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Sanity Best Practices

SanityOfficialPublished by Sanity

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  • Tool integration
  • Software development
  • MIT
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From the author

Sanity development best practices for schema design, GROQ queries, TypeGen, Visual Editing, images, Portable Text, Studio structure, localization, migrations, Sanity Functions, webhooks, Blueprints, and framework integrations such as Next.js, Nuxt, Astro, Remix, SvelteKit, Angular, Hydrogen, the App SDK, and Studios or apps running in the Sanity Dashboard (defineApplication). Use this skill whenever working with Sanity schemas, defineType or defineField, GROQ or defineQuery, content modeling, Presentation or preview setups, Sanity-powered frontend integrations, event-driven content automation, documentEventHandler, defineDocumentFunction, defineMediaLibraryAssetFunction, @sanity/functions, @sanity/blueprints, sanity.blueprint.ts, event-driven content automation, or when reviewing and fixing a Sanity codebase.
— the description by Sanity

AutoGineer summary

Written by AutoGineer from the skill’s own files, not by the author

This skill provides a comprehensive collection of best practices, architectural patterns, and integration guides for the Sanity ecosystem. It covers the full development lifecycle, including schema design, GROQ query optimization, TypeGen configuration, and framework-specific integrations like Next.js, Angular, and Remix. It also includes guidance on infrastructure management via Blueprints, content automation with Sanity Functions, and building custom applications with the Sanity App SDK.

What it does

  • Provides standardized patterns for Sanity schema design and content modeling.
  • Offers integration guides for major frontend frameworks and the Sanity App SDK.
  • Defines best practices for GROQ query performance and type safety with TypeGen.
  • Outlines rules for media handling, including video asset management.
  • Details configuration for Sanity Studio structure and Visual Editing.
  • Explains infrastructure-as-code workflows using Sanity Blueprints.

When to use it

  • When starting a new Sanity project or onboarding team members.
  • When integrating Sanity with frameworks like Next.js, Astro, or Angular.
  • When optimizing GROQ queries or implementing type-safe data fetching.
  • When designing complex content schemas or implementing localization.
  • When setting up live previews, Visual Editing, or custom Studio structures.
  • When automating content workflows or managing infrastructure via Blueprints.

Advantages

  • Maintained by Sanity, ensuring alignment with current platform standards.
  • Reduces technical debt by enforcing consistent schema and query patterns.
  • Provides clear decision matrices for complex topics like video and localization.
  • Includes framework-specific guidance to accelerate frontend integration.
  • Promotes maintainable project structures and type-safe development workflows.

Usage examples

“What are the best practices for handling video in Sanity?”
The skill advises against using standard file assets for production video due to bandwidth costs, recommending the Sanity Media Library with Mux for Enterprise plans or dedicated services like Mux, YouTube, or Vimeo for others.
“How do I set up TypeGen for an Angular monorepo?”
The skill provides a configuration example for studio/sanity.cli.ts to point TypeGen at the Angular source files, ensuring generated types are correctly integrated into the Angular project.
“What is the recommended way to structure singleton documents?”
The skill recommends using explicit document IDs for singleton documents and controlling them via the Studio Structure, while letting Sanity generate IDs for all other document types.
“How should I fetch data in a React app using the App SDK?”
The skill mandates wrapping data-fetching components in Suspense, using documentId as a React key, and preferring useDocuments and useDocumentProjection over raw GROQ hooks.

Install

  1. Download the skill as a ZIP:

    https://autogineer.com/agent-skills/sanity-io/sanity-best-practices/download

  2. Unzip it into the cross-client skills folder of your project:

    mkdir -p .agents/skills && unzip sanity-best-practices.zip -d .agents/skills

Documentation by Sanity

Sanity Best Practices

Comprehensive best practices and integration guides for Sanity development, maintained by Sanity. Use the quick reference below to load only the one or two topic files that match the task.

When to Apply

Reference these guidelines when:

  • Setting up a new Sanity project or onboarding

  • Integrating Sanity with a frontend framework (Next.js, Nuxt, Astro, Remix, SvelteKit, Hydrogen)

  • Writing GROQ queries or optimizing performance

  • Designing content schemas

  • Implementing Visual Editing and live preview

  • Working with images, Portable Text, or page builders

  • Configuring Sanity Studio structure

  • Setting up TypeGen for type safety

  • Implementing localization

  • Migrating content from other systems

  • Building custom apps with the Sanity App SDK

  • Developing or deploying a Studio or app in the Sanity Dashboard

  • Managing infrastructure with Blueprints

  • Automating content workflows with Sanity Functions or webhooks

Global Rules

  • Let Sanity generate _id values for ordinary documents. Do not create deterministic UUIDs, slug-derived IDs, or legacy-system IDs when creating documents.

  • Model relationships with reference fields, then resolve related documents with GROQ lookups, source-key fields, or returned _id values from created documents.

