@astrojs/ markdoc

This Astro integration enables the usage of Markdoc to create components, pages, and content collection entries.

Why Markdoc?

Markdoc allows you to enhance your Markdown with Astro components. If you have existing content authored in Markdoc, this integration allows you to bring those files to your Astro project using content collections.

Installation

Astro includes an astro add command to automate the setup of official integrations. If you prefer, you can install integrations manually instead.

Run one of the following commands in a new terminal window.

npx astro add markdoc

pnpm astro add markdoc

yarn astro add markdoc

If you run into any issues, feel free to report them to us on GitHub and try the manual installation steps below.

Manual Install

First, install the @astrojs/markdoc package:

npm install @astrojs/markdoc

pnpm add @astrojs/markdoc

yarn add @astrojs/markdoc

Then, apply the integration to your astro.config.* file using the integrations property:

import { defineConfig } from 'astro/config';
import markdoc from '@astrojs/markdoc';
export default defineConfig({
  // ...
  integrations: [markdoc()],
});

VS Code Editor Integration

If you are using VS Code, there is an official Markdoc language extension that includes syntax highlighting and autocomplete for configured tags. See the language server on GitHub for more information.

To set up the extension, create a markdoc.config.json file in the project root with following content:

[
  {
    "id": "my-site",
    "path": "src/content",
    "schema": {
      "path": "markdoc.config.mjs",
      "type": "esm",
      "property": "default",
      "watch": true
    }
  }
]

Set markdoc.config.mjs as your configuration file with the schema object, and define where your Markdoc files are stored using the path property. Since Markdoc is specific to content collections, you can use src/content.

Usage

Markdoc files can only be used within content collections. Add entries to any content collection using the .mdoc extension:

Directorysrc/
- Directorycontent/
  - Directorydocs/
    why-markdoc.mdoc
    quick-start.mdoc

Then, query your collection using the Content Collection APIs:

---
import { getEntryBySlug } from 'astro:content';

const entry = await getEntryBySlug('docs', 'why-markdoc');
const { Content } = await entry.render();
---

<!--Access frontmatter properties with `data`-->
<h1>{entry.data.title}</h1>
<!--Render Markdoc contents with the Content component-->
<Content />

See the Astro Content Collection docs for more information.

Pass Markdoc variables

You may need to pass variables to your content. This is useful when passing SSR parameters like A/B tests.

Variables can be passed as props via the Content component:

---
import { getEntryBySlug } from 'astro:content';

const entry = await getEntryBySlug('docs', 'why-markdoc');
const { Content } = await entry.render();
---

<!--Pass the `abTest` param as a variable-->
<Content abTestGroup={Astro.params.abTestGroup} />

Now, abTestGroup is available as a variable in docs/why-markdoc.mdoc:

{% if $abTestGroup === 'image-optimization-lover' %}

Let me tell you about image optimization...

{% /if %}

To make a variable global to all Markdoc files, you can use the variables attribute from your markdoc.config.mjs|ts:

import { defineMarkdocConfig } from '@astrojs/markdoc/config';

export default defineMarkdocConfig({
  variables: {
    environment: process.env.IS_PROD ? 'prod' : 'dev',
  },
});

Access frontmatter from your Markdoc content

To access frontmatter, you can pass the entry data property as a variable where you render your content:

---
import { getEntry } from 'astro:content';

const entry = await getEntry('docs', 'why-markdoc');
const { Content } = await entry.render();
---

<Content frontmatter={entry.data} />

This can now be accessed as $frontmatter in your Markdoc.

Render components

@astrojs/markdoc offers configuration options to use all of Markdoc’s features and connect UI components to your content.

Use Astro components as Markdoc tags

You can configure Markdoc tags that map to .astro components. You can add a new tag by creating a markdoc.config.mjs|ts file at the root of your project and configuring the tag attribute.

This example renders an Aside component, and allows a type prop to be passed as a string:

import { defineMarkdocConfig, component } from '@astrojs/markdoc/config';

export default defineMarkdocConfig({
  tags: {
    aside: {
      render: component('./src/components/Aside.astro'),
      attributes: {
        // Markdoc requires type defs for each attribute.
        // These should mirror the `Props` type of the component
        // you are rendering.
        // See Markdoc's documentation on defining attributes
        // https://markdoc.dev/docs/attributes#defining-attributes
        type: { type: String },
      },
    },
  },
});

This component can now be used in your Markdoc files with the {% aside %} tag. Children will be passed to your component’s default slot:

# Welcome to Markdoc 👋

{% aside type="tip" %}

Use tags like this fancy "aside" to add some _flair_ to your docs.

{% /aside %}

Use client-side UI components

Tags and nodes are restricted to .astro files. To embed client-side UI components in Markdoc, use a wrapper .astro component that renders a framework component with your desired client: directive.

