Server-Side Rendering Is the Only Reliable Way to Generate Dynamic OG Images

Open Graph (OG) images are the 1200×630 preview cards that appear when URLs are shared on platforms like X, LinkedIn, and Slack, and dynamic versions can significantly improve click-through rates. Client-side generation tools fail for this purpose because social media scrapers such as Twitterbot and LinkedInBot do not execute JavaScript, meaning client-rendered images are invisible to them. Developers have two viable server-side options: a self-hosted stack using tools like satori and sharp to convert JSX into PNG, or a managed API service that handles rendering, caching, and delivery automatically. The DIY approach offers full control but requires ongoing maintenance of fonts, concurrency, and edge cases, while managed APIs trade cost for reduced engineering overhead. A production-ready OG image pipeline should accept simple GET requests with query parameters, since social scrapers cannot process POST bodies or authentication headers.