Flat-File Architecture
A site whose content lives in structured files rather than a database, making every change readable, diffable, and reversible.
In a flat-file site, content is stored as structured files, typically JSON, and rendered by a thin PHP layer. There is no database to maintain, migrate, or back up separately.
Every change is a file change you can read, diff, and revert.
This is not the right architecture for everything. Sites needing user accounts, transactions, or heavy dynamic personalization want a database. For content-driven sites it removes an entire category of maintenance and makes AI-assisted work substantially more reliable.