Managing Content Relationships in Headless WordPress + Next.js

🔗 How Relationships Work

ACF Relationship fields store linked posts or objects. In headless setups:

✔️ fetch relationships via REST API
✔️ map related post IDs to React components
✔️ optionally include featured images

Without proper mapping, relationships only return IDs or minimal data.

⚙️ Recommended Approach in Next.js

1️⃣ Fetch parent post via REST API
2️⃣ Extract relationship field (array of post IDs)
3️⃣ Fetch each related post individually or via custom endpoint
4️⃣ Map to components, optionally including title, slug, and featured_image

This gives predictable, fully controlled objects for rendering.

⚡ Performance Considerations

Fetching relationships can be expensive:

• Use batch API requests
• Cache responses in ISR or SSG
• Avoid fetching large nested relationships on every request

This ensures fast load times and low server strain.

🧾 Final Thoughts

Managing relationships in headless WordPress requires:

🔥 predictable data structures
🔥 proper mapping
🔥 caching strategy
🔥 minimal REST payload

When done right, Next.js + ACF relationships deliver fast, reliable, and SEO-friendly dynamic content.