Blog 4: Best Practices and Troubleshooting During Migration from JSS to Sitecore Content SDK

Hi Sitecorian Folks! 👋

Welcome to the fourth installment in our blog series on migrating from Sitecore JSS to the Sitecore Content SDK. By now, you’ve set up your Content SDK environment and completed the migration of your Next.js app. But as any developer knows, the migration process doesn’t always go smoothly on the first try. In this blog, we’ll cover best practices for ensuring a successful migration, along with common issues you may encounter and how to troubleshoot them.

Let’s dive into it!

1. Best Practices for a Smooth Migration

a) Start with a Small, Isolated Migration

Migrating an entire app at once can be overwhelming and risky. Instead, break the migration into smaller, isolated tasks:

• Start with a test environment: Set up a clean instance of Sitecore Content SDK and migrate only a small portion of your app.
• Migrate core components first: Begin by migrating the simplest, most foundational components such as content fetching logic and page layouts.

Why this works: A phased approach reduces risk and makes it easier to address problems as they arise.

• Source: Sitecore’s best practices for headless implementations. Sitecore Documentation — Headless

b) Review and Adjust Sitecore Item Models Early

Sitecore Content SDK uses a more streamlined and developer-friendly content delivery model than JSS. Review your current Sitecore templates and item models before migrating:

• Simplify complex models: Identify any overly complicated content structures and consider refactoring them to take full advantage of the SDK’s architecture.
• Leverage Sitecore Experience Edge: For a unified content management experience, ensure your Sitecore instance is set up with Sitecore Experience Edge, which will simplify content delivery and reduce unnecessary complexity.

Why this works: Cleaning up content models ahead of time ensures your app will perform well and will be easy to maintain in the future.

• Source: Sitecore Experience Edge documentation on integrating headless solutions. Sitecore Experience Edge

c) Optimize Your Authentication Setup

The Sitecore Content SDK uses OAuth for authentication, which might differ from the authentication methods you were using in JSS (e.g., Forms Authentication). Here’s what you should do:

• Update OAuth settings: Ensure your API authentication is properly configured with Sitecore’s OAuth flow.
• Test authentication early: Try making API calls with your OAuth tokens to ensure the authentication process is smooth and secure.

Why this works: Updating your authentication setup early will help prevent authentication issues later on during content fetching or deployment.

• Source: Sitecore Content SDK Authentication Guide. Sitecore Authentication

2. Common Migration Issues and How to Troubleshoot Them

While the Sitecore Content SDK simplifies many processes, there are still some common issues developers encounter. Here’s how you can address them:

a) Incompatible API Calls

JSS applications often rely on specific API calls, such as GraphQL queries or Sitecore Web API endpoints. When migrating to the Sitecore Content SDK, these API calls will need to be refactored.

• Solution: Identify where you’re using legacy API calls (e.g., GraphQL) and replace them with Content SDK’s simplified methods.

For instance, in the Content SDK, fetching content is done like this:

import { createClient } from '@sitecore/content-sdk';
  const client = createClient({
  endpoint: 'https://your-sitecore-instance-url',
  apiKey: 'your-api-key'
});

async function getContent() {
  const response = await client.fetch('homePage'); // Simple fetch
  return response.data;
}

Why this happens: The Sitecore Content SDK provides its own methods for content fetching, which is different from how JSS accessed content.

• Source: Sitecore Content SDK API documentation. Sitecore Content SDK API

b) Missing or Incorrect Content

After migration, you may notice that some content is missing or displayed incorrectly in your app. This can be caused by mismatched item models or outdated content structures.

• Solution: Verify that your Sitecore item models are compatible with the Content SDK’s architecture. You may need to refactor some of your Sitecore templates or content models.

Also, ensure that you’re properly mapping content fields to their corresponding values in the Content SDK.

Why this happens: The Sitecore Content SDK relies on a different content model structure than JSS, so adjustments are often required.

• Source: Sitecore Documentation on Content Delivery and Model Structure. Sitecore Content Delivery

c) Media Handling Issues

In JSS, you may have used custom GraphQL queries to fetch media. The Content SDK simplifies this, but there are still common pitfalls:

• Solution: Use the new media fetching methods in the SDK. For example:

const getMediaItem = async (mediaId) => {
  const response = await client.fetch(`media/${mediaId}`);
  return response.data;
};

Ensure that all media paths and fields are correctly migrated and that URLs are properly formatted.

Why this happens: Media handling in the Sitecore Content SDK is different from JSS, and migrating these resources requires updating your code to use the SDK’s new media API.

• Source: Sitecore Media API documentation. Sitecore Media API

d) Performance Bottlenecks

Even though the Sitecore Content SDK is optimized, migration may introduce performance issues if your code isn’t efficient.

• Solution: After migration, profile your app’s performance using tools like Chrome DevTools or Sitecore’s built-in performance tools. Look for redundant API calls, inefficient data-fetching strategies, or overly complex queries that can slow down the application.

Why this happens: Migrations often introduce inefficiencies due to outdated code patterns or overlooked performance bottlenecks.

• Source: Sitecore Performance Optimization Tips for Headless Applications. Sitecore Performance

3. Testing and QA: Key Considerations

After completing the migration, rigorous testing is essential to ensure everything works as expected:

• Test Across Environments: Run your app in both development and production environments. Ensure that your content is being delivered correctly and that there are no caching issues.
• Automate Testing: Set up automated tests for content fetching, media handling, and rendering, especially for key components like homepages, product listings, or articles.
• Monitor Logs and Errors: Check Sitecore logs and browser developer tools for any errors that may have been introduced during the migration. Log any issues for quicker troubleshooting.

Why this works: Thorough testing and debugging are key to a successful migration, ensuring all functionality works correctly across different environments.

• Source: Sitecore Best Practices for Testing Headless Applications. Sitecore Testing Best Practices

Conclusion

Migrating from JSS to Sitecore Content SDK is a rewarding transition that brings long-term benefits in terms of performance, scalability, and maintainability. By following best practices, proactively troubleshooting issues, and conducting thorough testing, you can ensure a smooth migration experience.

In the next blog, we’ll dive into how to optimize your Sitecore Content SDK setup and fine-tune your app for the best performance post-migration.

I hope you enjoy this blog. Stay tuned for more Sitecore related articles.

Till that happy Sitecoring :)

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