---
title: "Zero Runtime"
description: "Generate sitemaps at build time without runtime overhead."
canonical_url: "https://nuxtseo.com/docs/sitemap/guides/zero-runtime"
last_updated: "2026-05-12T23:52:03.580Z"
---

If your sitemap URLs only change when you deploy, you don't need to ship sitemap generation code to production. The `zeroRuntime` option generates sitemaps at build time and tree-shakes the generation code from your server bundle.

## Usage

To enable zero runtime, add the following to your config:

```ts [nuxt.config.ts]
export default defineNuxtConfig({
  sitemap: {
    zeroRuntime: true
  }
})
```

When enabled, the module will automatically add `/sitemap.xml` to your prerender routes. The sitemap will be generated during build and served as a static file at runtime.

## How it Works

With `zeroRuntime: true`:

1. Sitemap routes are automatically added to `nitro.prerender.routes`
2. Server handlers use dynamic imports gated by `import.meta.prerender`
3. At build time, the sitemap generation code is tree-shaken from the runtime bundle
4. Static XML files are served directly without any sitemap code execution

## Development Mode

Zero runtime mode still works in development (`nuxt dev`). The sitemap generation code runs normally during development so you can test your configuration.

## Benchmarks

Enabling `zeroRuntime` reduces the server bundle by approximately:

- **~50KB** uncompressed
- **~5KB** gzip

This is the sitemap generation code (XML building, URL normalization, source fetching) being tree-shaken from the bundle.

## Limitations

- Runtime sitemap generation is not available - sitemaps are only generated during build
- Dynamic data sources that require runtime fetching won't work
- Debug endpoints are disabled in zero runtime mode

## When to Use

Zero runtime is ideal when:

- Your pages only change when you commit and deploy
- You're using `nuxt generate` for a fully static site
- You want to minimize your server bundle size for edge/serverless

## When Not to Use

Avoid zero runtime when:

- Your CMS updates content without redeploying
- You have user-generated content that changes frequently
- Your sitemap URLs depend on runtime data