Front Matter

Front matter is metadata placed at the top of a document, enclosed between triple-dashed lines. The editor supports YAML front matter, which lets you attach structured data like titles, tags, dates, and custom fields to your documents.

Syntax

Front matter must be the very first thing in the document. It starts and ends with three dashes (---) on their own lines. Inside, use YAML key-value pairs.

---
title: My Document
tags:
  - tutorial
  - reference
created: 2025-01-15
author: Jane Doe
---

# Document content starts here

Common use cases

• Document title - set a display title separate from the first heading
• Tags and categories - organize documents with searchable metadata
• Dates - track creation, modification, or publish dates
• Custom fields - add any structured data your workflow needs

Editor support

The editor includes a dedicated front matter widget that renders the metadata block with syntax highlighting. You can edit front matter directly in the editor, changes are saved along with the rest of the document.

Related pages

For the Markdown syntax used in the document body below front matter, see Markdown Basics. For an overview of the editor itself, see Using the Editor.