diff --git a/src/lib/astro/astro.test.ts b/src/lib/astro/astro.test.ts
index 4d0d0ecdf..4d49429ee 100644
--- a/src/lib/astro/astro.test.ts
+++ b/src/lib/astro/astro.test.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,17 @@
-import { test, expect } from 'vitest'
+import { test, expect, afterEach, beforeEach, vi } from 'vitest'
 import { getPostsByTag, getAllTags } from '.'
 import { sortPosts } from './sortPosts'
+import * as indexModule from './index'
+
+let getAllPostsSpy: any
+
+beforeEach(() => {
+  getAllPostsSpy = vi.spyOn(indexModule, 'getAllPosts')
+})
+
+afterEach(() => {
+  getAllPostsSpy.mockRestore()
+})
 
 test('sortPosts sorts posts by date in descending order', () => {
   const posts = [
@@ -8,6 +19,10 @@ test('sortPosts sorts posts by date in descending order', () => {
     { data: { date: '2022-01-03' } },
     { data: { date: '2022-01-02' } }
   ] as any
+
+  getAllPostsSpy.mockImplementationOnce(() => Promise.resolve(posts))
+
+  // getAllPostsSpy = vi.spyOn(getAllPosts, async () => posts)
   const sortedPosts = sortPosts(posts)
   expect(sortedPosts[0].data.date).toStrictEqual('2022-01-03')
   expect(sortedPosts[1].data.date).toStrictEqual('2022-01-02')
@@ -20,22 +35,26 @@ test('sortPosts handles an empty array', () => {
   expect(sortedPosts).toEqual([])
 })
 
-test('getPostsByTag filters posts by a given tag', () => {
+test('getPostsByTag filters posts by a given tag', async () => {
   const posts = [
     { data: { tags: ['tag1', 'tag2'] } },
     { data: { tags: ['tag2', 'tag3'] } },
     { data: { tags: ['tag1'] } }
   ] as any
-  const filteredPosts = getPostsByTag(posts, 'tag1')
+
+  getAllPostsSpy.mockImplementationOnce(() => Promise.resolve(posts))
+  const filteredPosts = await getPostsByTag('tag1')
   expect(filteredPosts.length).toBe(2)
 })
 
-test('getPostsByTag returns an empty array when no posts have the given tag', () => {
+test('getPostsByTag returns an empty array when no posts have the given tag', async () => {
   const posts = [
     { data: { tags: ['tag1', 'tag2'] } },
     { data: { tags: ['tag2', 'tag3'] } }
   ] as any
-  const filteredPosts = getPostsByTag(posts, 'tag4')
+
+  getAllPostsSpy.mockImplementationOnce(() => Promise.resolve(posts))
+  const filteredPosts = await getPostsByTag('tag4')
   expect(filteredPosts).toEqual([])
 })
 
@@ -45,7 +64,9 @@ test('getAllTags returns all unique tags along with their counts', async () => {
     { data: { tags: ['tag2', 'tag3'] } },
     { data: { tags: ['tag1'] } }
   ] as any
-  const allTags = await getAllTags(posts)
+
+  getAllPostsSpy.mockImplementationOnce(() => Promise.resolve(posts))
+  const allTags = await getAllTags()
   expect(allTags).toEqual([
     { name: 'tag1', count: 2 },
     { name: 'tag2', count: 2 },
diff --git a/src/lib/astro/getAllPostsForSearch.ts b/src/lib/astro/getAllPostsForSearch.ts
index dd0d9694d..9bb78903c 100644
--- a/src/lib/astro/getAllPostsForSearch.ts
+++ b/src/lib/astro/getAllPostsForSearch.ts
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@ import { type CollectionEntry } from 'astro:content'
 import { getAllPosts } from './index'
 
 // helps to reduce DOM size
-
 export async function getAllPostsForSearch() {
   const allPosts = await getAllPosts()
 
diff --git a/src/lib/astro/getAllTags.ts b/src/lib/astro/getAllTags.ts
index 0c4374b52..a80c63ff5 100644
--- a/src/lib/astro/getAllTags.ts
+++ b/src/lib/astro/getAllTags.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { type CollectionEntry } from 'astro:content'
+import { getAllPosts } from './index'
 import { slugifyAll } from '../slugify'
 
 export type AllTags = {
@@ -6,10 +6,9 @@ export type AllTags = {
   count: number
 }[]
 
