PaulKinlan/vercel-ssi

'Simulates' Apaches mod_include for Vercel.

• <!--#include file="test.txt" -->

• <!--#include virtual="/api/time.js" -->

Why?

I run a static site, it's built with Hugo and hosted on the Edge with Vercel. Sometimes, I just want to include a small piece of server-side logic (Copyright notice anyone?) without having to spin up a complex node server or api endpoints. Sometimes I want to be able to drop a small piece of dynamic content in one single page on my static site.

That's what I loved about Apache mod_include. mod_include let's you drop a special formatted HTML comment in to your HTML template and Apache server would then 'include' the output of the command in your outputted HTML.

When I was a perl monger, I really only ever used 'file' (for template building) and 'virtual' for integrating some dynamic content.

How does it work?

It's not automatic, you have to have a the ssi.js file in your API directory and you have to have a rewrite setup that directs all requests to the ssi.js function.

Note: File's in /public are automatically edge cached by Vercel and won't be able to be intercepted (it seems).

• The file command will pull a file from your uploaded output.
• The virtual command simply will http-fetch the /api that is in your project. /api/ is the new /cgi-bin/...

What to watch out for

You will want to make sure caching is properly enabled because you really don't want to have to execute functions just for every single page view. Ideally, you still want to get your 'static' pages to the edge.