- keep homepage section data driven from structured frontmatter - render typed section components inside the template map instead of frontmatter helper code - resolve the Astro parse error in HomePage.astro - preserve the existing homepage section order and component split
Arizona Institute for Autism Astro Site
Static Astro + TypeScript migration of the public Arizona Institute for Autism
website. The read-only source mirror is located at
../www.azinstitute4autism.com.
Quick Start
Run commands from this directory:
cd www
npm install
npm run dev
Astro prints the local development URL, normally:
http://localhost:4321
The development server watches source files and refreshes the browser after
edits. Stop it with Ctrl+C.
Do not run npm run extract during normal editing. Extraction regenerates
migrated Markdown from the raw mirror and can overwrite editorial changes.
Environment Setup
Requirements:
- Node.js 20.19 or newer; the Nix shell currently supplies Node.js 22
- npm
This repository also has a Nix development shell at the repository root:
cd ..
nix --extra-experimental-features "nix-command flakes" develop
cd www
npm install
Copy the example environment file when testing the like/view counter:
cp .env.example .env
The default value is:
PUBLIC_AIA_API_BASE=https://api.azinstitute4autism.com
The site still renders when that API is unavailable.
View And Build
Development Server
Use this while editing:
npm run dev
Useful development URLs include:
/
/aba-therapy
/autism-evaluations
/learner-social-club
/client-consultation
/library
/es
/es/library
/ar
/ar/library
Production Build
Generate the static production site:
npm run build
The autonomous Codex sandbox denies /etc/hosts, so its Node runtime cannot
resolve localhost. Use this equivalent validation command only inside that
sandbox:
npm run build:sandbox
Build output is written to:
dist/
Preview Production Output
After a successful build:
npm run preview
Astro prints the preview URL, normally http://localhost:4321.
Validate Before Committing
npm run build
npm run audit:links
npm run audit:images
npm run audit:blog
The link audit reads dist/ after a successful build. If rendered output is
unavailable, it audits generated source routes, relative and root-relative
Markdown links, and public assets instead. It writes:
reports/broken-links.md
Editing Content
Normal content editing happens in Markdown:
src/content/pages/en
src/content/pages/es
src/content/pages/ar
src/content/blog/en
src/content/blog/es
src/content/blog/ar
src/content/authors/en
src/content/authors/es
src/content/authors/ar
Page and post frontmatter is validated by src/content.config.ts.
Example:
---
title: "Example Article"
description: "Short search and social description."
slug: "example-article"
canonical: "https://www.azinstitute4autism.com/library/example-article"
lang: "en"
translationKey: "example-article"
featuredImage: "/assets/images/example.webp"
alt: "Descriptive image alt text"
date: "2026-06-07"
author: "rula-diab"
category: "Library"
tags:
- ABA Therapy
draft: false
---
Article content goes here.
Set draft: true while preparing unpublished content.
Links And Buttons
Use normal Markdown links for links within prose:
Read the [ABA therapy guide](/aba-therapy) for more information.
Prose links render as the live site's orange inline links. Do not place an ordinary Markdown link on its own line merely to make it look like a button.
Use .mdx and the Button component only for a source-verified call to action:
import Button from '../../../components/Button.astro';
<Button href="/client-consultation">Request an Appointment</Button>
<Button href="/services" variant="outlined">Explore Services</Button>
<Button href="https://example.com" target="_blank">External Action</Button>
Available Button variants are filled (default), outlined, and light.
Available sizes are default and small. A _blank target automatically adds
rel="noopener noreferrer".
Use the optional Link component only when an inline link needs an explicit
variant or target:
import Link from '../../../components/Link.astro';
<Link href="/library" variant="strong">Browse the library</Link>
Normal Markdown links remain preferred for ordinary page and article content.
Front Matter CMS
The project includes frontmatter.json for the Front Matter CMS VS Code
extension. Open the www folder as the editor workspace so its content folders
and media paths resolve correctly.
