upgrade deps to latest & migrate to astro:assets Image

- bump astro 5→6, @astrojs/mdx 4→6, astro-seo 0.8→1.1, sharp 0.33→0.35, plus minor updates
- move local images from public/ to src/assets/
- replace <img> with <Image> from astro:assets (inferSize for remote URLs)
- content schema uses image() helper for local covers
- eager-load above-the-fold images (article covers, hero avatars)

astro.config.mjs

@@ -7,6 +7,14 @@ import icon from "astro-icon";
 export default defineConfig({
   site: "https://mariosant.dev",
   integrations: [mdx(), sitemap(), icon()],
+  image: {
+    domains: [
+      "images.unsplash.com",
+      "app.ghostwriter.rocks",
+      "990141.apps.zdusercontent.com",
+      "cdn.livechat-files.com",
+    ],
+  },
   vite: {
     plugins: [tailwindcss()],
   },

package.json

@@ -11,20 +11,20 @@
     "astro": "astro"
   },
   "dependencies": {
-    "@astrojs/mdx": "^4.2.0",
-    "@astrojs/rss": "^4.0.11",
-    "@astrojs/sitemap": "^3.2.1",
-    "@fontsource-variable/inter": "^5.2.5",
-    "@iconify-json/heroicons": "^1.2.1",
+    "@astrojs/mdx": "^6.0.3",
+    "@astrojs/rss": "^4.0.18",
+    "@astrojs/sitemap": "^3.7.3",
+    "@fontsource-variable/inter": "^5.2.8",
+    "@iconify-json/heroicons": "^1.2.3",
     "@iconify-json/hugeicons": "^1.2.29",
-    "@iconify-json/mynaui": "^1.2.5",
-    "@iconify-json/simple-icons": "^1.2.28",
-    "@tailwindcss/typography": "^0.5.16",
-    "@tailwindcss/vite": "^4.0.14",
-    "astro": "^5.5.2",
+    "@iconify-json/mynaui": "^1.2.17",
+    "@iconify-json/simple-icons": "^1.2.86",
+    "@tailwindcss/typography": "^0.5.20",
+    "@tailwindcss/vite": "^4.3.1",
+    "astro": "^6.4.7",
     "astro-icon": "^1.1.5",
-    "astro-seo": "^0.8.4",
-    "sharp": "^0.33.5",
-    "tailwindcss": "^4.0.14"
+    "astro-seo": "^1.1.0",
+    "sharp": "^0.35.1",
+    "tailwindcss": "^4.3.1"
   }
 }

src/components/home/been-working-with.astro

@@ -1,5 +1,10 @@
 ---
 import PreviousRole from "@/components/previous-role.astro";
+import lateralusLogo from "@/assets/lateralus-logo.jpeg";
+import celonisLogo from "@/assets/celonis-logo.webp";
+import lensesLogo from "@/assets/lenses-logo.webp";
+import theChatShopLogo from "@/assets/thechatshop-logo.jpg";
+import commversionLogo from "@/assets/commversion-logo.webp";
 ---
 
 <section class="flex flex-col gap-5 p-4 sm:p-6 lg:p-8 max-w-3xl mx-auto w-full">
@@ -7,7 +12,7 @@ import PreviousRole from "@/components/previous-role.astro";
 
   <PreviousRole
     company="Lateralus Ventures"
-    logo="/lateralus-logo.jpeg"
+    logo={lateralusLogo}
     href="https://lateralus.ventures"
   >
     Frontend work on Ask Chief, building interfaces for AI-powered products that needed to feel simple
@@ -16,7 +21,7 @@ import PreviousRole from "@/components/previous-role.astro";
 
   <PreviousRole
     company="Celonis"
-    logo="/celonis-logo.webp"
+    logo={celonisLogo}
     href="https://celonis.com"
   >
     Building out analytical interfaces for OCPM, a shared component library, and tooling that made it
@@ -25,21 +30,21 @@ import PreviousRole from "@/components/previous-role.astro";
 
   <PreviousRole
     company="Lenses.io"
-    logo="/lenses-logo.webp"
+    logo={lensesLogo}
     href="https://lenses.io"
   >
     Product interfaces for SQL Processors and Data Catalog, a shared component library, and developer
     tooling including the CLI.
   </PreviousRole>
 
