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Field note

Notes on maintenance when your blog is just files

Static blogs age well because the maintenance work stays boring in the best possible way.

The pleasant surprise of a static blog is that maintenance becomes mostly editorial.

What maintenance looks like

You are usually doing one of these:

  1. writing a new post
  2. adjusting a layout
  3. updating a package every so often

That is very different from caring for a dynamic CMS, where you are also watching databases, plugins, admin auth, and server patching.

Why MDX is useful

Plain Markdown handles most posts beautifully. MDX is there for the moments when you want something a little richer, like a callout.

Good rule of thumb: start with Markdown, reach for MDX only when the content genuinely benefits from custom presentation.

The long-term win

Six months from now, a tidy Astro project still feels legible. That is the quiet superpower here. The stack gives you enough flexibility to build something personal without making every future edit feel heavier than it should.