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Frontmatter

Frontmatter is YAML metadata at the top of your Markdown files. It's optional but recommended for better SEO and organization.

Basic Syntax#

Frontmatter is enclosed between --- markers:

markdown
---
title: My Page Title
description: A brief description of the page
---

# My Page Title

Your content here...

Supported Fields#

title#

The page title used in:

  • Browser tab
  • SEO meta tags
  • Open Graph tags
markdown
---
title: Getting Started with eziwiki
---

description#

A brief description used in:

  • SEO meta description
  • Open Graph description
  • Search results
markdown
---
title: Getting Started
description: Learn how to set up and use eziwiki in 5 minutes
---

tags#

Subjects this page belongs to. A file sits in exactly one directory, so the sidebar can only ever show one arrangement; tags are the other one. A page belongs to one section and to as many subjects as it touches.

markdown
---
title: Deploying to Vercel
tags:
  - deployment
  - hosting
---

A single tag can be written without the list, and a comma-separated string works too:

markdown
tags: deployment
tags: deployment, hosting

Every subject gets a page at /tags/<name>, and /tags lists them all. Tags are matched case-insensitively — Setup and setup are one subject, not two — and the first spelling used is the one shown.

Hidden pages are left out. A page kept off the sidebar on purpose should not reappear in a tag listing, which would turn the tag index into a way of enumerating exactly what was meant to stay unlisted.

aliases#

Addresses this page used to answer on. A URL is built from a file's path, so moving guides/setup.md to getting-started/setup.md changes the published URL and every bookmark, external link and search result pointing at the old one stops working. Wiki links survive the move — they resolve by name — but nothing arriving from outside does.

markdown
---
title: Setup
aliases:
  - guides/setup
  - old/install-guide
---

Each alias is built as a page that forwards to this one, kept out of the sitemap and marked noindex, with its canonical pointing here so any ranking the old address earned transfers rather than being split.

A single alias can be written without the list:

markdown
aliases: guides/setup

Two mistakes stop the build rather than being resolved quietly: an alias naming a path a real page occupies, which would make that page unreachable, and the same alias claimed by two documents, which has no correct answer. Both are cheaper to find at build time than as a wrong page in production.

Under the [[url-strategies|hash strategy]] the alias produces the digest of the old path — which is exactly what the old URL was.

updated#

When this page last changed. It is optional, and usually wrong to write: with no updated, the date shown at the foot of the page comes from the last commit that touched the file, which nobody has to remember to maintain.

markdown
---
updated: 2026-03-14
---

Declare it when the commit is not the story. A typo fixed today does not make a page from March any newer, and an imported document may have been written long before it reached the repository. A declared date wins over the commit.

An unquoted 2026-03-14 is what YAML calls a date; a quoted '2026-03-14' is a string. Both are understood, as is a full timestamp. A value naming no real instant is ignored rather than displayed.

A page with neither a declared date nor a commit — one written a minute ago — shows no date at all. The build time would be an easy thing to fall back on and a false one: it would say every page was revised the moment the site was last published.

date#

When this page was first published. Nothing displays it; it becomes datePublished in the structured data a crawler reads.

markdown
---
date: 2026-01-02
---

Only the frontmatter can answer this one. The first commit touching a file is when it entered the repository, which for an imported vault or a restructured wiki is not when the page was written.

Complete Example#

markdown
---
title: API Authentication Guide
description: Learn how to authenticate API requests using OAuth 2.0
---

# API Authentication Guide

This guide covers authentication methods...

Why Use Frontmatter?#

Better SEO#

Search engines use title and description for:

  • Search result titles
  • Meta descriptions
  • Social media previews
markdown
---
title: eziwiki - Beautiful Documentation Made Easy
description: A minimal wiki generator built with Next.js, inspired by Notion and Obsidian
---

Consistent Metadata#

Frontmatter ensures every page has proper metadata:

markdown
---
title: Installation Guide
description: Step-by-step installation instructions for eziwiki
---

Social Sharing#

When shared on social media, frontmatter provides:

  • Card title
  • Card description
  • Better preview

Frontmatter vs Markdown Headings#

You can use both:

markdown
---
title: Getting Started
description: Quick start guide
---

# Getting Started

Welcome to the quick start guide...

The frontmatter title is used for SEO and metadata, while the Markdown # Heading is displayed in the content.

Optional Frontmatter#

Frontmatter is completely optional. If not provided:

  • Title defaults to the first # Heading in the file
  • Description is empty
markdown
# My Page

This page has no frontmatter, but still works fine!

YAML Syntax#

Frontmatter uses YAML syntax:

yaml
---
# Simple values
title: My Title
description: My description

# Quotes for special characters
title: "Title: With Colon"
description: 'Description with "quotes"'

# Multi-line values
description: |
  This is a multi-line
  description that spans
  multiple lines.
---

Common Patterns#

Documentation Page#

markdown
---
title: API Reference
description: Complete API documentation with examples
---

# API Reference

## Authentication

All API requests require...

Tutorial Page#

markdown
---
title: Building Your First App
description: Step-by-step tutorial for beginners
---

# Building Your First App

In this tutorial, you'll learn...

Guide Page#

markdown
---
title: Deployment Guide
description: Deploy your wiki to production
---

# Deployment Guide

This guide covers deployment to...

Best Practices#

Keep Titles Concise#

markdown
## ✅ Good:

## title: Quick Start Guide

## ❌ Too long:

## title: The Complete and Comprehensive Quick Start Guide for Getting Started with eziwiki

Write Descriptive Descriptions#

markdown
## ✅ Good:

## description: Learn how to install eziwiki and create your first wiki page

## ❌ Too vague:

## description: Installation stuff

Use Proper Capitalization#

markdown
## ✅ Good:

## title: Getting Started with eziwiki

## ❌ Bad:

## title: getting started with eziwiki

Avoid Duplicate Content#

Don't repeat the title in the description:

markdown
## ✅ Good:

title: Installation Guide
description: Step-by-step instructions for installing eziwiki

---

## ❌ Bad:

title: Installation Guide
description: Installation Guide - How to install

---

Validation#

eziwiki validates frontmatter at build time. Common errors:

markdown
## ❌ Invalid YAML syntax:

title: Missing closing quote
description: "Unclosed quote

---

## ❌ Invalid structure:

title
description

---

## ✅ Valid:

title: Correct Title
description: Correct description

---

Next Steps#

Edit this page

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Connected to 6 pages

Markdown BasicsPayload ConfigurationQuick StartFrontmatterNavigation ConfigurationCode BlocksHidden Pages