-  <PreviousRole company="The Chat Shop" logo="/thechatshop-logo.jpg">
+  <PreviousRole company="The Chat Shop" logo={theChatShopLogo}>
     Streaming data infrastructure built from scratch, along with a processing pipeline that kept delivery
     running reliably at scale.
   </PreviousRole>
 
   <PreviousRole
     company="Commversion"
-    logo="/commversion-logo.webp"
+    logo={commversionLogo}
     href="https://commversion.com"
   >
     Customer delivery platform and its public-facing side, plus InstantConnect, taken from design through

src/components/home/introduction.astro

@@ -1,16 +1,18 @@
 ---
+import { Image } from "astro:assets";
 import Button from "@/components/button.astro";
 import Link from "@/components/link.astro";
+import mariosant from "@/assets/mariosant.webp";
 ---
 
 <header class="flex flex-col md:gap-12 gap-5 p-4 sm:p-6 lg:p-8 max-w-3xl mx-auto w-full">
   <div class="flex items-center justify-between">
     <a href="/" aria-label="Home">
-      <img
+      <Image
+        src={mariosant}
         alt="Marios Antonoudiou"
-        src="/mariosant.webp"
-        width="64"
-        height="64"
+        width={64}
+        height={64}
         class="w-16 h-16 rounded-full border border-gray-200 dark:border-gray-800 dark:bg-slate-300 block"
         loading="eager"
       />

src/components/home/latest-article.astro

@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 ---
+import { Image } from "astro:assets";
 import { getCollection } from "astro:content";
 import { formatDoMMMMYYYY } from "@/utils/date";
 
@@ -12,7 +13,10 @@ if (!article) {
 }
 
 const cover = article.data.coverImage;
-const coverUrl = cover.url.replace("w=1287&h=600", "w=300&h=300");
+const isRemote = typeof cover.url === "string";
+const coverSrc = isRemote
+  ? cover.url.replace("w=1287&h=600", "w=300&h=300")
+  : cover.url;
 
 const body = (article.body ?? "").trim();
 const excerpt = body.length > 150 ? `${body.slice(0, 150)}…` : body;
@@ -30,10 +34,11 @@ const excerpt = body.length > 150 ? `${body.slice(0, 150)}…` : body;
     <div class="flex gap-6 items-start flex-row-reverse">
       {
         cover.url && (
-          <img
+          <Image
             class="w-24 h-24 object-cover rounded-lg shrink-0"
-            src={coverUrl}
+            src={coverSrc}
             alt={article.data.title}
+            inferSize={isRemote}
             loading="lazy"
           />
         )

src/components/previous-role.astro

@@ -1,28 +1,37 @@
 ---
+import { Image, type ImageMetadata } from "astro:assets";
+
 export interface Props {
-  logo: string;
+  logo: ImageMetadata | string;
   href?: string;
   company: string;
 }
 
 const { logo, href, company } = Astro.props;
+const isRemote = typeof logo === "string";
 ---
 
 <div class="flex gap-5">
   {
     href ? (
       <a href={href} target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="block shrink-0">
-        <img
+        <Image
           src={logo}
           alt={company}
+          inferSize={isRemote}
+          width={isRemote ? undefined : 50}
+          height={isRemote ? undefined : 50}
           class="block rounded min-w-[50px] w-[50px] h-[50px] object-contain bg-white"
           loading="lazy"
         />
       </a>
     ) : (
-      <img
+      <Image
         src={logo}
         alt={company}
+        inferSize={isRemote}
+        width={isRemote ? undefined : 50}
+        height={isRemote ? undefined : 50}
         class="block rounded min-w-[50px] w-[50px] h-[50px] object-contain bg-white shrink-0"
         loading="lazy"
       />

src/components/project.astro

@@ -1,18 +1,24 @@
 ---
+import { Image, type ImageMetadata } from "astro:assets";
+
 export interface Props {
   title: string;
-  image: string;
+  image: ImageMetadata | string;
   url: string;
 }
 
 const { title, image, url } = Astro.props;
+const isRemote = typeof image === "string";
 ---
 
