---
title: Frontmatter
description: All supported page metadata fields, defaults, and validation rules.
---

Frontmatter is the YAML block between `---` fences at the very beginning of a
file. It describes the page rather than its prose. All fields are optional;
explicit titles and descriptions make the result easier to maintain.

```yaml
---
title: Logo clearspace
description: The protected area around our logo.
slug: protected-area
draft: false
hidden: false
icon: ph:bounding-box
noindex: false
sidebar:
  label: Clearspace
  icon: ph:ruler
  badge: Updated
  hidden: false
seo:
  title: Logo clearspace guidelines
  description: Learn the minimum clearspace for our approved logo artwork.
  canonical: https://brand.example.com/logo/protected-area
  image: /images/logo-social.png
  noindex: false
---
```

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| - | - | - | - |
| `title?` | `string` | - | Page title and default sidebar label. Without it, the scanner humanizes the filename; do not depend on a heading in the body for the title. |
| `description?` | `string` | - | Page summary and default metadata description. |
| `slug?` | `string` | - | Replaces the final URL segment within the current folder. Use letters or numbers separated by single hyphens; Unicode letters and numbers work. Slashes, spaces, underscores, and leading or trailing hyphens are rejected. An index page cannot override its slug. |
| `draft?` | `boolean` | `false` | Included during development; omitted from normal builds and checks. Use check --preview to check drafts. |
| `hidden?` | `boolean` | `false` | Shorthand for hiding the page in the sidebar. The page remains published. |
| `icon?` | `string` | - | Default sidebar icon name from the bundled Phosphor icon set. |
| `noindex?` | `boolean` | `false` | Shorthand for seo.noindex. |
| `sidebar.label?` | `string` | - | Overrides the navigation label. |
| `sidebar.icon?` | `string` | - | Overrides the page-level icon. Bare Phosphor names and ph: names are accepted. |
| `sidebar.badge?` | `string` | - | Adds a badge to the sidebar entry. |
| `sidebar.hidden?` | `boolean` | - | Omits the entry from the sidebar. |
| `seo.title?` | `string` | - | Overrides the title passed to the page layout, including its displayed title and document metadata. |
| `seo.description?` | `string` | - | Overrides the description passed to the page layout. |
| `seo.canonical?` | `string` | - | Overrides the canonical URL. |
| `seo.image?` | `string` | - | Custom social image path or URL; takes precedence over the generated image. See Social cards and SEO. |
| `seo.noindex?` | `boolean` | `false` | Emits a robots instruction to avoid indexing this page. |

The schema is strict: unknown fields cause a validation error. For example,
Brandtree does **not** accept `sidebar.order`, `layout`, `date`, `tags`, or
arbitrary custom metadata. This documentation app's `sidebar.order` belongs to
its Blume host. For a Brandtree site, use numeric filenames or folder metadata
as described in [Navigation](/navigation).

Setting top-level `hidden: true` or `noindex: true` takes effect even if the
corresponding nested value is `false`. Hidden and noindex pages are still public
URLs; neither setting provides access control.

## Related guides

See [Pages and MDX](/authoring) to write a page, [Navigation](/navigation) to organize it, and [Social cards and SEO](/social-cards) to control its metadata.