After July 2021, the 2.3.x release line will no longer receive quality updates, or user guide updates. PHP 7.3 reaches end of support in December 2021 and Adobe Commerce 2.3.x reaches end of support in September 2022. We strongly recommend planning your upgrade now to Adobe Commerce 2.4.x to help maintain PCI compliance.

Frontend Development Workflow

The information on this page is intended for Adobe Commerce 2.3 customers who are on an extended support contract. The Adobe Commerce Merchant Documentation for current releases is published on the Adobe Experience League.

The Frontend Development Workflow type determines if Less compilation takes place on the client- or server side during development. Less is an extension of CSS that has additional features and conventions, and that produces streamlined code. Client-side Less compilation is recommended for theme development. Server-side compilation is the default mode. The development workflow options are not available for stores in production mode. See Client-side LESS compilation vs. server-side in the developer documentation.

The Frontend Development Workflow configuration is available in Developer Mode only.

Advanced configuration - frontend development workflow
Front-end Development Workflow

  1. On the Admin sidebar, go to Stores > Settings > Configuration.

  2. In the left panel, expand Advanced and choose Developer.

  3. Expand Expansion selector the Front-end Development Workflow section.

  4. Set Workflow Type to one of the following:

    • Client side less compilation - Compilation takes place in the browser using the native less.js library.
    • Server side less compilation - Compilation takes place on the server using the Less PHP library. This is the default mode for production.
  5. When complete, click Save Config.