Blog post

Notes from a Boring Astro Build

A few small choices that keep the build fast, the output static, and the surface area small.

The build pipeline is intentionally short. Tailwind compiles the CSS, Astro builds the pages, and the result lands in dist/. There is no server, no edge runtime, and no incremental cache layer to babysit.

What we leaned on

import.meta.glob('../../data/**/*.md', { eager: true }) for content discovery — no separate index file, no registry to keep in sync.
astro:assets for image optimization, so large hero images do not need a hand-rolled pipeline.
View Transitions only on routes where the animation actually adds something. Defaulting them on everywhere creates jank on slower devices.

The MDX exception

Most posts are plain .md. MDX is reserved for the rare post that needs a chart or an interactive callout — keeping the default boring means the bulk of the content stays portable and easy to lint.

What we explicitly skipped

No client-side router, no global state library, and no per-route JavaScript unless a component opts in with a client:* directive. Each addition would be load-bearing forever.