A system and method are provided for processing network requests by a programmable delivery network. The method includes receiving client code snippets that include identity information of origin servers and standard responses for network requests. The system configures and causes programmable content delivery nodes to execute the client code snippets to respond to the network requests. In response to receiving the network requests, the method includes buffering and sending the requests to origin servers. The method further includes, while buffering the requests, obtaining and outputting responses to the requests by causing the programmable content delivery nodes to process the requests. The method also includes receiving responses from the origin servers and reconfiguring the programmable content delivery nodes to execute the client code snippets to respond to the network requests based on the received responses.