# Static site requirements and URL behavior | answer.cloud Docs

> Canonical source: [Static site requirements and URL behavior | answer.cloud Docs](https://www.answer.cloud/docs/hosting/static-sites/)

Prepare static pages, directory-style URLs, real missing-page responses, assets, metadata, and cache-safe changes for Answer Cloud hosting without assuming a server runtime.

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# Static site requirements and URL behavior

Prepare static pages, directory-style URLs, real missing-page responses, assets, metadata, and cache-safe changes for Answer Cloud hosting without assuming a server runtime.

Reviewed November 1, 2026

Answer Cloud hosting serves files produced by your build. Design the site so important information is already present in HTML and each public URL has the corresponding static output.

## Runtime requirements

Astro should use static output for the hosted website. Browser JavaScript can handle menus, animation, and calls to external services, but uploaded server code does not become an API server, database, background worker, or server-rendering runtime.

Keep private credentials out of browser bundles and public files. If a form or interaction requires a backend, use a supported platform feature such as [Answer Cloud forms](https://www.answer.cloud/docs/chat/forms/) or an appropriate external service.

Avoid an empty single-page application shell for substantive content. A page can work in your development server while the deployment's ingestion finds little useful HTML. Build real pages and verify their source responses.

## Match URLs to files

The serving layer maps directory-style routes to `index.html`:

| Request           | Expected artifact file   |
|-------------------|-------------------------|
| `/`               | `index.html`            |
| `/about/`         | `about/index.html`      |
| `/about`          | `about/index.html`      |
| `/assets/logo.svg`| `assets/logo.svg`       |

A path with a file extension is served as that file. Do not rely on every unknown URL falling back to the homepage. Missing files should produce a real missing-page response; test a deliberately nonexistent route after deployment.

The artifact root must contain the public site's files directly. Enclosing the whole build in a `dist/` folder changes the file paths and can leave `/` unavailable.

## Assets and metadata

Use correct case-sensitive asset paths and include all required images, fonts, styles, scripts, and downloads. Test them from the deployed origin, including mobile images and lazy-loaded assets.

Give each page a useful title, a distinct description, and a canonical URL appropriate to the selected public host. Provide a site-specific 1200×630 PNG or JPEG social preview image, Open Graph metadata, and Twitter `summary_large_image` metadata. Use absolute public HTTPS image URLs and confirm the image itself loads.

Hashed asset filenames or versioned URLs help browsers obtain revised assets. Verify new content from the actual release destination before blaming a cache; a stale production pointer or a reused file URL can look similar. Do not assume support for arbitrary server configuration files, rewrite manifests, or custom cache headers unless the current platform contract explicitly provides it.

## Let the platform generate its layer

Answer Cloud generates discovery resources, Markdown mirrors, structured metadata, analytics, and hosted chat. Do not upload competing hand-written versions as part of the website's normal source workflow. See [discovery files](https://www.answer.cloud/docs/ai-visibility/discovery-files/) and [deployment verification](https://www.answer.cloud/docs/hosting/deploy/) for how to inspect the published result.