# D002 - Tech Stack

> D002 - Tech Stack: a note from the Obsidian vault behind https://saifsiddiqui.in.

Canonical URL: https://saifsiddiqui.in/hi-latn/brain/d002-tech-stack/ (this is its markdown representation; the same URL serves HTML to browsers)
Other languages: en: https://saifsiddiqui.in/brain/d002-tech-stack/ · hi: https://saifsiddiqui.in/hi/brain/d002-tech-stack/ · kn: https://saifsiddiqui.in/kn/brain/d002-tech-stack/ · ur: https://saifsiddiqui.in/ur/brain/d002-tech-stack/ · te: https://saifsiddiqui.in/te/brain/d002-tech-stack/ · ar: https://saifsiddiqui.in/ar/brain/d002-tech-stack/

**Type:** decision  
**Status:** accepted  
**Created:** 2026-07-17  
**Tags:** decision, stack, architecture

## D002: Tech stack: Astro + React islands on Vercel

**Context:** Need elite performance, great SEO, multilingual routing, and a few rich interactive surfaces. Guided by [D001 - Site as Proof Principle](/brain/d001-site-as-proof-principle/).

**Options considered:**
- **Next.js 16**, familiar, powerful, great if this becomes an app; but heavier JS baseline → harder to hit a *flawless* Lighthouse on a content site.
- **Astro 5**, zero JS by default, first-class i18n, static-first; hydrate only interactive islands.

**Decision:** **Astro + React islands, on Vercel.** Next.js documented as the alternative.

**Why:** A portfolio is ~90% content. Astro ships the content as static HTML and hydrates only the islands ([WebGL Hero](/brain/webgl-hero/), [Contact Form](/brain/contact-form/), [Custom Analytics](/brain/custom-analytics/), [Knowledge Graph](/brain/knowledge-graph/)). "I chose Astro *because* the workload is content-led" is itself the product-thinking answer.

**Trade-offs:** less familiar than Next for Saif; if it grows into a full app later, revisit. Enables the perf targets in [Design System](/brain/design-system/) and [Roadmap](/brain/roadmap/) Phase 0.

## Yahan se linked

- [D001 - Site as Proof Principle](/hi-latn/brain/d001-site-as-proof-principle/)
- [D006 - i18n Seven Languages and RTL](/hi-latn/brain/d006-i18n-seven-languages-and-rtl/)
- [D009 - SEO and AI Crawlers](/hi-latn/brain/d009-seo-and-ai-crawlers/)
- [North Star - Site as Proof](/hi-latn/brain/north-star-site-as-proof/)
- [Open Questions](/hi-latn/brain/open-questions/)
- [Portfolio Brain](/hi-latn/brain/portfolio-brain/)
- [Roadmap](/hi-latn/brain/roadmap/)

Saare notes: [/hi-latn/brain/](/hi-latn/brain/)

---

Mohd Saif, Product Engineer. I build solutions, not dead software.
Email: saifmd238@gmail.com · GitHub: https://github.com/Saif-09 · LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mohd-saif-134076141/ · Résumé (PDF): https://saifsiddiqui.in/resume

More for agents:
- [/llms.txt](/llms.txt): short summary of this site
- [/llms-full.txt](/llms-full.txt): the complete text of every page in one fetch
- [/agents.md](/agents.md): when to use this site, and how to query it
- [/sitemap-index.xml](/sitemap-index.xml): every URL, in seven languages