Getting Started with Astro and Starwind UI

Astro is a modern static site builder that delivers fast, content-focused websites. When combined with Starwind UI, you get a powerful combination for building beautiful, performant websites.

Why Astro?

Astro offers several key benefits:

  • Island Architecture: Only ship JavaScript when you need it
  • SSG by Default: Perfect for content-heavy sites
  • Framework Agnostic: Use React, Vue, Svelte, or plain HTML/CSS/JS
  • Excellent Performance: Near-perfect Lighthouse scores out of the box

Setting Up Starwind UI

Starwind UI provides a comprehensive set of components and design tokens that work seamlessly with Astro. Here’s how to get started:

Terminal window
npm create astro@latest my-project
cd my-project
npm install @starwind-ui/astro

Key Features

Design Tokens

Starwind UI uses CSS custom properties for consistent theming:

:root {
  --color-primary: #3b82f6;
  --color-surface: #ffffff;
  --color-text: #1f2937;
}

Component System

Pre-built components for common UI patterns:

  • Cards and layouts
  • Navigation elements
  • Form controls
  • Typography system

Dark Mode Support

Automatic dark/light theme switching with CSS variables.

Best Practices

  1. Use Islands Sparingly: Only make components interactive when necessary
  2. Optimize Images: Use Astro’s built-in image optimization
  3. Lazy Load: Defer non-critical JavaScript
  4. Content Collections: Organize your content with Astro’s content system

Conclusion

Astro + Starwind UI is a powerful combination for building modern websites. The performance benefits of Astro combined with the design system of Starwind UI create an excellent developer experience.

Start building your next project with this stack today!