Constellation

You use Theme Cosmos to build new applications in Pega Platform version 8.7 and earlier. For applications updating to later versions of the theme Cosmos application, you must manually update your previous ruleset version. The updated applications then have some development effort, such as updating the stylesheet and CSS file.  

When you build new applications in Pega Platform version 8.6, you can choose between using Theme Cosmos, the Cosmos React UI, and the traditional UI Kit. But when you create a new application in 8.8 version of Pega Platform, you choose between the Constellation and the Traditional UI. Theme Cosmos supports hybrid architecture, in which most components retain the classic server-side rendering, whereas the portal-authoring components and list views use a React-UI-based library. This approach produces a more efficient and dynamic interface, with most Pega Platform functionalities unchanged. 

Features of Theme Cosmos include: 

• Search results are shown on a new tab without losing context. 

• Supports multiple sessions in browser tabs without losing data due to tab refreshes 

• Improved preview panel with fixed header and tab navigation 

• Collapsible summary pane gives more space to the work area 

When you create a new application before 8.8, you have the option to use the Cosmo React UI as a built-on application. When you use this option, you build your app using the React-based UI. The React-based UI offers low code capabilities with a run-time environment that supports the latest open-source technologies and frameworks, and helps views render in their native technology with more dynamic updates and responsiveness. Pega's React-based UI is built using open standards, such as ReactJS, Redux, and ES6, and includes the Pega Cosmos design system (a React-based component library for Cosmos), the Constellation client engine (which mediates between UI components and the DX API), DX API v2, and the public Java script API for the constellation client engine. You do your application authoring in App studio. 

The Cosmos React UI architecture is constantly evolving and is best suited to early adopters. It does not support all Pega Platform features. Even so, you can use Cosmos to build an application with case types and data types, configure the UI (as an added feature - a real time preview of the view being built is available), and define Personas and portals.  

Pega Cosmos design system/Constellation applications support a hybrid design that causes the UI to take on certain Cosmos React functionalities in an otherwise section-based UI. When using hybrid mode, most components retain the classic server-side rendering, but portal authoring components and tables use an updated client-side technology. 

When creating a new application, you can choose between a Theme Cosmos application or a Cosmos React application. Theme Cosmos applications can use hybrid mode, or a standard architecture with only sections. In Pega Platform version 8.7 and above, the hybrid mode is the default UI setup for new applications.  

The ongoing evolution of the Pega Infinity™ architecture includes the latest iteration, which is called Constellation. Constellation includes a new client-side engine that orchestrates Pega Platform application logic and data with any front-end design system. While Constellation is front-end agnostic, it is the basis for Cosmos React UI. 

For Pega Cloud customers, a regional multitenant Constellation service is automatically configured during deployment. There is no need for you to install or configure the Constellation engine. 

For an on-premises or a customer cloud installation, one Constellation installation (for example, one Pod or one Docker instance) can handle static content requests from Pega Infinity deployments for the organization.

For more information about Pega design systems, see Traditional UI Architecture and Constellation-Architecture.

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