# HF Space "Static SDK is not supported" **URL:** **Author:** ![John6666](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/hellohellohello/user_avatar/discuss.huggingface.co/john6666/32/27664_2.png) [@John6666](/static-proxy?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdiscuss.huggingface.co%2Fu%2FJohn6666)%5C **Post date:** [February 7, 2026, 12:16pm UTC](/static-proxy?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdiscuss.huggingface.co%2Ft%2Fhf-space-static-sdk-is-not-supported%2F173178%2F2 "2026-02-07T12:16:31Z") That probably won’t be a problem… Sometimes the cache causes issues; in those cases, you can clear it by making a meaningless change to the `sdk:` line and then reverting it… * * * ## Is it a problem that you don’t have `app_build_command`? No. Static Spaces can work in **either** of these modes: 1. **You commit the built files** (e.g., `dist/`) and set `app_file` to the HTML entrypoint. 2. **Hugging Face builds for you** by running `app_build_command` on every update and then serving the output from a special build ref (`refs/convert/build`). ([Hugging Face](https://huggingface.co/docs/hub/en/spaces-sdks-static "Static HTML Spaces")) So missing `app_build_command` is only a problem if `dist/index.html` is not present (or not where `app_file` points) in the repo revision the Space is serving. * * * ## Why it “worked at first” and then later changed to “Static SDK is not supported” That message is a _configuration-level_ failure. In practice it usually comes from one of these: ### 1) Your README config is not being parsed as Spaces configuration (very common) Spaces only read settings from the **YAML front-matter block at the very top of `README.md`**. ([Hugging Face](https://huggingface.co/docs/hub/en/spaces-config-reference "Spaces Configuration Reference")) If you literally added: ```md sdk: static app_file: dist/index.html ``` …but **not** inside a top-of-file YAML front-matter block, Hugging Face may ignore it and fall back into a “configuration error” state. **What “correct” looks like:** ```md --- sdk: static app_file: dist/index.html --- ``` **Pitfalls that break parsing** - The YAML block is **not the first thing** in the README (badges/text above it). - It’s inside a Markdown code fence (```). - It contains placeholders or invalid YAML. - It was edited later and became malformed. There are public examples where a misconfigured/template README ends up showing the same “Static SDK is not supported” configuration error page. ([Hugging Face](https://huggingface.co/spaces/huggingface/okta-saml-integration-guide "Okta SAML integration guide - a Hugging Face Space by ...")) **Why the delay?** - The Space can appear fine until a rebuild/restart causes Hugging Face to re-evaluate config strictly, or until a platform-side validation change takes effect. * * * ### 2) Your Space is still set to **ZeroGPU** from the old Gradio setup ZeroGPU has a hard constraint: **ZeroGPU Spaces are exclusively compatible with the Gradio SDK** , not static. ([Hugging Face](https://huggingface.co/docs/hub/en/spaces-zerogpu "Spaces ZeroGPU: Dynamic GPU Allocation for Spaces")) **Why the delay?** - It might run briefly (or show cached content), then once the runtime config is enforced/rebuilt it flips into an error state. **Fix** - Space **Settings → Hardware** : switch away from ZeroGPU to a CPU tier (or standard GPU where applicable), then rebuild. * * * ### 3) Dev Mode is enabled **Dev Mode is not available for static Spaces.** ([Hugging Face](https://huggingface.co/docs/hub/en/spaces-dev-mode "Spaces Dev Mode: Seamless development in Spaces")) **Fix** - Space **Settings → Dev Mode** : disable, then rebuild. * * * ### 4) `app_file` path format/validation changed (edge case) A recent “it randomly stopped working” case was caused by `app_file` syntax being slightly off and fixed by changing `./index.html` → `index.html`. ([Hugging Face Forums](/static-proxy?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdiscuss.huggingface.co%2Ft%2Fmy-space-randomly-stopped-working-no-application-file%2F170511 "My space randomly stopped working. "No application file"")) Your `dist/index.html` form is the recommended pattern in the docs, but it’s worth verifying you didn’t accidentally use a leading `./` or `/` in the actual README. ([Hugging Face](https://huggingface.co/docs/hub/en/spaces-sdks-static "Static HTML Spaces")) * * * ### 5) `dist/` is missing (or stale) in the revision being served If you don’t use `app_build_command`, Hugging Face serves whatever is committed. If `dist/index.html` isn’t present (or you pushed a commit without rebuilding locally), you can land in a broken state. **Fix** - In the Space “Files” view, confirm `dist/index.html` exists on the current commit and matches `app_file`. * * * ## What I would do for _your_ case (fastest path) ### Step 1 — Make the README config unquestionably valid Put this **as the first lines** of `README.md` (no text above it): ```md --- sdk: static app_file: dist/index.html --- ``` This is required because Spaces configuration is read from the README YAML block. ([Hugging Face](https://huggingface.co/docs/hub/en/spaces-config-reference "Spaces Configuration Reference")) ### Step 2 — Check Settings for static-incompatible modes - If Hardware is **ZeroGPU** → change to CPU. ([Hugging Face](https://huggingface.co/docs/hub/en/spaces-zerogpu "Spaces ZeroGPU: Dynamic GPU Allocation for Spaces")) - If **Dev Mode** is enabled → disable it. ([Hugging Face](https://huggingface.co/docs/hub/en/spaces-dev-mode "Spaces Dev Mode: Seamless development in Spaces")) ### Step 3 — Verify the entrypoint exists Confirm the repository (current commit) contains: `dist/index.html` and that it loads without needing server-side routing. * * * ## “Should we add `app_build_command` anyway?” It’s optional, but often improves reliability for teams because it prevents “forgot to commit dist” and makes deploys reproducible. Static docs describe this build mode: Hugging Face runs your build command on each update and serves the output from `refs/convert/build`. ([Hugging Face](https://huggingface.co/docs/hub/en/spaces-sdks-static "Static HTML Spaces")) A typical config: ```md --- sdk: static app_build_command: npm ci && npm run build app_file: dist/index.html --- ``` (You can use bun, but the most predictable path is using the toolchain Hugging Face documents directly—`npm run build`—unless you’ve verified bun availability in the build environment.) ([Hugging Face](https://huggingface.co/docs/hub/en/spaces-sdks-static "Static HTML Spaces")) * * * ## Quick checklist mapping to your symptoms - You pasted config **without** `---` front-matter → very likely cause. ([Hugging Face](https://huggingface.co/docs/hub/en/spaces-config-reference "Spaces Configuration Reference")) - Space previously used **ZeroGPU** with Gradio → likely cause. ([Hugging Face](https://huggingface.co/docs/hub/en/spaces-zerogpu "Spaces ZeroGPU: Dynamic GPU Allocation for Spaces")) - Dev Mode enabled during debugging → likely cause. ([Hugging Face](https://huggingface.co/docs/hub/en/spaces-dev-mode "Spaces Dev Mode: Seamless development in Spaces")) - `app_file` format subtly changed (`./…`) → possible. ([Hugging Face Forums](/static-proxy?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdiscuss.huggingface.co%2Ft%2Fmy-space-randomly-stopped-working-no-application-file%2F170511 "My space randomly stopped working. "No application file"")) --- _[View the full topic](/static-proxy?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdiscuss.huggingface.co%2Ft%2Fhf-space-static-sdk-is-not-supported%2F173178)._