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Research

Research Scratchpad

Section titled “Research Scratchpad”

Document technical discoveries, best practices, and research findings for future reference.

Astro & Starlight Research

Section titled “Astro & Starlight Research”

Content Collections Best Practices

Section titled “Content Collections Best Practices”

Date: 2025-08-28

Discovery: Astro content collections provide excellent TypeScript integration and validation.

Key insights:

  • docsSchema() from Starlight provides comprehensive frontmatter validation
  • Custom content collections can extend the schema for specialized content
  • File-based routing automatically handles URL generation
  • Content collections enable powerful queries and filtering

Application: Used for implementing scratchpad as separate content category Source: Official Astro documentation, Starlight source code analysis

Section titled “Sidebar Navigation Flexibility”

Date: 2025-08-28

Discovery: Starlight sidebar configuration supports both manual and auto-generated sections.

Key insights:

  • Manual items: { label: 'Title', slug: 'page-slug' }
  • Auto-generated: { label: 'Section', autogenerate: { directory: 'folder' } }
  • Mixed approach allows for curated navigation with automatic discovery
  • Nested structures support unlimited depth

Application: Organizing scratchpad sections within existing navigation hierarchy Source: Starlight configuration documentation, practical implementation

Asset Path Management

Section titled “Asset Path Management”

Date: 2025-08-28

Research Context: Investigating CSS loading issues during Cloudflare deployment.

Findings:

  • Astro handles asset paths automatically in most cases
  • site configuration in astro.config.mjs affects asset URL generation
  • Cloudflare Pages requires root-level paths (no base configuration)
  • Build output in dist/ contains properly hashed assets for caching

Solution Applied: Removed base path configuration, updated site URL to Cloudflare Pages domain Prevention: Always test deployment with proper production configuration

GitHub Workflow Research

Section titled “GitHub Workflow Research”

Issue-First Methodology Implementation

Section titled “Issue-First Methodology Implementation”

Date: 2025-08-28

Research Goal: Establish sustainable development workflow with proper traceability.

Key Findings:

  • GitHub issue templates improve information quality significantly
  • Branch naming conventions with issue numbers create clear linkage
  • Fixes #N in commit messages enables automatic issue closure
  • PR templates ensure consistent review process

Implementation Results:

  • 100% traceability from idea to deployment
  • Reduced context switching during development
  • Clear project history and decision documentation
  • Easier onboarding for future contributors

Metrics: Issue #2 → PR #3 workflow completed successfully with full automation

GitHub CLI Integration Benefits

Section titled “GitHub CLI Integration Benefits”

Date: 2025-08-28

Discovery: gh CLI enables complete workflow automation from command line.

Powerful Features:

  • Issue creation with templates: gh issue create --template content_request.yml
  • PR management: gh pr create, gh pr merge
  • Workflow monitoring: gh run list, gh run watch
  • Repository interaction: gh pr view --comments

Productivity Impact: Reduced context switching between terminal and browser Best Practice: Use GitHub CLI for all repository interactions when possible

Performance Research

Section titled “Performance Research”

Build Time Analysis

Section titled “Build Time Analysis”

Date: 2025-08-28

Current Metrics:

  • Full build: ~2.6s for complete site
  • Incremental changes: Near-instant with Astro’s hot reloading
  • Production build includes: Static generation, image optimization, search index generation

Optimization Opportunities:

  • Image processing could be optimized for large asset collections
  • Search index generation scales linearly with content
  • TypeScript checking adds ~1s to build time

Monitoring: Track build times in CI to detect performance regressions

Cloudflare Pages Performance

Section titled “Cloudflare Pages Performance”

Date: 2025-08-28

Deployment Speed:

  • Preview deployments: ~30-45 seconds from push to live URL
  • Production deployments: ~1-2 minutes including validation
  • Global propagation: Near-instant due to edge caching

Edge Performance:

  • Static assets served from CDN automatically
  • Automatic compression and optimization
  • Built-in analytics available for monitoring

Best Practice: Use preview deployments for all PR testing before production

Research Methodology

Section titled “Research Methodology”

Documenting Discoveries

Section titled “Documenting Discoveries”
  1. Context: What problem or question led to this research?
  2. Method: How was the information discovered or validated?
  3. Findings: What specific insights were gained?
  4. Application: How was this knowledge applied to the project?
  5. Source: Where can this information be verified or expanded?

Knowledge Sharing

Section titled “Knowledge Sharing”
  • Update relevant documentation when research proves valuable
  • Reference research in issues and PRs when applicable
  • Convert research findings to troubleshooting guide entries
  • Share learnings in commit messages and PR descriptions