How to Implement SSR with SolidJS 2 and Express 5

Server-side rendering (SSR) improves SEO, initial load performance, and accessibility by rendering application markup on the server before sending it to the client. SolidJS 2’s lightweight reactive model pairs perfectly with Express 5’s modern async/await support and simplified middleware for fast, scalable SSR setups. This guide walks through a complete implementation from scratch.

Prerequisites

Node.js v20 or later (required for Express 5’s native fetch and async features)

Basic familiarity with SolidJS components and Express routing

npm or yarn package manager

Step 1: Initialize the Project

Create a new directory and initialize a Node.js project:

mkdir solid-ssr-express && cd solid-ssr-express npm init -y

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Install core dependencies:

npm install solid-js@2 @solidjs/router@2 @solidjs/ssr express@5

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Install dev dependencies for building and transpilation:

npm…