Cut the head off, and REST keeps WordPress talking to the front end.
That is what our 4WP Headless App plugin does. One route, GET /wp-json/4wp/v1/export, returns a whole site: menus, settings, FAQ, team and portfolio. Each resource also has its own route.
On the React side it is one plain fetch. Publish in WordPress and the next page request shows it, with no rebuild step.
REST is one door and GraphQL is the other. The Headless series on 4wp.dev covers both.
4WP Headless App: https://4wp.dev/4wp-headless-app/ Headless series: https://4wp.dev/development/headless/
Go deeper
- Full guide: 4wp.dev/practice-rest-headless-wordpress