---
title: Folder metadata
description: Reference for folder labels, ordering, icons, and metadata modules.
---

A metadata module describes its containing content folder. Add `meta.ts`,
`meta.js`, or `meta.mjs` beside its pages. A module at the content root describes
root children. See [Navigation](/navigation) for a walkthrough.

```ts content/03-logo/meta.ts
import { defineMeta } from "brandtree";

export default defineMeta({
  title: "Logo system",
  order: 3,
  icon: "ph:shapes",
  pages: ["index", "logotype", "brandmark", "usage-rules"],
});
```

## Fields

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| - | - | - | - |
| `title?` | `string` | - | Sidebar group label. Defaults to the humanized folder name. |
| `order?` | `number` | - | Rank among siblings. Overrides the numeric folder prefix. |
| `icon?` | `string` | - | Group icon name, such as ph:shapes. |
| `collapsed?` | `boolean` | - | Retained in the navigation model. The built-in sidebar currently displays groups expanded and does not apply this setting. |
| `pages?` | `string[]` | - | Ordered child source keys. Each listed child's zero-based array position becomes its rank. Unlisted children retain their existing rank; this does not filter pages. |

## Child keys and ordering

The child key is the source filename or folder name without its extension and
numeric prefix. It is independent of the page's title, sidebar label, and
frontmatter slug. Parenthesized group folders use their label as the key.

For a complete explicit order, list every child and put `index` first. Unlisted
items retain their original numeric rank or their unranked position, so they
can interleave with listed items. Equal ranks sort by display label.

## Module exports

Export a plain object, or use `defineMeta` for editor type checking. Synchronous
and asynchronous factories returning the same object are also accepted:

```ts content/03-logo/meta.ts
import { defineMeta } from "brandtree";

export default defineMeta(() => ({
  title: "Logo system",
  pages: ["index", "logotype", "brandmark"],
}));
```

> **Info**
>
> The schema is strict. Fields such as `display`, external-link entries, tabs,
> and manual sidebar trees are not supported. Hide individual pages with
> [frontmatter](/frontmatter).

## Shared and translated metadata

`meta.$.ts`, `meta.$.js`, and `meta.$.mjs` provide shared values across locales.
A locale-specific metadata module overrides shared fields; omitted fields keep
their shared values. In a directory-based site, use shared metadata for common
ordering rather than assuming root-language metadata applies to every locale.
See [Localization](/localization#translate-sidebar-groups) for an example.