Regarding using core components with nosamplecontent runmode

Yes, that's correct. check docs -

Sample Content Run-Mode

The Core Components are visible in the Quickstart when the sample content is present, because the We.Retail reference site uses them. However, when running in production (in nosamplecontent runmode, without sample content enabled), the core components won't be present anymore and must be installed on the AEM instances by the development and/or operations team.

Note:

In production environments, always run the Quickstart in nosamplecontent runmode. To use the Core Components in nosamplecontent runmode, follow the instructions of the Using Core Components documentation page.

Developing Core Components

Using Core Components

The Core Components are not part of the quickstart when starting in production mode (without sample content). Therefore, your first step is to download the latest released content package from GitHub and to install it on your AEM environments.

https://helpx.adobe.com/experience-manager/core-components/using/using.html

Thank you for the reply