When should a CMS use static output, an embed, or a mirror endpoint for publishing content?

Choose the deployment mode based on control, crawlability, update frequency, and operational risk rather than using one mode everywhere.

Static output is best when you can write files to the destination server and content changes are not second-by-second. It gives you predictable HTML, simple caching, direct crawlability, and low runtime dependency. The tradeoff is that publishing requires a build/sync step and stale files must be managed.

An embed is useful when you cannot control the host application but can add a script or container. It is the fastest integration path, but you must verify that the host route, canonical URL, metadata, and rendered content are search-friendly. Do not assume an embed that looks correct to users is equivalent to native server output.

A mirror or server-side proxy is useful when the client domain should own the URL while CMSPost remains the content source. This can preserve first-party URLs and server-rendered output, but routing, caching, origin failures, and header handling become operational concerns.

Use a decision table:
- Need maximum crawl reliability and server control: static.
- No backend access, only page/script access: embed.
- Need first-party dynamic URLs with server routing control: mirror/proxy.

For every mode, test direct URL requests, canonical tags, status codes, metadata, structured data, sitemap inclusion, cache invalidation, and failure behavior. Deployment mode should be an implementation detail; the public URL and search signals should remain consistent.