Static vs Dynamic Asset Generation

astro-assets-generation supports both static (build-time) and dynamic (on-demand) image generation. Choosing the right approach depends on your deployment target and content update frequency.

Static Generation

Use getStaticPathsForAssets to pre-generate all images during astro build:

export const getStaticPaths = async () => {
  const posts = await getCollection("blog");
  return getStaticPathsForAssets(
    modules,
    posts.map((p) => ({ slug: p.id }))
  );
};

export const GET = apiImageEndpoint(modules);

Pros: Zero latency, works with any static host (Netlify, GitHub Pages, S3…). Cons: Images are only updated on the next build.

Dynamic Generation (this app)

Disable prerendering to generate images on every request:

export const prerender = false;

export const GET: APIRoute = apiImageEndpoint(
  import.meta.glob("./_*.tsx", { eager: true })
);

Pros: Always up-to-date, can use request-time data. Cons: Requires a server-side runtime (Node.js, Vercel, Cloudflare…).

When to use which?

	Static	Dynamic
Deploy target	Any host	Server required
Content updates	Needs rebuild	Instant
Latency	None	Small overhead
Dynamic data	No	Yes

For most blog sites, static generation is the better choice. For user-generated content or dashboards, use dynamic generation.