curiositech Astro Islands Architect
Astro is "ship HTML by default, hydrate only what needs JS." For marketing, docs, and content-heavy sites, this produces dramatically smaller bundles than React/Next.js. The whole game is choosing which components are static and which are islands.
When to use
- Marketing site, blog, docs portal — content is the product.
- Migrating from a Next.js marketing site that's overweight on client JS.
- Multi-framework — a React component lib used alongside Vue or Svelte components.
- Heavy content authoring with MDX + type-safe frontmatter.
- View transitions across pages without a SPA.
Core capabilities
Page structure
---
// src/pages/blog/[slug].astro — frontmatter runs at build/SSR time
import { getCollection, getEntry } from 'astro:content';
import Layout from '../../layouts/Default.astro';
import Newsletter from '../../components/Newsletter.tsx';
export async function getStaticPaths() {
const posts = await getCollection('blog');
return posts.map((p) => ({ params: { slug: p.slug }, props: { post: p } }));
}
const { post } = Astro.props;
const { Content } = await post.render();
---
<Layout title={post.data.title}>
<h1>{post.data.title}</h1>
<article><Content /></article>
{/* Island — only this component ships JS */}
<Newsletter client:visible />
</Layout>
The --- fences are server code. Inside <...>, the default is static HTML. Components with client:* directives become islands.
Client directives — pick the right one
| Directive | When it hydrates | Use for |
|---|---|---|
client:load |
Page load | Above-the-fold interactive (cart, search). |
client:idle |
When the browser is idle | Non-critical interactive (chat widget). |
client:visible |
When scrolled into viewport | Below-the-fold (newsletter signup, comments). |
client:media="(min-width: 768px)" |
When the media query matches | Desktop-only widgets. |
client:only="react" |
Skip SSR; client-only render | Components that need browser APIs at mount. |
client:idle is the right default for most non-critical islands. client:load is the heavy hammer; reserve it.
Content collections
// src/content/config.ts
import { defineCollection, z } from 'astro:content';
const blog = defineCollection({
type: 'content', // markdown/MDX files
schema: z.object({
title: z.string().max(120),
description: z.string().max(160),
date: z.coerce.date(),
tags: z.array(z.string()).default([]),
draft: z.boolean().default(false),
cover: z.object({ src: z.string(), alt: z.string() }).optional(),
}),
});
export const collections = { blog };
Now getCollection('blog') is fully typed. Frontmatter mistakes fail the build, not production.
const posts = (await getCollection('blog'))
.filter((p) => !p.data.draft)
.sort((a, b) => +b.data.date - +a.data.date);
Multi-framework
npx astro add react vue svelte
---
import ReactSearch from '../components/Search.tsx';
import VueChart from '../components/Chart.vue';
import SvelteToggle from '../components/Toggle.svelte';
---
<ReactSearch client:idle />
<VueChart client:visible />
<SvelteToggle client:load />
Each framework's runtime is bundled separately and loaded only on pages that use it. For a docs site that's mostly static, this can mean shipping zero React JS to most pages.
Server islands (Astro 4+)
<Layout>
<Header />
<PersonalizedRecommendations server:defer>
<p slot="fallback">Loading recommendations...</p>
</PersonalizedRecommendations>
<Footer />
</Layout>
server:defer renders the rest of the page immediately and streams the deferred component's HTML in via a separate request. Useful for personalized content that would otherwise force the whole page to be SSR.
Image optimization
---
import { Image } from 'astro:assets';
import cover from '../assets/cover.jpg';
---
<Image src={cover} alt="Cover photo" widths={[400, 800, 1200]} sizes="(max-width: 768px) 400px, 1200px" />
Astro generates srcset, runs Sharp for resizing, and ships only what's needed. Place images under src/assets/ for full optimization; public/ is unprocessed.
View transitions
---
import { ViewTransitions } from 'astro:transitions';
---
<html>
<head>
<ViewTransitions />
</head>
...
</html>
<a href="/about" transition:name="hero">About</a>
Cross-page transitions without a SPA. The browser does most of the work; Astro coordinates element matching.
MDX with components
---
title: My post
date: 2026-04-30
---
import Callout from '../../components/Callout.astro';
# {frontmatter.title}
<Callout type="warn">
This is a warning rendered server-side. No JS.
</Callout>
Components imported in MDX run at build/SSR time unless they're islands.
Hybrid SSR
// astro.config.mjs
import { defineConfig } from 'astro/config';
import cloudflare from '@astrojs/cloudflare';
export default defineConfig({
output: 'hybrid',
adapter: cloudflare(),
});
---
// src/pages/api/search.ts — runs on the edge
export const prerender = false;
export async function GET({ request }) {
const url = new URL(request.url);
const q = url.searchParams.get('q') ?? '';
const results = await search(q);
return new Response(JSON.stringify(results), { headers: { 'content-type': 'application/json' } });
}
prerender = false opts a route into SSR; the rest of the site stays static.
Anti-patterns
client:load everywhere
Symptom: Lighthouse JS bundle bloats; Astro's hydration story disappears.
Diagnosis: Engineers default to client:load because it's the most familiar.
Fix: Default to client:idle or client:visible. Reserve client:load for above-the-fold interactive.
Fetching data in client components
Symptom: Loading spinners on every page; SEO hurt.
Diagnosis: Data fetching moved to React components instead of the Astro frontmatter.
Fix: Fetch in the --- fences, render server-side, pass data as props to islands.
Untyped frontmatter
Symptom: Build succeeds; production shows undefined in titles.
Diagnosis: No content collection schema; typo in frontmatter went unnoticed.
Fix: Use defineCollection with a zod schema. Frontmatter mistakes fail the build.
Mixing public/ and src/assets/ for images
Symptom: Some images optimized, others ship at original size.
Diagnosis: public/ is served as-is; only src/assets/ runs through Sharp.
Fix: Move images to src/assets/. Use <Image> everywhere. public/ only for OG images and favicons.
Trying to use Astro for a SPA
Symptom: Constant battle with hydration; islands grow until the entire page is interactive. Diagnosis: Wrong framework for the job. Astro shines for content; SPAs need Next/Remix. Fix: Reach for Next/Remix when most pages are interactive. Use Astro for marketing + docs.
Overusing client:only
Symptom: Layout shift (CLS) on every page load; "blink" before content appears.
Diagnosis: Skipping SSR means the browser sees an empty placeholder until JS runs.
Fix: Use client:only only when the component truly can't render server-side. Provide a placeholder that approximates the final size.
Quality gates
- Default client directive is
client:idleorclient:visible;client:loadjustified per use. - All content has a typed schema via
defineCollection. - Images live under
src/assets/and use the<Image>component. - Multi-framework integrations (
@astrojs/react, etc.) added only for components that exist. - LCP under 2s on the slowest representative page.
- First-load JS budget set per page; CI fails on regressions.
- MDX uses Astro components for static parts; islands only where interactive.
- View transitions tested across the major navigation paths.
NOT for
- Full SPAs — Next.js, Remix, TanStack Start are better fits.
- Astro plugin/integration authoring — separate skill (no dedicated skill yet).
- Vite-side build tuning — Astro uses Vite under the hood. →
vite-build-optimizerfor chunk sizing, HMR, plugin lifecycle issues. - Heavy client-state apps (dashboards, real-time tools) — too much JS for islands to help.
- Native mobile — Astro is web-only.