---

name: astro-ops description: "Astro framework patterns, islands architecture, content collections, rendering strategies, and deployment. Use for: astro, islands architecture, content collections, astro cloudflare, view transitions, partial hydration, astrojs, SSG, SSR, hybrid rendering, astro adapter." license: MIT allowed-tools: "Read Write Bash" metadata: author: claude-mods related-skills: typescript-ops, tailwind-ops, javascript-ops

Astro Operations

Comprehensive patterns for Astro framework development: islands architecture, content collections, rendering strategies, view transitions, and multi-platform deployment.

Rendering Strategy Decision Tree

Which rendering strategy?
│
├─ Is content mostly static (blog, docs, marketing)?
│  ├─ YES → Does it change less than daily?
│  │  ├─ YES → SSG (output: 'static')
│  │  │        Fastest TTFB, CDN-cacheable, zero runtime cost
│  │  └─ NO  → Hybrid (output: 'hybrid')
│  │           Default static + opt-in SSR per route
│  └─ NO  → Does every page need personalization?
│     ├─ YES → SSR (output: 'server')
│     │        Dynamic per-request, auth-aware, real-time data
│     └─ NO  → Hybrid (output: 'hybrid')
│              Static shell + server islands for dynamic parts
│
├─ Does the app need real-time interactivity (dashboard, SPA)?
│  ├─ YES → Is it a full SPA with client-side routing?
│  │  ├─ YES → Consider React/Vue SPA instead, or Astro + client:only
│  │  └─ NO  → Hybrid + islands architecture
│  │           Interactive islands in static pages
│  └─ NO  → SSG (output: 'static')
│
├─ Build time concerns (>10k pages)?
│  ├─ YES → Hybrid with on-demand rendering
│  │        Prerender popular pages, SSR the long tail
│  └─ NO  → SSG handles it fine
│
└─ Need edge computing (low latency globally)?
   ├─ YES → SSR + Cloudflare/Vercel Edge adapter
   └─ NO  → SSR + Node adapter or SSG

Configuration

// astro.config.mjs
import { defineConfig } from 'astro/config';

// SSG (default) - all pages prerendered at build time
export default defineConfig({
  output: 'static',
});

// SSR - all pages rendered on request
export default defineConfig({
  output: 'server',
  adapter: cloudflare(), // or vercel(), netlify(), node()
});

// Hybrid - static default, opt-in SSR per page
export default defineConfig({
  output: 'hybrid',
  adapter: cloudflare(),
});

---
// In hybrid mode, opt OUT of prerendering for specific pages:
export const prerender = false;
// In SSR mode, opt IN to prerendering:
export const prerender = true;
---

Islands Architecture Quick Reference

| Directive | Hydrates When | JS Shipped | Use Case | |-----------|--------------|------------|----------| | client:load | Immediately on page load | Full bundle | Above-fold interactive (nav, hero CTA) | | client:idle | After page is idle (requestIdleCallback) | Full bundle | Below-fold interactive (comment form, chat) | | client:visible | When scrolled into viewport | Full bundle | Far-down-page (footer widget, carousel) | | client:media | When media query matches | Full bundle | Mobile-only nav, responsive components | | client:only="react" | Immediately, skip SSR entirely | Full bundle | Components that can't SSR (canvas, WebGL) | | (none) | Never - static HTML only | Zero JS | Static content, cards, headers |

---
import NavBar from '../components/NavBar.tsx';
import CommentForm from '../components/CommentForm.tsx';
import ImageCarousel from '../components/ImageCarousel.svelte';
import MobileMenu from '../components/MobileMenu.vue';
import ThreeScene from '../components/ThreeScene.tsx';
---

<!-- Loads immediately - critical interactivity -->
<NavBar client:load />

<!-- Loads after page is idle - non-critical -->
<CommentForm client:idle />

<!-- Loads when scrolled into view - lazy -->
<ImageCarousel client:visible />

<!-- Loads only on mobile -->
<MobileMenu client:media="(max-width: 768px)" />

<!-- Client-only, no SSR (WebGL can't run on server) -->
<ThreeScene client:only="react" />

Content Collections Quick Start

Define Schema

// src/content.config.ts (Astro 5) or src/content/config.ts (Astro 4)
import { defineCollection, z, reference } from 'astro:content';
import { glob } from 'astro/loaders';

const blog = defineCollection({
  loader: glob({ pattern: '**/*.{md,mdx}', base: './src/content/blog' }),
  schema: z.object({
    title: z.string(),
    description: z.string().max(160),
    pubDate: z.coerce.date(),
    updatedDate: z.coerce.date().optional(),
    heroImage: z.string().optional(),
    tags: z.array(z.string()).default([]),
    draft: z.boolean().default(false),
    author: reference('authors'), // Reference another collection
  }),
});

const authors = defineCollection({
  loader: glob({ pattern: '**/*.json', base: './src/content/authors' }),
  schema: z.object({
    name: z.string(),
    avatar: z.string(),
    bio: z.string(),
    socials: z.object({
      twitter: z.st