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04 / 06 Headless Platform Development
04 · Salesforce Platform · Headless

Headless Platform Development

Engineers bring their own front end.

React and Vue developers far outnumber LWC developers. API-first surfaces let a team build the experience it wants on the platform’s data and security.

~1T

API calls across Core in Q1 FY27

Salesforce Q1 FY27 results, 27 May 2026
2026

Headless 360 launches at TDX as a core strategy

SFDC Developers: headless architecture, June 2026
01 · STAR

Situation

20%
The context a reader needs, and no more.

A customer’s front-end team wanted a branded checkout in React on Salesforce data. They knew React, GraphQL and their own design system, and hit a wall between the platform and the skills they had.

02 · STAR

Task

10%
What I took responsibility for.

Make the platform composable: API-first, any design system, security inherited rather than rebuilt.

03 · STAR

Action

60%
What I did, and for whom.

Design for the engineer who never opens Setup.

01

GraphQL as the front door

lightning/graphql with optional fields, so a query survives a field the user cannot see.

02

Security travels with the data

Custom interfaces inherit sharing and field-level security.

03

Hybrid by design

Lightning where it fits, headless where a team wants its own stack, both on the same actions.

04 · STAR

Result

10%
What changed, with a number and a source.

Headless 360 is a core platform strategy.

01

Business

Nearly 1T API calls across Core in a quarter; customers hire from the wider web talent pool and still ship on the platform.

02

Product

GraphQL as the front door, security inherited rather than rebuilt, Lightning and headless on the same actions.

API-first is people-first.Inherit security, never reimplement it.Hybrid is a feature.

Sources

  1. SFDC Developers: headless architectureJune 2026
  2. LWC Developer Guide: lightning/graphql
  3. Salesforce Q1 FY27 results27 May 2026