  • Use explicit document IDs mainly for singleton documents controlled by Studio Structure, including localized singletons such as homePage-en.

Video

  • Do not store or serve video from Sanity file assets for production playback. File assets are delivered as raw downloads with no transcoding or adaptive streaming, and video traffic drives very high bandwidth usage and unexpectedly large bills.

  • On Enterprise plans with the video add-on, use Sanity Media Library for video: uploads are transcoded and streamed adaptively via Mux. Model video fields with defineVideoField() from sanity/media-library and play them with @mux/mux-player-react using the asset's playback ID.

  • On other plans, use a dedicated video service: install sanity-plugin-mux-input to upload and manage videos in your Mux account from the Studio, or host video on a platform such as YouTube or Vimeo and store only the embed URL in Sanity.

  • Small clips and short previews in a file field are acceptable, but any user-facing video at scale must go through Media Library or a streaming service.

Quick Reference

Integration Guides

  • get-started - Interactive onboarding for new Sanity projects

  • nextjs - Next.js App Router, Live Content API, standalone Studio

  • nuxt - Nuxt integration with @nuxtjs/sanity

  • angular - Angular integration with @sanity/client, signals, resource API

  • astro - Astro integration with @sanity/astro

  • remix - React Router / Remix integration

  • svelte - SvelteKit integration with @sanity/svelte-loader

  • hydrogen - Shopify Hydrogen with Sanity

  • project-structure - Standalone Studio and monorepo patterns

  • app-sdk - Custom applications with Sanity App SDK

  • dashboard - Studios and apps in the Sanity Dashboard: defineApplication, local dev, deploys, Dashboard hooks

  • blueprints - Infrastructure as Code: blueprint files, stacks, plan/deploy workflow, error recovery, CI deploys

  • functions - Automating content workflows with Sanity Functions and webhooks

Topic Guides

  • groq - GROQ query patterns, type safety, performance optimization

  • schema - Schema design, field definitions, validation, deprecation patterns

  • visual-editing - Presentation Tool, Stega, overlays, live preview

  • page-builder - Page Builder arrays, block components, live editing

  • portable-text - Rich text rendering and custom components

  • image - Image schema, URL builder, hotspots, LQIP, Next.js Image

  • studio-structure - Desk structure, singletons, navigation

  • typegen - TypeGen configuration, workflow, type utilities

  • seo - Metadata, sitemaps, Open Graph, JSON-LD

  • localization - i18n patterns, document vs field-level, locale management

  • migration - Content import overview (see also migration-html-import)

  • migration-html-import - HTML to Portable Text with @portabletext/block-tools

How to Use

Start with the single framework or topic guide that best matches the request, then read additional references only when the task crosses concerns. Use these reference files for detailed explanations and code examples:

references/groq.md
references/schema.md
references/nextjs.md

Each reference file contains:

  • Comprehensive topic or integration coverage

  • Incorrect and correct code examples

  • Decision matrices and workflow guidance

  • Framework-specific patterns where applicable

Files

references/typegen.md

title: Sanity TypeGen Rules description: Workflow for generating TypeScript types from Sanity Schema and GROQ queries.

Sanity TypeGen Rules

1. The Workflow

Sanity TypeGen generates TypeScript types from your schema and GROQ queries. Types can be generated automatically or manually.

Automatic (Recommended)

Enable in sanity.cli.ts — types regenerate during sanity dev and sanity build:

// sanity.cli.ts
import { defineCliConfig } from 'sanity/cli'

export default defineCliConfig({
  typegen: {
    enabled: true,
  },
})
Manual

Run the extract + generate cycle whenever schema or queries change:

  1. Extract: Converts your Schema (TS/JS) into a static JSON representation.

  2. Generate: Scans your codebase for GROQ queries and generates TypeScript types.

npx sanity schemas extract --force && npx sanity typegen generate
Watch Mode (for separate frontends)

If your frontend is in a separate repo from the Studio, use watch mode:

npx sanity typegen generate --watch

2. The "Update Types" Pattern

For manual workflows, implement a single script:

package.json:

"scripts": {
  "typegen": "sanity schemas extract --force && sanity typegen generate"
}
Git Strategy for Generated Files

Option A: Commit generated types (Recommended for most teams)

  • Types available immediately after git pull

  • CI/CD doesn't need to run typegen

  • Can cause merge conflicts

Option B: Generate in CI (Recommended for larger teams) Add to .gitignore:

# Sanity TypeGen (generated)
sanity.types.ts
schema.json

Then ensure CI runs typegen before build:

# Example GitHub Actions
- run: npm run typegen
- run: npm run build

3. Configuration (sanity.cli.ts)

Note: sanity-typegen.json is deprecated. Move your configuration to sanity.cli.ts.

