Sanity
Sanity is a platform for structured content. It comes with an open-source, headless CMS that can be customized with Javascript, a real-time hosted data store and an asset delivery pipeline.
What detecting Sanity tells you about a site
Sanity is a headless CMS built around a real-time structured-content store and a programmable studio. Because it is API-first, you detect it from outbound calls and image URLs rather than a generator tag: images served from cdn.sanity.io with its query-string transform parameters, API requests to *.api.sanity.io / apicdn.sanity.io, and a /studio route where the editing app is co-hosted. Spotting it tells you content and front end are decoupled, and that the team valued a customisable, code-defined editing experience over an off-the-shelf CMS UI.
Sanity in a real-world stack
When you find Sanity, it rarely travels alone. Most often Next.js or Astro on the front end, the GROQ query language for fetching, and a Vercel/Netlify edge host.
About
Sanity is a platform for structured content. It comes with an open-source, headless CMS that can be customized with Javascript, a real-time hosted data store and an asset delivery pipeline.
Categories: CMS
Quick facts
Detection methodology for CMS
For content management systems we lean on the most stable signals each platform leaves behind: the `<meta name="generator">` tag, asset URL prefixes (`/wp-content/`, `/sites/default/files/`, `/cdn.shopify.com/`), distinctive cookie namespaces (`wordpress_*`, `_shopify_*`, `Drupal.*`) and admin-route signatures (`/wp-admin/`, `/user/login`). When the visible site is a JavaScript framework with a headless CMS underneath, we surface the CMS SDK from the bundle (`@sanity/client`, `contentful`, `@storyblok/react`) — the fingerprint that survives even when the HTML carries no traditional CMS markers.
How we detect Sanity
Sourcemap Explorer carries 3 fingerprint signals for Sanity, spread across 2 channels — response header and dom selector. The exact patterns are listed below, and you can replay each one in Chrome DevTools to confirm a match by hand.
Each signal alone is rarely conclusive — Sourcemap Explorer cross-references all of them and weights by confidence. You can reproduce any of these checks yourself in Chrome DevTools.
Server-side fingerprint: the response header reveals the technology behind the page. Visible in DevTools → Network → response headers.
content-security-policy: cdn\.sanity\.io
x-sanity-shard:
A DOM selector that only this technology's pages render. Verified at runtime by the content script.
img[src*='cdn.sanity.io'],img[srcset*='cdn.sanity.io'],video[src*='cdn.sanity.io'],source[src*='cdn.sanity.io'],source[srcset*='cdn.sanity.io'],track[src*='cdn.sanity.io']
FAQ
How do I check if a website is using Sanity?
Open the page in Chrome, click the Sourcemap Explorer toolbar icon, and read the Stack tab. Sanity's specific fingerprints here are response header and dom selector, and the popup flags Sanity whenever any combination of them is found. The same checks can be reproduced manually in DevTools — see the "How we detect" section above.
What Sanity version can Sourcemap Explorer detect?
Sanity ships as a hosted cms rather than a bundled npm package, so version-specific detection isn't always possible. Where the platform leaks a version in response headers (`X-Powered-By`, `Server`, generator meta tags) we surface it; otherwise we report presence only.
Is Sanity a SaaS or self-hosted?
Sanity is offered as a hosted SaaS product. Detection runs against the JavaScript SDK or asset-URL fingerprints the platform ships into pages.
How much does Sanity cost?
Sanity's pricing model is documented as: freemium, recurring, payg. Detection is independent of the pricing tier — Sourcemap Explorer flags the technology by its fingerprints, regardless of which paid plan a site is on. See the official site for the current pricing page.
Where can I read more about Sanity?
Official site: https://www.sanity.io. For Sourcemap Explorer's detection guide, see the deep-dive link below or the related guides in the cross-link section.
Keep reading on Sourcemap Explorer
Practical guides
Detection deep dives
Alternative tools
Detected by Sourcemap Explorer
Open the popup on any page running Sanityand you'll see the exact version pulled from the bundled package.json when sourcemaps are exposed.