-export async function getAllTags(
-  posts: CollectionEntry<'articles' | 'links' | 'photos'>[]
-): Promise<AllTags> {
-  const allTagsArray = posts
+export async function getAllTags(): Promise<AllTags> {
+  const allPosts = await getAllPosts()
+  const allTagsArray = allPosts
     .filter((post) => post.data.tags)
     .map((post) => post.data.tags)
     .flat() as string[]
diff --git a/src/lib/astro/getPostsByTag.ts b/src/lib/astro/getPostsByTag.ts
index ea9ce14d4..ace4f73ac 100644
--- a/src/lib/astro/getPostsByTag.ts
+++ b/src/lib/astro/getPostsByTag.ts
@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
-import { type CollectionEntry } from 'astro:content'
+import { getAllPosts } from './index'
 import { slugifyAll } from '../slugify'
 
-export function getPostsByTag(
-  posts: CollectionEntry<'articles' | 'links' | 'photos'>[],
-  tag: string
-) {
-  return posts.filter((post) => slugifyAll(post.data.tags || []).includes(tag))
+export async function getPostsByTag(tag: string) {
+  const allPosts = await getAllPosts()
+  return allPosts.filter((post) =>
+    slugifyAll(post.data.tags || []).includes(tag)
+  )
 }
diff --git a/src/lib/astro/loadAndFormatCollection.ts b/src/lib/astro/loadAndFormatCollection.ts
index 206bb9e7b..d511ba8d7 100644
--- a/src/lib/astro/loadAndFormatCollection.ts
+++ b/src/lib/astro/loadAndFormatCollection.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import { getCollection, type CollectionEntry } from 'astro:content'
-import { readOutExif } from '../exif'
+import { readOutExif } from '@lib/exif'
 import path from 'path'
 import config from '@config/blog.config'
 import { sortPosts } from './sortPosts'
@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@ import { sortPosts } from './sortPosts'
 // Astro's `getCollection()` is never called
 // from components, but this helper method instead.
 //
-
 export async function loadAndFormatCollection(
   name: 'articles' | 'links' | 'photos'
 ) {
@@ -22,12 +21,16 @@ export async function loadAndFormatCollection(
   }
 
   for await (const post of postsCollection) {
+    //
     // use date from frontmatter, or grab from folder path
+    //
     const date = post.data.date
       ? post.data.date
       : new Date(post.id.split('/')[0].substring(0, 10))
 
+    //
     // remove date from slug
+    //
     let slug = post.id.split('/')[0].substring(11) as CollectionEntry<
       'articles' | 'photos' | 'links'
     >['slug']
@@ -42,11 +45,16 @@ export async function loadAndFormatCollection(
 
     const githubLink = `${config.repoContentPath}/${post.collection}/${post.id}`
 
+    post.slug = slug
+    post.data.date = date
+    post.data.githubLink = githubLink
+
+    //
     // extract exif & iptc data from photos
+    //
     if (post.collection === 'photos') {
       const isProd = import.meta.env.PROD
 
-      //
       // Get the absolute image path from post.data.image
       // to read exif from
       //
@@ -54,7 +62,6 @@ export async function loadAndFormatCollection(
       //    `/_astro/filename.hash.jpg`
       // development image.src:
       //    `/@fs/absolute/system/path/project/src/content/photos/postSlug/filename.jpg?origWidth=3873&origHeight=2796&origFormat=jpg`
-      //
       const imagePath = isProd
         ? path.join(
             'content',
@@ -66,10 +73,6 @@ export async function loadAndFormatCollection(
       const exif = await readOutExif(imagePath)
       post.data.exif = exif
     }
-
-    post.slug = slug
-    post.data.date = date
-    post.data.githubLink = githubLink
   }
 
   const posts = sortPosts(postsCollection)
diff --git a/src/lib/astro/sortPosts.ts b/src/lib/astro/sortPosts.ts
index 547ecb6bf..5e4858070 100644
--- a/src/lib/astro/sortPosts.ts
+++ b/src/lib/astro/sortPosts.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
 import { type CollectionEntry } from 'astro:content'
 
+//
+// Sort posts by date, newest first
+//
 export function sortPosts(
   posts: CollectionEntry<'articles' | 'links' | 'photos'>[]
 ): CollectionEntry<'articles' | 'links' | 'photos'>[] {