Deployment

Time to share your blog with the world! This guide covers deploying to GitHub Pages.

Build for Production

First, create a production build:

npm run build

This creates a dist/ folder with static files:

dist/
├── index.html
├── posts/
│   └── hello-world/
│       └── index.html
├── assets/
│   ├── styles.css
│   └── scripts.js
└── ...

Preview Locally

Test the build before deploying:

npm run preview

Visit http://localhost:4321 to verify everything works.

Deploy to GitHub Pages

Step 1: Configure Astro

Update your astro.config.mjs:

import { defineConfig } from 'astro/config';

export default defineConfig({
  site: 'https://username.github.io',
  base: '/repo-name/',  // Only if NOT using custom domain
});

Step 2: Create GitHub Actions Workflow

Create .github/workflows/deploy.yml:

name: Deploy to GitHub Pages

on:
  push:
    branches: [main]
  workflow_dispatch:

permissions:
  contents: read
  pages: write
  id-token: write

concurrency:
  group: "pages"
  cancel-in-progress: false

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Checkout
        uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Setup Node
        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: 20
          cache: 'npm'

      - name: Install dependencies
        run: npm ci

      - name: Build
        run: npm run build

      - name: Upload artifact
        uses: actions/upload-pages-artifact@v3
        with:
          path: dist/

  deploy:
    needs: build
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    environment:
      name: github-pages
      url: ${{ steps.deployment.outputs.page_url }}
    steps:
      - name: Deploy to GitHub Pages
        id: deployment
        uses: actions/deploy-pages@v4

Step 3: Enable GitHub Pages

1. Go to your repository on GitHub
2. Navigate to Settings → Pages
3. Under “Build and deployment”, select GitHub Actions as the source
4. Push your code to the main branch

Your site will be available at https://username.github.io/repo-name/

Step 4: Custom Domain (Optional)

To use a custom domain:

1. Add CNAME file: Create public/CNAME with your domain:

   myblog.com

2. Configure DNS: Add these records at your domain registrar:

   • A records (for apex domain like myblog.com):

     185.199.108.153
     185.199.109.153
     185.199.110.153
     185.199.111.153

   • CNAME record (for www subdomain):

     www -> username.github.io

3. Update Astro config:

   export default defineConfig({
     site: 'https://myblog.com',
     // No base needed for custom domain
   });

4. Enable in GitHub: In repository Settings → Pages, add your custom domain

Deployment Checklist

Before deploying, verify:

• npm run build completes without errors
• npm run preview shows site correctly
• All links work (no broken links)
• Images load properly
• Meta tags are set (title, description)
• Favicon is configured

Continuous Deployment

Once configured, your site updates automatically:

git add .
git commit -m "Add new blog post"
git push origin main
# Site automatically updates in ~1-2 minutes!

Other Deployment Options

This blog can be deployed to any static hosting platform:

• Vercel - Zero-config Astro support, global CDN
• Netlify - Easy setup with form handling
• Cloudflare Pages - Fast edge network, free tier
• AWS S3 + CloudFront - Scalable cloud hosting
• Firebase Hosting - Google’s hosting platform

For detailed instructions on these platforms, refer to the Astro Deployment Guides.

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Congratulations! You’ve completed the Get Started guide.

Continue learning with the Writing Guide to master content creation.