manual · 6 of 24 · building a site

Page data

Every page has one data object, exposed as page in JSX and Go templates and returned for each page by pages(). Frontmatter, data() calls, defaults, and taragen's own keys all write into this same object.

Where data comes from

Data is filled in this order, and later writers win:

Taragen seeds path and slug (and params for generated pages), and sets outputs.
_defaults.jsx files, from the site root down to the page's folder.
The page itself: YAML frontmatter in Markdown and templates, or data({...}) in JSX.
Layouts, while rendering: frontmatter in template layouts, data() in JSX layouts.

After every page is parsed, taragen sets links and backlinks on every page.

Built-in keys

Any key you set that isn't listed here is yours: title, description, tags, and so on flow through untouched. These keys have built-in meaning:

Key	Set by	Meaning
`path`	taragen	The page's URL path, such as `/articles/2021/ngrok`.
`slug`	taragen	The last segment of the path, such as `ngrok`.
`src`	taragen	The raw page source (for generated pages, the template's source).
`body`	taragen	The page's rendered body, before layouts.
`isDir`	taragen	True for folders and `index.*` files.
`subpages`	taragen	In `pages()` results: the page's children, sorted, each with its own `subpages`.
`params`	taragen	Generated pages only: the parameter values, such as `{ year: "2026", month: "11" }`.
`outputs`	you, then taragen	You set it to turn outputs off; taragen replaces it with a map of output name to URL. See Extra outputs per page .
`links`	taragen	Sorted list of the site pages this page's body links to.
`backlinks`	taragen	Pages whose bodies link to this page. See Backlinks.
`aliases`	you	Old URLs that redirect to this page. Taragen replaces it with the normalized list. See Aliases and redirects .
`siteURL`	you	The site's absolute origin, such as `https://example.com`. Used to recognize absolute links to your own pages, and handy for building absolute URLs in feeds and meta tags.
`layout`	you	Layout path to use instead of the folder layouts, such as `_blog/_layout`. `""` turns layouts off.
`date`	you	`YYYY-MM-DD`. Orders listings; a future date makes the page a draft.
`draft`	you	`true` makes the page a draft.
`contentType`	you	The HTTP `Content-Type` in `serve`. Defaults to `text/html`.
`preamble`	you	Text written before the output. Defaults to `<!DOCTYPE html>` for HTML.

Keys set by taragen replace whatever a page sets for them. Avoid using outputs, links, backlinks, aliases, or params for your own data.

[ txt · edit on github · card ]