it with your engineer to start building.
Once your frontend is deployed, enter your official URL (e.g., https://www.kanorio.com) in the "External Frontend URL" field:
302 redirected to your external frontend, while /api/v1/* requests will continue to be served by our system.If you decide to return to Kanorio-managed pages:
Yes. The "Blog" sidebar remains accessible in both modes for managing posts, categories, tags, and authors. In headless mode, the writing page switches to a clean interface (without simulating the managed layout and theme), allowing you to focus on content and SEO settings. You can publish posts directly without needing to publish a managed site. You can also access this via the "Open Writing Page" button in the blog table under "Data & Collections › Data Tables".
No. Every site shares the same subscription plan and backend quota pool (data entries, storage, email limits, AI credits). Switching to or from headless mode does not change your billing or reset your quotas.
The system will automatically redirect you to the dashboard "Home" and notify you that you are currently in headless mode. If you need to use the visual editor, simply switch the website mode back to "Build with Kanorio".