Astro Weekly #29

Ship your first dev toolbar app with Astro 4.7, build a link shortener with Astro DB, ISR and advanced caching with Astro

Author

Nathan Lawson
April 30, 2024

Hello Astronauts,

As you know, Astro Weekly is the place to get caught up on all things Astro every week, and that is particularly true for me after a short break from work.

Plus, this week I'm excited to welcome a new sponsor to help you become better Astro developers and save you some $$ in the process.

Let’s catch up on what I missed.

This week in Astro ☄️

Raise the bar

Astro 4.7 released ⚡️

Babe wake up, Astro 4.7 just dropped.

This release includes extensive improvements to the API for making toolbar apps, more ways to keep your Astro project up to date, and more.

Dev Toolbar API improvements

Astro 4.7 includes considerable improvements to the API for making toolbar apps, plus a brand new starter project for building a toolbar app.

Update checker

Astro now automatically checks for updates when you run the dev server. If a new version is available, you'll receive instructions on upgrading.

allowJs: true for strictest TypeScript preset

Astro's strict TypeScript preset now permits the use of .js files in projects by default with allowJs: true in 4.7, accommodating user feedback for flexibility.

For a full breakdown of all new features and bug fixes shipping with Astro 4.7, head over to the official Astro blog post for details.

Boosters 🚀

The hottest collab of 2024

Build Modern Websites with Astro is a hands-on course to teach you how to build websites using Astro, the all-in-one framework for the modern web.

Taught by James Q Quick, the course covers:

  • Astro components, Integrations, and Islands

  • Routing, Pagination, and SEO

  • Working with Content Collections, Markdown, and TypeScript

  • Server-side Rendering, Authentication, and Databases

  • Form Submissions and API Routes

  • Lots more!

Plus, Astro Weekly subscribers can save 20% with code ASTROWEEKLY20

Astro Community 🧑‍🚀

astro.db

Build a link shortener with Astro DB 🔗

Frustrated by link shortener services abruptly no longer working, Charles Wang did what any developer would do and built their own.

In this insightful article, Charles shares how they created a link shortener app using Astro DB and Astro Studio.

Astro for Impatient Devs 😤

Allow Isaac Harris-Holt to explain what makes Astro so great in record speed in this 10-minute video.

From Astro Islands, View Transitions, Content Collections, and Integrations, this video is an awesome reminder of why we love Astro.

What else I’ve been reading this week 🤓

Check out these great posts from the Astro Community ↓

If you have something awesome you’d like to share with the Astro community, you can reach me at [email protected] or via DM on X

Astro on X 💫

What’s happening on Twitter X this week…

Astro Showcase 🤩

Gear to help you run faster than Astro

Get your sneaks on. Running Supply is a directory of the best designed running shoes, apparel, bags, and accessories.

A passion project from Cole Townsend, Running Supply is updated every week. Behind the scenes, the frontend is built with Astro, deployed on Cloudflare Pages, and uses Pocketbase as a CMS.

Other Astro projects in orbit 🪐

More great Astro projects worth checking out! ↓

NEU Official

NEU is a company focused on crafting events and goods for car culture

neuofficial.co

Ninas Konditori

A place where every bite is a taste journey. Explore our selection of fresh and delicious pastries, created with love and care every day.

ninaskonditori.com

Would you like your work to be featured in our Astro Showcase? Get in touch at [email protected] or DM me on X

Beyond the Astrosphere 🪐

What caught my eye outside of Astro this week…

That’s a wrap for this week, Astronauts.

Keep those submissions coming if you have something you’d like to share in a future issue, you can reach me at [email protected] or via DM on X.

Have a great week!

– Nathan 🧑‍🚀