Deployment

The template ships as a fully static site (output: "static" is the Astro default). The pnpm build command produces a dist/ directory that you can drop on any static host with zero server-side requirements.

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Before you deploy

# 1. Verify there are no TypeScript errors
pnpm build

# 2. Preview the production build locally
pnpm preview

pnpm build runs astro check (type-checking) then astro build. Fix any errors before pushing.

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Vercel

The fastest path. Connect your GitHub repository in the Vercel dashboard and Vercel detects Astro automatically.

Manual deploy (CLI):

npm install -g vercel   # install once
vercel                  # first deploy — follow the prompts
vercel --prod           # subsequent production deploys

Settings to confirm in Vercel dashboard:

Setting	Value
Framework Preset	Astro
Build Command	pnpm build
Output Directory	dist
Node.js Version	20.x

Environment variables: Vercel → Project → Settings → Environment Variables. Add any STRAPI_URL, DIRECTUS_URL, etc. here — never commit them to the repo.

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Netlify

Via Netlify UI:

1. Connect your repository.
2. Set Build command: pnpm build
3. Set Publish directory: dist
4. Set environment variable NODE_VERSION to 20.

Via netlify.toml (add to project root):

[build]
  command = "pnpm build"
  publish = "dist"

[build.environment]
  NODE_VERSION = "20"

Deploy hooks: In Netlify → Site settings → Build & deploy → Build hooks, create a hook URL. Paste it in your CMS webhook settings to trigger rebuilds on content publish.

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Cloudflare Pages

1. Log into Cloudflare Dashboard → Pages → Create a project.
2. Connect your Git provider and select the repository.
3. Set:

Setting	Value
Framework preset	Astro
Build command	pnpm build
Build output directory	dist
Environment variable	NODE_VERSION = 20

4. Click Save and Deploy.

Cloudflare’s global CDN means excellent Lighthouse scores with minimal config.

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Self-hosted / static host

Any host that serves static files works (nginx, Apache, AWS S3 + CloudFront, Bunny CDN, etc.):

pnpm build
# Upload the dist/ directory to your host

nginx example config:

server {
  listen 80;
  root /var/www/my-site/dist;
  index index.html;

  # SPA-style fallback for Astro's file-based routing
  location / {
    try_files $uri $uri/ $uri.html =404;
  }
}

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Adding SSR (server-side rendering)

The template is static by default. To enable SSR (required for form submissions, auth, or on-demand CMS revalidation):

1. Install an adapter:

# Vercel
pnpm add @astrojs/vercel

# Netlify
pnpm add @astrojs/netlify

# Cloudflare
pnpm add @astrojs/cloudflare

2. Update astro.config.mjs:

import vercel from "@astrojs/vercel/serverless";

export default defineConfig({
  output: "server",
  adapter: vercel(),
});

3. Pages that should remain static can opt out individually:

src/pages/about.astro

export const prerender = true;

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Environment variables

Variables prefixed with PUBLIC_ are exposed to the client. All others are server-only:

# .env.local (never commit this file)
STRAPI_API_TOKEN=abc123          # server-only
PUBLIC_PLAUSIBLE_DOMAIN=you.com  # exposed to client

Add the same variables in your hosting provider’s dashboard for production. The .env.local file is already in .gitignore.