// sanity.cli.ts
import { defineCliConfig } from 'sanity/cli'

export default defineCliConfig({
  typegen: {
    enabled: true, // Auto-generate during sanity dev/build
    path: "./src/**/*.{ts,tsx,js,jsx,astro,svelte,vue}", // Glob to find queries
    schema: "schema.json", // Schema file from extract
    generates: "./sanity.types.ts", // Output file
    overloadClientMethods: true, // Auto-type client.fetch() calls
  },
})
Project Structure Examples

Monorepo (recommended) (Studio in studio/, Frontend in web/ — same config works under apps/):

export default defineCliConfig({
  typegen: {
    path: "../web/src/**/*.{ts,tsx,js,jsx}",
    schema: "schema.json",
    generates: "../web/sanity.types.ts",
  },
})

Single Repo / Embedded Studio (legacy): Use defaults — no extra config needed.

Separate Repos: Use --watch mode in your frontend: sanity typegen generate --watch

4. Usage in Code

Automatic Type Inference (Recommended)

With overloadClientMethods: true (default), client.fetch() automatically returns typed results when you use defineQuery:

import { defineQuery } from "groq";
import { createClient } from "@sanity/client";

const client = createClient({...});

const POSTS_QUERY = defineQuery(`*[_type == "post"]{ title, slug }`);

// Return type is automatically inferred — no manual type import needed!
const posts = await client.fetch(POSTS_QUERY);
Manual Type Import (Alternative)

You can also import generated types directly:

import { defineQuery } from "groq";
// Next.js re-exports defineQuery for convenience:
// import { defineQuery } from "next-sanity";

const AUTHOR_QUERY = defineQuery(`*[_type == "author" && slug.current == $slug][0]{ name, bio }`);

import type { AUTHOR_QUERY_RESULT } from "@/sanity.types";

export default function Author({ data }: { data: AUTHOR_QUERY_RESULT }) {
  return <h1>{data.name}</h1>
}
Required Fields

Use --enforce-required-fields during extraction to translate validation: rule => rule.required() into non-optional types:

npx sanity schemas extract --force --enforce-required-fields
npx sanity typegen generate

Warning: If you use draft previews, fields may still be undefined even with required validation, since drafts can be in an invalid state.

Type Utilities

TypeGen provides utilities for working with complex types:

import type { Get, FilterByType } from 'sanity'
import type { Page, PageBuilder } from './sanity.types'

// Extract deeply nested type (up to 20 levels)
type HeroSection = Get<Page, 'sections', number, 'hero'>

// Filter specific types from unions using _type discriminator
type HeroBlock = FilterByType<PageBuilder, 'hero'>
Unique Query Names

All queries must have unique variable names. Duplicate names across files will cause TypeGen to silently overwrite types. Use descriptive, scoped names:

// Unique names
const POSTS_INDEX_QUERY = defineQuery(`*[_type == "post"]{ title }`)
const POST_DETAIL_QUERY = defineQuery(`*[_type == "post" && slug.current == $slug][0]`)

// Duplicate names will conflict
const QUERY = defineQuery(`*[_type == "post"]`)  // file-a.ts
const QUERY = defineQuery(`*[_type == "author"]`) // file-b.ts — overwrites!
Supported Query Formats

Queries must be assigned to a variable using groq or defineQuery:

// Works — groq template tag
const query = groq`*[_type == "post"]`

// Works — defineQuery
const query = defineQuery(`*[_type == "post"]`)

// Won't work — inline query
await client.fetch(groq`*[_type == "post"]`)
Supported File Types

TypeGen parses queries from: .ts, .tsx, .js, .jsx, .astro, .svelte, .vue

tsconfig Requirements

Ensure sanity.types.ts is included in your tsconfig.json's include array. If your config restricts includes (e.g., ["src/**/*"]) and the types file is at the project root, TypeScript won't pick up the generated types:

{
  "include": ["src/**/*", "sanity.types.ts"]
}
Skipping Individual Queries

Add @sanity-typegen-ignore in a comment before a query to skip type generation:

// @sanity-typegen-ignore
const debugQuery = groq`*[_type == "debug"]`

Requirements and compatibility

Works with: Claude Code, Claude apps, OpenAI Codex, GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Gemini CLI, Kiro, OpenCode, Goose, Amp, Roo Code, JetBrains Junie, Factory Droid, Devin (ex-Windsurf), Mistral Vibe, OpenHands, Letta

“Works with” means the tool reads the open Agent Skills format; a skill written for one tool may use features others lack.

Security

No issues found by our static scan· No issues found

A static scan is not a guarantee. Skills are third-party content: review a skill before you let an agent use it.

Attribution and licence

Published by
Sanity
Publisher
Sanity (Official)
Source
sanity-io/agent-toolkit · skills/sanity-best-practices · commit 3ed3a14
Licence
MIT License (redistribution allowed)
  • LICENSE (added by AutoGineer from LICENSE)
  • ATTRIBUTION.md (written by AutoGineer)
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