Glossary for Native external references

Resource Provider

The external system or service that provides the content or data you want to integrate into Contentful. Examples of Resource Providers include platforms like Shopify, commercetools, or any other third-party API that supplies external resources.

Resource Type

Categories or specific types of content that can be linked from an external Resource Provider. For example, in Shopify, resource types might include "Products," "Collections," or "Orders."

Reference Field

A field in a Contentful content model that is used to create links between entries or to external resources. With Native External References, these fields can now be extended to include links to content from external Resource Providers.

Allowed Sources

A configuration within a Reference Field that specifies which Resource Types from external systems can be linked within that field. This setting ensures that only relevant external content can be referenced in specific content models.

Function

A function defined in a custom Contentful app that retrieves specific resources from an external system. This function is called when content editors need to access or link to external content, such as fetching a list of products from the e-commerce platform API.