How it works / 3
How a page reaches a reader
A published page can be served three ways. Two are verified live: static pages carry the whole site, and on-demand campaign pages went live on 2026-10-15. The third, the experiment edge function, is deployed and idle. This chapter separates them.
Static prerender (verified live). At build time Astro turns every published page into plain HTML. The files sit on the Netlify CDN, so a reader gets a finished page with no server work. Search data, the RSS feed, shop pages and topic pages are prerendered the same way.
The cost. A change reaches readers only after a release, because a release is what runs the build. Publishing alone commits the change dark and builds nothing.
Measured on the lab pages
Speed, with the source of each number
- 1.26-1.66 s
- Mobile LCP, static pages
- 0
- Layout shift (CLS)
- ~0.4-0.7 s
- Campaign page, cached response
- ~2.47 s
- Campaign path, cold p95
Verified live on the lab pages.
Verified live on the lab pages.
Verified live 2026-10-15 from one test client (static: ~0.26 s).
Preview spike only, not production.
Three ways to serve
Static, campaign and edge compared
| Static prerender | Campaign /go/ | Edge function | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Status | Verified live | Verified live (2026-10-15) | Deployed, no live experiment |
| What it does | Serves HTML built ahead of time | Renders a frozen snapshot on demand | Picks one of several arms per visit |
| Change needs a build | Yes, via a release | No (snapshot swap) | No (reads experiment map) |
| Search, forms, listings | Yes | No, frozen content only | Not applicable |
| Public URL | The page route | /go/ slug, rewritten | One URL, several arms |
What this means for a marketer.
- Static is the fastest and the safest. Every change waits for a release.
- The campaign path lets you change a landing page without a build: publishing swaps the snapshot readers get. It is live — see the lab campaign demo. It holds frozen content only.
- The edge function runs on every request. With no experiment configured it returns at once and sets no cookie. If a campaign page ever fails, the response names the reason in an x-campaign-failure header.
Questions a client asks
- Why not make every page on-demand?
Static pages are the fastest and need no server at read time. The campaign path also cannot serve search, form or checkout confirmation, taxonomy listings, query grids or dynamic catalogs. It holds frozen content only.
- Does the edge function track visitors?
With an empty experiment map it returns immediately: no cookie, no geo lookup, no random draw. It honors Global Privacy Control and consent regions. When an experiment runs, it sets one assignment cookie per visit.
- Can I claim a winning variant today?
No. No experiment is live, and the revenue join has been verified offline only.