--- url: https://lit-ui-router.dev/guides/server.md description: >- Where to start with server-side routing - what the router decides for a request, whether the server renders the page, and which host serves it --- # Server-Side Overview Three choices place an app on the server: the **verdict** the router gives a request, how much of the page the server **renders**, and the **host** that serves it. [`ui-router-server`](/packages/ui-router-server) owns the verdict and the hosts; [`lit-ui-router-ssr`](/packages/lit-ui-router-ssr) owns the render. Pick one of each, then follow the row in [Find your combination](#find-your-combination). ## Verdict What the router decides for a request from its url alone, before any of the app's code runs. [The verdict](/packages/ui-router-server#the-verdict) lists the shapes; [which decides when](/packages/lit-ui-router-ssr#page-response-state-or-redirect-which-decides-when) covers the answers a transition changes later. | Answer | Declared as | Read | | -------------- | ------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Page | a state with a url | [Server-Side Routing](./server-route-matching#the-verdict) | | Redirect | a pattern rule in `redirects`, or a `redirectTo` | [Redirects: data until they need code](./server-route-matching#redirects-data-until-they-need-code) | | 404 | no matching state, or the mount's `otherwise` | [Real 404s, per mount](./server-route-matching#real-404s-per-mount), [Unmatched URLs](./unmatched-urls) | | Response state | `response: true` and a host handler | [Response states](/packages/ui-router-server#response-states) | | Delegate | `delegate` and a host handler | [Delegating states](/packages/ui-router-server#delegating-states) | ## Render What the server sends for a page verdict. * **None.** The server answers with the app's shell and the client renders the page. The verdict still sets the status, so a typo gets a real 404: [Server-Side Routing](./server-route-matching). * **Static prerender.** The build writes one HTML page per route, a 404 page and the host's redirect rules, and the client adopts the served page: [Prerender with Vite](./prerender-with-vite), [Prerender with Eleventy](./prerender-with-eleventy). * **Server render with hydration.** A host renders each request's page with [`renderToString`](/packages/lit-ui-router-ssr#rendering-one-page-per-request), and the client wakes it under [the hydration model](/packages/lit-ui-router-ssr#the-hydration-model). ## Host The runtime or framework that serves the request. Each host is an entry point of `ui-router-server`. | Host | Entry point | Read | | -------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Fetch runtimes: Workers, Deno, Bun | [`ui-router-server/fetch`](/reference/ui-router-server/fetch/) | [fetch](/packages/ui-router-server#fetch-—-the-edge) | | Hono | [`ui-router-server/hono`](/reference/ui-router-server/hono/) | [hono](/packages/ui-router-server#hono) | | Connect and Express | [`ui-router-server/connect`](/reference/ui-router-server/connect/) | [connect](/packages/ui-router-server#connect-—-node-servers) | | `vite dev` and `vite preview` | [`ui-router-server/vite`](/reference/ui-router-server/vite/) | [vite](/packages/ui-router-server#vite-—-dev-prod-parity) | | A static host, from the build's output | [`ui-router-server/prerender`](/reference/ui-router-server/prerender/) | [Emitting a static site](/packages/ui-router-server#emitting-a-static-site) | ## Find your combination | Render | Host | Start with | Working code | | ---------------- | -------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | None | Workers | [Server-Side Routing](./server-route-matching) | This site's [docs worker](https://github.com/simshanith/lit-ui-router/blob/main/www/lit-ui-router.dev/worker/index.ts), serving the [sample app mounts](./server-route-matching#live-on-this-site) | | None | `vite dev`, `vite preview` | [vite](/packages/ui-router-server#vite-—-dev-prod-parity) | This site's [`vite.config.ts`](https://github.com/simshanith/lit-ui-router/blob/main/www/lit-ui-router.dev/.vitepress/vite.config.ts) | | None | Hono, Connect | [Adapters](/packages/ui-router-server#adapters) | | | Static prerender | Vite build | [Prerender with Vite](./prerender-with-vite) | [`hellosolarsystem-ssr`](https://github.com/simshanith/lit-ui-router/tree/main/examples/hellosolarsystem-ssr); [The Altitude Atlas](https://atlas.lit-ui-router.dev), prerendered and hydrated | | Static prerender | Eleventy | [Prerender with Eleventy](./prerender-with-eleventy) | [`hellosolarsystem-eleventy`](https://github.com/simshanith/lit-ui-router/tree/main/examples/hellosolarsystem-eleventy) | | Server render | Workers | [Rendering one page per request](/packages/lit-ui-router-ssr#rendering-one-page-per-request) | This site's [release pages](https://github.com/simshanith/lit-ui-router/blob/main/www/lit-ui-router.dev/worker/releases/serve.ts), rendered per request without hydration | This site is the working code for the Workers rows; [How this site runs](/site/) describes its worker, the release ledger and the release pages. The API references for both packages are at [`/reference/ui-router-server/`](/reference/ui-router-server/) and [`/reference/lit-ui-router-ssr/`](/reference/lit-ui-router-ssr/).