This example wraps a React Aside.tsx component with a ClientAside.astro component:

---
import Aside from './Aside';
---

<Aside {...Astro.props} client:load />

This Astro component can now be passed to the render prop for any tag or node in your config:

import { defineMarkdocConfig, component } from '@astrojs/markdoc/config';

export default defineMarkdocConfig({
  tags: {
    aside: {
      render: component('./src/components/ClientAside.astro'),
      attributes: {
        type: { type: String },
      },
    },
  },
});

Use Astro components from npm packages and TypeScript files

You may need to use Astro components exposed as named exports from TypeScript or JavaScript files. This is common when using npm packages and design systems.

You can pass the import name as the second argument to the component() function:

import { defineMarkdocConfig, component } from '@astrojs/markdoc/config';

export default defineMarkdocConfig({
  tags: {
    tabs: {
      render: component('@astrojs/starlight/components', 'Tabs'),
    },
  },
});

This generates the following import statement internally:

import { Tabs } from '@astrojs/starlight/components';

Markdoc Partials

The {% partial %} tag allows you to render other .mdoc files inside your Markdoc content.

This is useful for reusing content across multiple documents, and allows you to have .mdoc content files that do not follow your collection schema.

This example shows a Markdoc partial for a footer to be used inside blog collection entries:

Social links:

- [Twitter / X](https://twitter.com/astrodotbuild)
- [Discord](https://astro.build/chat)
- [GitHub](https://github.com/withastro/astro)

Use the {% partial %} tag with to render the footer at the bottom of a blog post entry. Apply the file attribute with the path to the file, using either a relative path or an import alias:

# My Blog Post

{% partial file="./_footer.mdoc" %}

Syntax highlighting

@astrojs/markdoc provides Shiki and Prism extensions to highlight your code blocks.

Shiki

Apply the shiki() extension to your Markdoc config using the extends property. You can optionally pass a shiki configuration object:

import { defineMarkdocConfig } from '@astrojs/markdoc/config';
import shiki from '@astrojs/markdoc/shiki';

export default defineMarkdocConfig({
  extends: [
    shiki({
      // Choose from Shiki's built-in themes (or add your own)
      // Default: 'github-dark'
      // https://shiki.style/themes
      theme: 'dracula',
      // Enable word wrap to prevent horizontal scrolling
      // Default: false
      wrap: true,
      // Pass custom languages
      // Note: Shiki has countless langs built-in, including `.astro`!
      // https://shiki.style/languages
      langs: [],
    }),
  ],
});

Prism

Apply the prism() extension to your Markdoc config using the extends property.

import { defineMarkdocConfig } from '@astrojs/markdoc/config';
import prism from '@astrojs/markdoc/prism';

export default defineMarkdocConfig({
  extends: [prism()],
});

To learn about configuring Prism stylesheets, see our syntax highlighting guide.

Custom Markdoc nodes / elements

You may want to render standard Markdown elements, such as paragraphs and bolded text, as Astro components. For this, you can configure a Markdoc node. If a given node receives attributes, they will be available as component props.

This example renders blockquotes with a custom Quote.astro component:

import { defineMarkdocConfig, nodes, component } from '@astrojs/markdoc/config';

export default defineMarkdocConfig({
  nodes: {
    blockquote: {
      ...nodes.blockquote, // Apply Markdoc's defaults for other options
      render: component('./src/components/Quote.astro'),
    },
  },
});

See the Markdoc nodes documentation to learn about all the built-in nodes and attributes.

Custom headings

@astrojs/markdoc automatically adds anchor links to your headings, and generates a list of headings via the content collections API. To further customize how headings are rendered, you can apply an Astro component as a Markdoc node.

This example renders a Heading.astro component using the render property:

import { defineMarkdocConfig, nodes, component } from '@astrojs/markdoc/config';

export default defineMarkdocConfig({
  nodes: {
    heading: {
      ...nodes.heading, // Preserve default anchor link generation
      render: component('./src/components/Heading.astro'),
    },
  },
});

All Markdown headings will render the Heading.astro component and pass the following attributes as component props:

level: number The heading level 1 - 6
id: string An id generated from the heading’s text contents. This corresponds to the slug generated by the content render() function.

For example, the heading ### Level 3 heading! will pass level: 3 and id: 'level-3-heading' as component props.

Custom image components

Astro’s <Image /> component cannot be used directly in Markdoc. However, you can configure an Astro component to override the default image node every time the native ![]() image syntax is used, or as a custom Markdoc tag to allow you to specify additional image attributes.

Override Markdoc’s default image node

To override the default image node, you can configure an .astro component to be rendered in place of a standard <img>.

