Astro Simple is a blog starter template built with Astro and Simple.css that generates a static blog with SEO metadata, RSS, and a sitemap from Markdown and MDX content. It is a community-made variant of the official Astro blog example, reducing the styling to the minimal Simple.css framework while keeping Astro's routing, build pipeline, and content handling untouched.
What is Astro Simple?
Astro Simple is a blog starter template that takes Markdown or MDX files placed in src/pages/ and compiles them into a static website using Astro's build system. The output is a production-ready dist/ folder containing HTML, CSS, and asset files. The project is hosted on GitHub in the lkhrs/astro-simple repository and is derived from the official Astro blog example, with Simple.css replacing the original example's hand-rolled styles.
Key Features
- 100/100 Lighthouse performance — Every page scores a perfect 100 on Google's Lighthouse performance, accessibility, best practices, and SEO audits, according to the project's own readme.
- SEO-friendly pages — Each post automatically gets canonical URLs and OpenGraph data, so link previews on social media show the correct title, description, and image.
- Sitemap generation — The template includes sitemap support, so after a build you get a
sitemap.xmlthat lists all public routes for search engines. - RSS feed — An RSS feed is generated from the blog content, letting readers subscribe in feed readers like Feedly or Inoreader.
- Markdown and MDX support — You can write posts in either
.mdor.mdxformat; MDX allows embedding exposed components directly inside your content. - Simple.css styling — The site is styled with the classless Simple.css framework, which applies sensible typography and spacing defaults while keeping markup clean and free of utility classes.
Who is it for?
Astro Simple is for individual bloggers who want a fast, minimal site without configuring a theme. It is also a good starting point for developers who are new to Astro and want to see how pages are generated from content files. Technical writers who prefer writing in Markdown and need built-in RSS and sitemap support will find the template ready to publish.
What can you do with Astro Simple?
- Publish a personal blog — Drop post files into
src/pages/, runnpm run build, and deploy the staticdist/output to any hosting service. - Create an MDX-powered site — Since MDX files are supported, you can include JSX components like interactive widgets inside your posts without switching to a different framework.
- Learn Astro routing — The project keeps the original
src/pages/directory structure, so every.astroor.mdfile becomes a route based on its filename, making it easy to follow how Astro maps files to URLs.
How does Astro Simple work?
The workflow follows standard Astro commands. Run npm install to install dependencies, npm run dev to start a local development server on localhost:3000, and npm run build to produce a static version in ./dist/. The npm run preview command lets you inspect that build locally before deploying.
FAQ
Is Astro Simple free?
Yes, the template is published as a public GitHub repository, so you can clone it and use it at no cost.
Does Astro Simple support MDX?
Yes, MDX support is listed as a feature. Posts written as .mdx files are accepted, and you can import and use components inside them.
What Lighthouse score does Astro Simple get?
The readme claims a perfect 100/100 on all four Lighthouse categories: performance, accessibility, best practices, and SEO.
Does Astro Simple generate an RSS feed?
Yes, RSS feed support is included. After building the project, an RSS feed is generated automatically from the blog content.
