{"id":647,"slug":"rule-prefer-astro-cloudflare-default-marketing-site","title":"RULE: Default stack for new marketing-site work is Astro 5/6 + Tailwind v4 on Cloudflare Pages","kind":"rule","scope":"business","status":"current","audiences":["kevin","claude-code","candid-team"],"topics":["tech-stack","framework-choice","hosting-platforms"],"reference_body":"**Rule:** Every new Candid Creative engagement for a marketing site, knowledge-base, docs site, or local-service business site starts with Astro 5/6 + Tailwind v4 deployed on Cloudflare Pages/Workers. The starter template includes View Transitions, Speculation Rules, Cloudflare Images bindings, and a `web-vitals` RUM snippet pointed at a Worker endpoint.\n\n**Flip rules (documented in writing, not assumed):**\n\n- Flip to **Next.js 16 + Vercel** only when the project is an actual app (auth, dashboards, complex mutations) or the client also wants a logged-in dashboard in the same codebase.\n- Flip to **SvelteKit 2 + Svelte 5** only when the team has existing Svelte fluency.\n- Flip to **headless WordPress + Next.js** only when the editor team explicitly requires the Gutenberg experience and the cost premium is accepted in writing.\n\n**Why:** Astro ships dramatically less JavaScript than equivalent Next.js builds for content sites; Cloudflare's January 16, 2026 acquisition of The Astro Technology Company secured a sustainable steward; Cloudflare Pages + Workers gives sub-5ms V8 isolate cold starts versus container-based serverless at 250ms+. See [[astro-cloudflare-pages-zero-cost-vs-nextjs]] (already in KB) and [[cloudflare-acquires-astro-jan-2026]].\n\n**How to apply:** When scoping a new engagement, the default proposal cites this stack. The Migration Audit deliverable ([[rule-lead-with-paid-migration-audit]]) recommends this stack unless one of the flip conditions is in writing.","rationale_body":null,"metadata":null,"links":{"outgoing":[{"slug":"astro-cloudflare-pages-zero-cost-vs-nextjs","title":"Astro on Cloudflare Pages: ~$0/month vs Next.js SSR ~$20-200/month (Bobes 2026 benchmark)","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"},{"slug":"rule-prefer-headless-astro-for-content-heavy-seo-critical-clients","title":"RULE: For content-heavy SEO/AI-critical clients (~$10k+ budget), default proposal is headless WordPress + Astro on Cloudflare Pages","kind":"rule","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"},{"slug":"cloudflare-acquires-astro-jan-2026","title":"Cloudflare acquired The Astro Technology Company on January 16, 2026 — strategic alignment for Candid's default stack","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"},{"slug":"astro-6-stable-march-2026","title":"Astro 6 went stable in March 2026; removes legacy APIs (getEntryBySlug, getDataEntryById, Astro.glob, Astro.canonicalURL)","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"},{"slug":"edge-vs-origin-cloudflare-default-for-smb","title":"For sub-100k pageviews/mo SMB sites, Cloudflare Pages + Workers is default; flip only when Postgres connection pooling or existing Vercel contract","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"}],"incoming":[{"slug":"research-brief-2026-build-standards","title":"Research brief: Candid Creative 2026 Build-Standards — web stack decision framework for SMB marketing sites & lightweight apps (piece 16)","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"},{"slug":"nextjs-16-cache-components-october-2025","title":"Next.js 16 (October 2025) made Partial Prerendering production via \"Cache Components\" with dynamic-by-default semantics","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"},{"slug":"tailwind-v4-oxide-stable-jan-2025","title":"Tailwind v4 (January 2025) — Oxide engine; CSS-first @theme config; ~3.5× faster full builds, ~8× faster incrementals","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"},{"slug":"rule-lead-with-paid-migration-audit","title":"RULE: Lead WordPress migration sales with a $1,250 fixed-price Migration Audit. Quote the build fixed-price only after the audit completes.","kind":"rule","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"},{"slug":"cms-workflow-decision-matrix","title":"CMS workflow decision matrix — Sanity/Storyblok (weekly editors, visual preview); Keystatic (monthly, technical-adjacent); Markdown-in-Git (engineers only)","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"}]},"created_at":"2026-05-22T21:24:18.272Z","updated_at":"2026-05-22T21:24:18.272Z"}