Project · In use
Static-first personal knowledge site
A fast portfolio and publishing foundation designed to stay lightweight while leaving clean boundaries for search, voice agents, and independent demos.
- Role
- Product direction, architecture, and review
- Started
- 10 Aug 2026
- Status
- In use
Problem
Personal sites often start simple and accumulate weight: a client-side framework for mostly static copy, a database for a handful of articles, and application code on every page because one future feature might need it.
Insight
The durable boundary is not “static or dynamic.” It is static by default, dynamic by need. Projects, skills, and notes can ship as plain HTML. Project filtering can run locally in the browser. Voice sessions and form delivery can live behind small services without changing the reading experience.
Decision
Use Astro for static output, typed Markdown collections for content, a lightweight project filter, and Firebase Hosting for CDN delivery. Reserve Cloud Run for short API calls and future agent capabilities.
Prototype
The first release includes a branded homepage, evidence-led project and skill pages, editorial notes, deterministic search, feeds, structured data, and deployment safeguards.
Evidence
- The public routes render to static HTML.
- Search requires no hosted search service.
- Dynamic credentials cannot enter the static build.
- The design respects keyboard use, reduced motion, and constrained client JavaScript.
Reflection
The most important unfinished work is content, not code. Real project evidence and Austin’s own wording will determine whether the site feels specific rather than merely polished.
Evidence on record
What can be checked now.
- A reviewed technical specification and phased implementation backlog
- A static-by-default architecture with isolated Cloud Run service boundaries
- Performance, accessibility, privacy, and content-evidence budgets defined before launch