Edit The Homepage
The English and Spanish homepages are driven from the structured home:
frontmatter block in:
src/content/pages/en/index.md
src/content/pages/es/index.md
HomePage.astro renders those named sections in order. Use the section names
as the editing surface:
hero
servicesIntro
benefits
skills
insurance
esa
financialHelp
process
director
testimonials
Keep homepage copy in those named blocks so the page remains easy to scan in
Front Matter CMS and VS Code. src/content.config.ts validates the structure.
Images And Downloads
Store content-referenced assets in:
public/assets/images
public/assets/downloads
public/assets/media
Reference public assets from Markdown using root-relative paths:

Use src/assets/images for images imported directly by Astro components and
processed by Astro.
Components And Styling
Reusable page sections are in:
src/components
src/layouts
Global styles and design tokens are in:
src/styles/variables.css
src/styles/global.css
src/styles/rtl.css
Navigation, services, redirects, and site details are in:
src/data
Adding Content
Add An English Blog Post
- Create
src/content/blog/en/post-slug.md. - Add valid frontmatter and article Markdown.
- Place referenced images in
public/assets/images. - Run
npm run devand view/library/post-slug. - Run the production validation commands before committing.
Add A Translation
Use the same translationKey across translated entries:
src/content/blog/en/post-slug.md
src/content/blog/es/post-slug.md
src/content/blog/ar/post-slug.md
The URLs become:
/library/post-slug
/es/library/post-slug
/ar/library/post-slug
Arabic routes automatically render with lang="ar" and dir="rtl".
Do not publish unreviewed machine translations. Clearly mark placeholders.
Edit A Blog FAQ
Posts with live-style FAQ sections use .mdx and import:
import FAQAccordion from '../../../components/FAQAccordion.astro';
Edit the component's label, heading, and items data in the post. Keep
answer as plain text for JSON-LD and answerHtml as the matching visible
answer. Shared FAQ markup, styling, interaction, and schema generation live in
src/components/FAQAccordion.astro.
Mirror Extraction Workflow
The mirror is read-only source material. Never modify:
../www.azinstitute4autism.com
Only rerun extraction when intentionally refreshing migrated content from the mirror. Commit or back up editorial changes first.
Dependency-free extraction:
npm run extract
Full Cheerio/Turndown extraction:
npm run extract:full
After extraction:
npm run extract:blog-footers
npm run generate:sitemap
npm run generate:redirects
npm run build
npm run audit:links
npm run audit:images
npm run audit:blog
Extraction regenerates content files, copied assets, and inventories. Review
the complete Git diff before accepting it. Extraction may recreate FAQ-bearing
posts and CTA-bearing pages as Markdown; restore their FAQAccordion and
Button MDX blocks before accepting the result. npm run audit:blog reports
plain Markdown FAQ sections.
npm run extract:blog-footers preserves the extracted previous/next and
similar-post relationships in src/data/blog-footers.json, then removes those
footer fragments from article prose so BlogPostFooter.astro can render them.
Reports And Utilities
Migration reports are stored in reports/.
Useful commands:
npm run crawl:live
npm run generate:sitemap
npm run generate:redirects
npm run audit:links
The live crawl is optional and may fail in restricted network environments.
Forms
Forms are intentionally static and do not submit anywhere. Before production:
- Select a form backend.
- Connect the forms.
- Add spam protection.
- Test validation, confirmation, and failure states.
Troubleshooting
astro: command not found
Dependencies are not installed:
npm install
npm TLS or certificate errors
Do not disable npm certificate verification. Run npm install from a normal
host terminal or trusted development environment with working CA certificates.
Link audit says build output is unavailable
Build first:
npm run build
npm run audit:links
npm run audit:images
npm run audit:blog
A content page is missing
Check:
- its Markdown file is in the correct language/content folder
draftisfalseslugis unique within that language and content type- frontmatter satisfies
src/content.config.ts