Jamstack

JAMstack is a web development architecture that emphasizes decoupled frontend delivery and accelerated performance. The acronym stands for JavaScript, APIs, and Markup. In a JAMstack setup, pages are often pre-built as markup at deploy time and served from a content delivery network, rather than generated on the fly by a traditional server.

Interactive features are implemented with client-side JavaScript and by calling third-party APIs. Backend logic and data storage may be provided by serverless functions or microservices, but the main delivery path remains static markup accompanied by dynamic functionality on the client.

Pipelines commonly use static site generators (for example Gatsby, Hugo, Next.js in static export mode, Jekyll), headless or decoupled content management systems, and a collection of API services. The architecture favors a fully decoupled workflow, enabling independent scaling of the frontend and backend layers and deployment via CDNs.

Origin and reception: the term was popularized by Mathias Biilmann of Netlify around 2015–2016. Advocates point to improved performance, security, and scalability, while critics note potential build-time bottlenecks for large sites, reliance on external APIs, and added complexity in development and caching strategies. Overall, JAMstack is presented as a methodology that aims to separate concerns between content, presentation, and behavior, leveraging modern tooling to deliver fast, secure web experiences.