---
title: "ssr:beforeRender Hook"
description: "Hook for allowing or canceling an SSR head render before tag resolution begins."
canonical_url: "https://unhead.unjs.io/docs/head/api/hooks/ssr-before-render"
last_updated: "2026-08-11T00:40:00.450Z"
---

The `ssr:beforeRender` hook runs at the start of `head.render()`, before Unhead resolves any tags. Set `ctx.shouldRender` to `false` to return an empty `SSRHeadPayload` and skip the remaining SSR hooks.

## Hook Signature

```ts
export interface Hook {
  'ssr:beforeRender': (ctx: ShouldRenderContext) => HookResult
}

interface ShouldRenderContext {
  shouldRender: boolean
}

type HookResult = void | Promise<void>
```

Although the type permits a promise, the synchronous SSR renderer does not await hook results. Make changes to `ctx` synchronously.

## Usage Example

```ts
import { defineHeadPlugin } from '@unhead/dynamic-import/plugins'

export function conditionalSsrPlugin(shouldRenderHead: () => boolean) {
  return defineHeadPlugin({
    key: 'conditional-ssr',
    hooks: {
      'ssr:beforeRender': (ctx) => {
        ctx.shouldRender = shouldRenderHead()
      }
    }
  })
}
```

If you cache rendered head output, perform the cache lookup outside `head.render()`. Canceling this hook returns an empty payload; it does not substitute cached HTML.