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Netlify is a CDN/static hosting provider with integrated build service, useful for static site generators.

Netlify provides continuous deployment of static sites (example, built using hugo, and provides hosting for those too. The condition is that all site content has to be purely static.. so no scripts running on their server.

How to

Here's a typical flow for deploying sites through Netlify:

Assuming that the user has already linked their online git repo (like GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket) with their Netlify account,

1. User commits changes to the git repo holding the source of their static site.
2. Netlify receive that commit ping, and triggers a fresh build of the user's site using that latest commit.
3. Netlify deploys that site at the domain the user configured.

Limitations

As Netlify needs the served sites to be 100% static, they cannot run any script (PHP, etc.) to serve as an endpoint for Webmention, micropub, etc., endpoints for such Netlify-hosted sites need to be hosted separately somewhere else.

However, Netlify does offer a serverless functions platform called Functions which https://piperswe.me/ has written about using for Serverless Indieauth at https://piperswe.me/posts/serverless-indieauth/ (Archive). They also have an early-access feature to build individual pages on-demand for sites with large numbers of pages.

  Jamie Tanna has https://micropub-media-endpoint-proxy.netlify.com/ which is a service to allow uploading files directly to the media endpoint, which uses Netlify Functions for proxying the request to the user's media endpoint.

Related Tools

• jekyll-netlify-headers - Ruby gem for generating a Netlify headers configuration from a Jekyll configuration
• jekyll-netlify-redirects - Ruby gem for generating a Netlify redirects configuration from a Jekyll configuration
• https://github.com/joshers/micropub - A serverless Micropub server that accepts CREATE, UPDATE, and DELETE requests, designed to run on Netlify and integrate with static site generators such as Eleventy and Hugo.
• netlify-plugin-webmentions Netlify build plugin to send webmentions.
• lilypad: serverless micropub endpoint - A serverless Micropub and Media endpoint that integrates with GitHub or GitLab to commit changes to your site's repo.
• marshmallow: serverless webmentions - A serverless webmention receiver that uses Netlify Blobs to store webmention data.
• barnacle: serverless indieauth - A serverless IndieAuth authorization and token endpoint.

IndieWeb Examples

• Kaushal Modi uses GitLab + hugo + Netlify for his homepage.
• Jason Garber uses GitHub, Jekyll, and Netlify for hosting several static websites.
• Ryan Johnson uses GitLab + hugo + Netlify for his homepage.
•   Jamie Tanna uses GitLab Hugo and Netlify for www.jvt.me
•   Jamie Tanna created https://micropub-media-endpoint-proxy.netlify.com/ which is a service to allow uploading files directly to the media endpoint, which uses Netlify Functions
• Robert van Bregt uses GitHub + Hugo + Netlify for his personal domain.
•  Anthony Ciccarello uses GitHub + Eleventy + Netlify for his personal domain.
• Murray uses Netlify to host several microsites, including their personal domain, using various SSGs.
• benji uses GitHub + Eleventy + Netlify for his personal domain.

Criticism

• Will disable your account on anyone's whim request regardless of no legal justification and then require you to jump through multi-week hoops to attempt to restore the site. https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/10/sorry-gas-companies-parody-isnt-infringement-even-if-it-creeps-you-out

Resolved

• Netlify used to come under criticism for predatory billing practices. However, as of 11th Dec 2024, Netlify now offers a "Free Plan", which caps all spending limits at $0 and no longer requires a credit card for registration. Upgrading to the "Starter Plan" can be done at any time, which re-enables the "scaling" features that can cost money, but if you stay on Free then there should no longer be any concerns with sudden, unexpected bills. See: https://www.netlify.com/blog/introducing-netlify-free-plan/
  • Example of original criticism (Feb 2024): billed $100k and given no recourse until the CEO took notice

See Also

• Netlify CMS
• https://www.netlify.com/docs/functions/ they now offer some kind of management layer for AWS Lambda functions.
• Has a drag & drop way to setup hosting for a new website from a folder of static files that came from your SSG of choice: https://app.netlify.com/drop

• Domains & Hosting
• stubs