If you're using Astro as a static site builder—its behavior out of the box—you don't need an adapter.
If you wish to [use server-side rendering (SSR)](https://docs.astro.build/en/guides/server-side-rendering/), Astro requires an adapter that matches your deployment runtime.
[Node.js](https://nodejs.org/en/) is a JavaScript runtime for server-side code. @astrojs/node can be used either in standalone mode or as middleware for other http servers, such as [Express](https://expressjs.com/).
Add the Node adapter to enable SSR in your Astro project with the following `astro add` command. This will install the adapter and make the appropriate changes to your `astro.config.mjs` file in one step.
1. Install the Node adapter to your project’s dependencies using your preferred package manager. If you’re using npm or aren’t sure, run this in the terminal:
-`standalone` mode builds to server that automatically starts with the entry module is run. This allows you to more easily deploy your build to a host without any additional code.
First, [performing a build](https://docs.astro.build/en/guides/deploy/#building-your-site-locally). Depending on which `mode` selected (see above) follow the appropriate steps below:
The server entrypoint is built to `./dist/server/entry.mjs` by default. This module exports a `handler` function that can be used with any framework that supports the Node `request` and `response` objects.
Note that middleware mode does not do file serving. You'll need to configure your HTTP framework to do that for you. By default the client assets are written to `./dist/client/`.
By default the standalone server uses HTTP. This works well if you have a proxy server in front of it that does HTTPS. If you need the standalone server to run HTTPS itself you need to provide your SSL key and certificate.
You can pass the path to your key and certification via the environment variables `SERVER_CERT_PATH` and `SERVER_KEY_PATH`. This is how you might pass them in bash:
You may see this when running the entry script if it was built with npm or Yarn. This is a [known issue](https://github.com/withastro/astro/issues/4974) that will be fixed in a future release. As a workaround, add `"path-to-regexp"` to the `noExternal` array:
```js title="astro.config.mjs" ins={8-12}
import { defineConfig } from 'astro/config';
import node from "@astrojs/node";
export default defineConfig({
output: "server",
adapter: node(),
vite: {
ssr: {
noExternal: ["path-to-regexp"]
}
}
});
```
For more help, check out the `#support` channel on [Discord](https://astro.build/chat). Our friendly Support Squad members are here to help!