Build a custom MarkdocImage.astro component to pass the required src and alt properties from your image to the <Image /> component:

---
import { Image } from "astro:assets";
interface Props {
  src: ImageMetadata;
  alt: string;
}
const { src, alt } = Astro.props;
---
<Image src={src} alt={alt} />

The <Image /> component requires a width and height for remote images which cannot be provided using the ![]() syntax. To avoid errors when using remote images, update your component to render a standard HTML <img> tag when a remote URL src is found:

---
import { Image } from "astro:assets";
interface Props {
  src: ImageMetadata | string;
  alt: string;
}
const { src, alt } = Astro.props;
---
<Image src={src} alt={alt} />
{
  typeof src === 'string' ? <img src={src} alt={alt} /> : <Image src={src} alt={alt} />
}

Configure Markdoc to override the default image node and render MarkdocImage.astro:

import { defineMarkdocConfig, nodes, component } from '@astrojs/markdoc/config';

export default defineMarkdocConfig({
  nodes: {
    image: {
      ...nodes.image, // Apply Markdoc's defaults for other options
      render: component('./src/components/MarkdocImage.astro'),
    },
  },
});

The native image syntax in any .mdoc file will now use the <Image /> component to optimize your local images. Remote images may still be used, but will not be rendered by Astro’s <Image /> component.
src/content/blog/post.mdoc
```

![A picture of a cat](/cat.jpg)


![A picture of a dog](https://example.com/dog.jpg)
```

Create a custom Markdoc image tag

A Markdoc image tag allows you to set additional attributes on your image that are not possible with the ![]() syntax. For example, custom image tags allow you to use Astro’s <Image /> component for remote images that require a width and height.

The following steps will create a custom Markdoc image tag to display a <figure> element with a caption, using the Astro <Image /> component to optimize the image.

Create a MarkdocFigure.astro component to receive the necessary props and render an image with a caption:

---
// src/components/MarkdocFigure.astro
import { Image } from "astro:assets";

interface Props {
  src: ImageMetadata | string;
  alt: string;
  width: number;
  height: number;
  caption: string;
}

const { src, alt, width, height, caption } = Astro.props;
---
<figure>
    <Image {src} {alt} {width} {height}  />
    {caption && <figcaption>{caption}</figcaption>}
</figure>

Configure your custom image tag to render your Astro component:

import { component, defineMarkdocConfig, nodes } from '@astrojs/markdoc/config';

export default defineMarkdocConfig({
  tags: {
    image: {
      attributes: nodes.image.attributes,
      render: component('./src/components/MarkdocFigure.astro'),
    },
  },
});

Use the image tag in Markdoc files to display a figure with caption, providing all the necessary attributes for your component:
```
{% image src="./astro-logo.png" alt="Astro Logo" width="100" height="100" caption="a caption!" %}
```

Advanced Markdoc configuration

The markdoc.config.mjs|ts file accepts all Markdoc configuration options, including tags and functions.

You can pass these options from the default export in your markdoc.config.mjs|ts file:

import { defineMarkdocConfig } from '@astrojs/markdoc/config';

export default defineMarkdocConfig({
  functions: {
    getCountryEmoji: {
      transform(parameters) {
        const [country] = Object.values(parameters);
        const countryToEmojiMap = {
          japan: '🇯🇵',
          spain: '🇪🇸',
          france: '🇫🇷',
        };
        return countryToEmojiMap[country] ?? '🏳';
      },
    },
  },
});

Now, you can call this function from any Markdoc content entry:

¡Hola {% getCountryEmoji("spain") %}!

See the Markdoc documentation for more on using variables or functions in your content.

Set the root HTML element

Markdoc wraps documents with an <article> tag by default. This can be changed from the document Markdoc node. This accepts an HTML element name or null if you prefer to remove the wrapper element:

import { defineMarkdocConfig, nodes } from '@astrojs/markdoc/config';

export default defineMarkdocConfig({
  nodes: {
    document: {
      ...nodes.document, // Apply defaults for other options
      render: null, // default 'article'
    },
  },
});

Integration config options

The Astro Markdoc integration handles configuring Markdoc options and capabilities that are not available through the markdoc.config.js file.

`allowHTML`

Enables writing HTML markup alongside Markdoc tags and nodes.

By default, Markdoc will not recognize HTML markup as semantic content.

To achieve a more Markdown-like experience, where HTML elements can be included alongside your content, set allowHTML:true as a markdoc integration option. This will enable HTML parsing in Markdoc markup.

  import { defineConfig } from 'astro/config';
  import markdoc from '@astrojs/markdoc';

  export default defineConfig({
    // ...
    integrations: [markdoc({ allowHTML: true })],
  });

`ignoreIndentation`

By default, any content that is indented by four spaces is treated as a code block. Unfortunately, this behavior makes it difficult to use arbitrary levels of indentation to improve the readability of documents with complex structure.

When using nested tags in Markdoc, it can be helpful to indent the content inside of tags so that the level of depth is clear. To support arbitrary indentation, we have to disable the indent-based code blocks and modify several other markdown-it parsing rules that account for indent-based code blocks. These changes can be applied by enabling the ignoreIndentation option.

  import { defineConfig } from 'astro/config';
  import markdoc from '@astrojs/markdoc';

  export default defineConfig({
    // ...
    integrations: [markdoc({ ignoreIndentation: true })],
  });

# Welcome to Markdoc with indented tags 👋

# Note: Can use either spaces or tabs for indentation

{% custom-tag %}
{% custom-tag %} ### Tags can be indented for better readability

    {% another-custom-tag %}
      This is easier to follow when there is a lot of nesting
    {% /another-custom-tag %}

{% /custom-tag %}
{% /custom-tag %}