Astro SSR

Why deploy Astro SSR on Render?

Astro SSR is server-side rendering mode for the Astro web framework, where pages are rendered on the server for each request instead of being pre-built at compile time. It enables dynamic content, authenticated pages, and API routes that need access to request data or real-time information.

This template gives you a production-ready Astro SSR setup with the Node adapter pre-configured, Tailwind CSS v4 wired up via Vite, and a working API route example—skip the boilerplate of configuring standalone mode and build scripts yourself. One click deploys it as a Render web service with the correct start command and build settings already defined in render.yaml. You get automatic deploys from Git and can spin up preview environments for branches without any additional configuration.

What you can build

After deploying, you'll have a server-side rendered Astro site where pages render fresh on each request, plus a working API endpoint you can extend. The included demo lets you verify SSR is working by showing server-generated timestamps that change on refresh. From here you can add new pages and API routes using Astro's file-based routing.

Key features

• Server-side rendering: Pages render on every request using Astro's Node adapter in standalone mode without requiring Express.
• API route handlers: TypeScript endpoints in src/pages/api/ support GET and POST methods with JSON responses out of the box.
• Tailwind CSS v4: Pre-configured with Tailwind v4 via the Vite plugin for modern utility-first styling.
• File-based routing: Supports dynamic routes like /blog/[slug] and API endpoints through Astro's pages directory structure.
• Render deployment ready: Includes render.yaml configuration for one-click deployment to Render web services.

Use cases

• Marketing team deploys landing pages needing fresh content on each visit
• Backend developer adds JSON API endpoints alongside server-rendered pages
• Agency builds client sites with dynamic data without managing Express servers
• Startup launches MVP with real-time request data and interactive forms

Next steps

1. Open your Render service URL and refresh the page several times — You should see the server-rendered timestamp and request ID change on each refresh while the client-side clock updates independently
2. Test the API route by submitting a name in the interactive form on the homepage — You should see a JSON response appear below the form with your name, a timestamp, and the request method
3. Call the API endpoint directly using curl or your browser at /api/hello?name=YourName — You should receive a JSON object containing a personalized greeting message, timestamp, and method field showing GET

Resources

• Astro official site