Hybrid architecture: static reads + Solid writes

[melvincarvalho]

Summary

Support a hybrid architecture where read-only static servers handle discovery/browsing, and Solid (or WebDAV) servers handle writes.

Architecture

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                      READS                          │
│  Static hosting / CDN / regular web servers         │
│  (HTML + data islands, read-only, fast, cached)     │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
                         │
                    discovery
                         │
                         ▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                      WRITES                         │
│  Solid server (or WebDAV)                           │
│  (auth, permissions, persistence)                   │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Benefits

• Reads scale infinitely - CDN, static hosting, cached at edge
• Public discovery is cheap - no server-side logic needed
• Only writes need infrastructure - Solid pod for auth/persistence
• Graceful degradation - no Solid server? Still browsable as read-only
• Separation of concerns - display vs. storage

Implementation Ideas

Option 1: Link header in HTML

<link rel="solid-storage" href="https://pod.example/profile">

solidos-lite reads locally, writes to linked Solid pod.

Option 2: Data attribute

<script type="text/turtle" data-writable="https://pod.example/profile.ttl">
...
</script>

Option 3: Same-origin detection

• If same-origin and writable → write directly
• If cross-origin or read-only → look for alternate write location
• Fall back to read-only mode

Use Cases

1. Public profile on GitHub Pages → writes go to personal Solid pod
2. Cached CDN copy → writes go to origin server
3. Archived/historical data → read-only, no write target
4. Collaborative editing → multiple read replicas, single write primary

Considerations

• Need CORS or proxy for cross-origin writes
• Auth flow for Solid pod (WebID-OIDC)
• Sync/freshness between read replica and write primary
• UI indication of read-only vs. writable mode

Related

• Support write operations (PUT/PATCH) for data islands #1 - Write operations support
• WebDAV backend for persistence #2 - WebDAV backend for persistence