# Components ## Components Are Data The anatomy of a component simple, *it's just a JSON object*. When we talk about a "component", we're generally talking a blueprint for JSON data. This blueprint is then used for an unlimited number of JSON objects which all have *the same structure but can all have different data*. Make sense? So if a component is just a blueprint for data we can refer to each individual JSON object as an ***instance*** of a component, with each instance being unique. This concept of what a component is and how a component can have multiple instances forms the basis for all of Clay. ## Component API More details about the component API can be found in the Amphora documentation, but the basics are outlined below. * To view all available components in a Clay instance visit the `/_components` route: [nymag.com/\_components](https://nymag.com/_components) * To view the default data for a component simply request a component by name: [nymag.com/\_components/article](https://nymag.com/_components/article) * To view all instances of the component: [nymag.com/\_components/article/instances](https://nymag.com/_components/article/instances) * To view a single instance of the component: [nymag.com/\_components/article/instances/new](https://nymag.com/_components/article/instances/new) In this way you can see that the component API has the following structure: **\/\/**instances**/\** Understanding this structure makes it possible to create, read, update and delete component data in your Clay instance. ## If Components Are Data... Components live in three places: * On their own! All components and their individual instances are fully available at their REST endpoints * [Inside a page](https://claycms.gitbook.io/clay/clay-data-structures/pages): page-level components are *unique* to a certain page * [Inside a layout](https://claycms.gitbook.io/clay/clay-data-structures/layouts): layout-level components are *shared* on every page that uses a certain layout. Some simple rules when making components are as follows: * If you want data that is *shared* between many pages, put a component in a layout. * If you want data that is *not shared* between pages, put a component in a page.