 <div class="flex overflow-auto gap-x-5 md:gap-2 items-center md:items-start md:flex-col md:border md:rounded-lg md:border-gray-200 md:p-4 md:dark:border-slate-600">
   <a href={url} target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="shrink-0">
-    <img
+    <Image
       src={image}
       alt={title}
+      inferSize={isRemote}
+      width={isRemote ? undefined : 64}
+      height={isRemote ? undefined : 64}
       class="block min-w-[50px] w-[50px] md:w-16 h-[50px] md:h-16 object-contain bg-white rounded"
       loading="lazy"
     />

src/components/top-nav.astro

@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 ---
+import { Image } from "astro:assets";
 import Link from "@/components/link.astro";
+import mariosant from "@/assets/mariosant.webp";
 
 const path = Astro.url.pathname;
 const isHome = path === "/" || path === "";
@@ -9,11 +11,11 @@ const isArticles = path === "/articles" || path.startsWith("/articles/");
 <div class="sticky top-0 z-10 border-b border-gray-200 dark:border-slate-600 bg-white/85 dark:bg-slate-800/90 backdrop-blur-sm">
   <nav class="grid grid-cols-2 items-center gap-3 !py-2 max-w-3xl mx-auto w-full p-4 sm:p-6 lg:p-8">
     <Link href="/" class="flex gap-3 items-center" variant="default">
-      <img
+      <Image
+        src={mariosant}
         alt="Marios Antonoudiou"
-        src="/mariosant.webp"
-        width="40"
-        height="40"
+        width={40}
+        height={40}
         class="w-10 h-10 rounded-full border border-gray-200 dark:border-gray-800 dark:bg-slate-300 block"
         loading="eager"
       />

src/content.config.ts

@@ -3,16 +3,17 @@ import { glob } from "astro/loaders";
 
 const articles = defineCollection({
   loader: glob({ pattern: "**/*.md", base: "./src/content/articles" }),
-  schema: z.object({
-    title: z.string(),
-    date: z.coerce.date(),
-    description: z.string().optional(),
-    coverImage: z.object({
-      author: z.string(),
-      authorUrl: z.string().url().optional(),
-      url: z.string(),
+  schema: ({ image }) =>
+    z.object({
+      title: z.string(),
+      date: z.coerce.date(),
+      description: z.string().optional(),
+      coverImage: z.object({
+        author: z.string(),
+        authorUrl: z.string().url().optional(),
+        url: z.union([image(), z.string().url()]),
+      }),
     }),
-  }),
 });
 
 export const collections = { articles };

src/content/articles/2025-09-15-smooth-scrolling.md

@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ title: Smooth Scrolling in Agentic Chat Interfaces
 date: 2025-09-15
 coverImage:
   author: mariosant
-  url: "/agentic-ui.png"
+  url: "../../assets/agentic-ui.png"
 ---
 
 When building conversational UIs, small interaction details can make a huge difference in how natural the experience feels. Recently, while working on an agentic chat interface, I ran into a deceptively simple requirement:

src/pages/articles/[...slug].astro

@@ -1,10 +1,11 @@
 ---
+import { Image } from "astro:assets";
 import { getCollection, render } from "astro:content";
 import Layout from "@/layouts/Layout.astro";
 import Link from "@/components/link.astro";
 import Button from "@/components/button.astro";
 import { formatDoMMMMYYYY } from "@/utils/date";
-import { articleJsonLd, breadcrumbJsonLd, deriveDescription } from "@/utils/seo";
+import { articleJsonLd, breadcrumbJsonLd, deriveDescription, imageSrc } from "@/utils/seo";
 
 export async function getStaticPaths() {
   const articles = await getCollection("articles");
@@ -17,7 +18,8 @@ export async function getStaticPaths() {
 const { entry } = Astro.props;
 const { Content } = await render(entry);
 const cover = entry.data.coverImage;
-const showCover = Boolean(cover?.url);
+const isRemote = typeof cover.url === "string";
+const showCover = isRemote ? Boolean(cover.url) : true;
 const description = entry.data.description ?? deriveDescription(entry.body ?? "");
 ---
 
