dotcms-best-practices
Installation
SKILL.md
dotCMS Best Practices
Load the file for the task at hand — never the folder. Building end to end? The ordered sequence
is reference/README.md. Planning a whole site? Start with
dotcms-create-sites.
Read this first
A missing piece renders blank or shell-only with HTTP 200, never an error. A successful response is not evidence that anything rendered — which is why every build path ends in a verify step.
Establish the delivery mode before any work that touches rendering — themes, containers, templates, components, or diagnosing a blank page:
| Mode | dotCMS renders? | You need |
|---|---|---|
| VTL-rendered | yes — theme + container VTL | core/ + vtl/ |
| Headless | no — it serves the page, an app renders it | core/ + nextjs/ |