---
schema_version: "1"
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title: Using Components
collection: developer
version: current
locale: en-us
portal_url: https://docs.salesforce.com/developer/current/en-us/platform/aura-platform/guides/aura/components/components-using-intro.md
canonical_url: https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/platform/aura-platform/guide/components-using-intro.html
source_site: developer.salesforce.com
content_type: documentation
content_hash: 422aafc6f8442a102f0ea1af92a9103588e6b712a8365300904aebad9b8e8343
products:
  - Lightning Aura Components Developer Guide
  - Platform Developer Content
---

# Using Components

You can use components in many different contexts. This section shows you how.

**important:** Customizing Aura components isn't supported in Starter and Pro Suite Editions.

-   **[Aura Component Bundle Design Resources](https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/platform/aura-platform/guide/components-config-for-app-builder-design-files.md)**  


    Use a design resource to control which attributes are exposed to builder tools like the Lightning App Builder, Experience Builder, or Flow Builder. A design resource lives in the same folder as your .cmp resource, and describes the design-time behavior of the Aura component—information that visual tools need to display the component in a page or app.

-   **[Use Aura Components in Lightning Experience and the Salesforce Mobile App](https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/platform/aura-platform/guide/components-using-lex-s1.md)**  


    Customize and extend Lightning Experience and the Salesforce mobile app with Aura components. Launch components from tabs, apps, and actions.

-   **[Navigate Across Your Apps with Page References](https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/platform/aura-platform/guide/components-navigation.md)**  


    The `pageReference` JavaScript object represents a URL for a page. You can use a `pageReference` instead of parsing or creating a URL directly. This approach helps you avoid broken navigation if Salesforce changes URL formats in the future.

-   **[Get Your Aura Components Ready to Use on Lightning Pages](https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/platform/aura-platform/guide/components-config-for-app-builder-intro.md)**  


    Custom Aura components don’t work on Lightning pages or in the Lightning App Builder right out of the box. To use a custom component in either of these places, configure the component and its component bundle so that they’re compatible.

-   **[Use Aura Components in Experience Builder](https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/platform/aura-platform/guide/components-config-for-builder-intro.md)**  


    To use a custom Aura component in Experience Builder, you must configure the component and its component bundle so that they’re compatible.

-   **[Use Aura Components with Flows](https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/platform/aura-platform/guide/components-using-flow.md)**  


    Customize the look-and-feel and functionality of your flows by adding Lightning components to them. Or wrap a flow in an Aura component to configure the flow at runtime, such as to control how a paused flow is resumed.

-   **[Add Components to Apps](https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/platform/aura-platform/apps/apps-add-components.md)**  


    When you’re ready to add components to your app, first look at the built-in base components that Salesforce provides with the framework. You can also use these components by extending them or using composition to add them to custom components that you’re building.

-   **[Integrate Your Custom Apps into the Chatter Publisher](https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/platform/aura-platform/guide/components-integrate-customapps-to-publisher.md)**  


    Use the Chatter Rich Publisher Apps API to integrate your custom apps into the Chatter publisher. The Rich Publisher Apps API enables developers to attach any custom payload to a feed item. Rich Publisher Apps uses Lightning components for composition and rendering. We provide two Lightning interfaces and a Lightning event to assist with integration. You can package your apps and upload them to AppExchange. An Experience Builder site admin page provides a selector for choosing which five of your apps to add to the Chatter publisher for that site.

-   **[Using Background Utility Items](https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/platform/api-console/lightning-api/sforce-api-console-js-lightning-background-utility-item.md)**  


    Implement the `lightning:backgroundUtilityItem` interface to create a component that fires and responds to events without rendering in the utility bar.

-   **[Use Lightning Components in Visualforce Pages](https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/platform/aura-platform/lightning-out/components-visualforce.md)**  


    Add Aura components to your Visualforce pages to combine features that use both solutions. Implement new functionality using Aura components and then use it with existing Visualforce pages.

-   **[Use Aura and Lightning Web Components Outside of Salesforce with Lightning Out (Beta)](https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/platform/aura-platform/lightning-out/lightning-out.md)**  


    To run components outside of Salesforce servers, use Lightning Out, a special type of standalone Aura app. Whether it’s a Node.js app running on Heroku or a department server inside the firewall, add your components as dependencies to a Lightning Out app. Then run the Lightning Out app wherever your users are.

-   **[Lightning Container](https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/platform/aura-platform/container/container-overview.md)**  


    Upload an app developed with a third-party framework as a static resource, and host the content in an Aura component using `lightning:container`. Use `lightning:container` to use third-party frameworks like AngularJS or React within your Lightning pages.