@@ -25,7 +27,7 @@ const description = entry.data.description ?? deriveDescription(entry.body ?? ""
   title={entry.data.title}
   description={description}
   ogType="article"
-  ogImage={cover.url}
+  ogImage={imageSrc(cover.url)}
   ogImageAlt={entry.data.title}
   jsonLd={[articleJsonLd(entry), breadcrumbJsonLd(entry)]}
 >
@@ -48,13 +50,12 @@ const description = entry.data.description ?? deriveDescription(entry.body ?? ""
   {
     showCover && (
       <figure class="hidden md:block max-w-3xl p-4 sm:p-6 lg:p-8 mx-auto w-full">
-        <img
+        <Image
           src={cover.url}
           alt={entry.data.title}
-          height="1000"
-          width="1700"
+          inferSize={isRemote}
           class="rounded-lg w-full h-auto"
-          loading="lazy"
+          loading="eager"
         />
         {cover.authorUrl && (
           <a

src/pages/articles/index.astro

@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 ---
+import { Image } from "astro:assets";
 import { getCollection } from "astro:content";
 import Layout from "@/layouts/Layout.astro";
 import { formatDoMMMMYYYY } from "@/utils/date";
@@ -20,14 +21,18 @@ const articles = (await getCollection("articles")).sort(
 
   <section class="grid grid-cols-12 gap-8 max-w-3xl p-4 sm:p-6 lg:p-8 mx-auto w-full">
     {
-      articles.map((article) => (
+      articles.map((article, index) => {
+        const url = article.data.coverImage.url;
+        const isRemote = typeof url === "string";
+        return (
         <article class="col-span-12 md:col-span-6 border border-gray-200 dark:border-slate-600 rounded-lg overflow-hidden !p-0">
           <a href={`/articles/${article.id}`} class="block cursor-pointer">
-            <img
+            <Image
               class="w-full h-48 object-cover"
-              src={article.data.coverImage.url}
+              src={url}
               alt={article.data.title}
-              loading="lazy"
+              inferSize={isRemote}
+              loading={index < 2 ? "eager" : "lazy"}
             />
           </a>
           <div class="grid gap-4 p-4 md:p-6">
@@ -52,7 +57,8 @@ const articles = (await getCollection("articles")).sort(
             </div>
           </div>
         </article>
-      ))
+        );
+      })
     }
   </section>
 </Layout>

src/pages/rss.xml.ts

@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 import rss from "@astrojs/rss";
 import { getCollection } from "astro:content";
-import { SITE_URL } from "@/utils/seo";
-import { deriveDescription } from "@/utils/seo";
+import { SITE_URL, imageSrc, deriveDescription } from "@/utils/seo";
 import type { APIContext } from "astro";
 
 export async function GET(context: APIContext) {
@@ -22,7 +21,7 @@ export async function GET(context: APIContext) {
       content: undefined,
       author: "mariosant@sent.com (Marios Antonoudiou)",
       categories: [],
-      customData: `<enclosure url="${new URL(entry.data.coverImage.url, context.site ?? SITE_URL).toString()}" type="image/jpeg" />`,
+      customData: `<enclosure url="${new URL(imageSrc(entry.data.coverImage.url), context.site ?? SITE_URL).toString()}" type="image/jpeg" />`,
     })),
     customData: `<language>en-us</language>`,
     stylesheet: false,

src/utils/seo.ts

@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import type { CollectionEntry } from "astro:content";
+import type { ImageMetadata } from "astro:assets";
 
 export const SITE_URL = "https://mariosant.dev";
 export const TWITTER_HANDLE = "@marios_ant";
@@ -42,6 +43,9 @@ export const deriveDescription = (body: string, max = 155): string => {
 
 type ArticleEntry = CollectionEntry<"articles">;
 
+export const imageSrc = (img: ImageMetadata | string): string =>
+  typeof img === "string" ? img : img.src;
+
 export const personJsonLd = (): string =>
   JSON.stringify({
     "@context": "https://schema.org",
@@ -62,7 +66,7 @@ export const articleJsonLd = (entry: ArticleEntry): string => {
     "@type": "Article",
     headline: entry.data.title,
     description,
-    image: entry.data.coverImage.url,
+    image: imageSrc(entry.data.coverImage.url),
     datePublished: entry.data.date.toISOString(),
     author: {
       "@id": PERSON_ID,