This **[Astro integration][astro-integration]** enables the usage of [MDX](https://mdxjs.com/) components and allows you to create pages as `.mdx` files.
MDX allows you to [use variables, JSX expressions and components within Markdown content](https://docs.astro.build/en/guides/markdown-content/#mdx-only-features) in Astro. If you have existing content authored in MDX, this integration allows you to bring those files to your Astro project.
The `astro add` command-line tool automates the installation for you. Run one of the following commands in a new terminal window. (If you aren't sure which package manager you're using, run the first command.) Then, follow the prompts, and type "y" in the terminal (meaning "yes") for each one.
If you run into any issues, [feel free to report them to us on GitHub](https://github.com/withastro/astro/issues) and try the manual installation steps below.
[VS Code](https://code.visualstudio.com/) supports Markdown by default. However, for MDX editor support, you may wish to add the following setting in your VSCode config. This ensures authoring MDX files provides a Markdown-like editor experience.
With the Astro MDX integration, you can [add MDX pages to your project](https://docs.astro.build/en/guides/markdown-content/#markdown-and-mdx-pages) by adding `.mdx` files within your `src/pages/` directory. You can also [import `.mdx` files](https://docs.astro.build/en/guides/markdown-content/#importing-markdown) into `.astro` files.
Astro's MDX integration adds extra features to standard MDX, including Markdown-style frontmatter. This allows you to use most of Astro's built-in Markdown features like a [special frontmatter `layout` property](https://docs.astro.build/en/guides/markdown-content/#frontmatter-layout) and a [property for marking a page as a draft](https://docs.astro.build/en/guides/markdown-content/#draft-pages).
All [`markdown` configuration options](https://docs.astro.build/en/reference/configuration-reference/#markdown-options) except `drafts` can be configured separately in the MDX integration. This includes remark and rehype plugins, syntax highlighting, and more. Options will default to those in your Markdown config ([see the `extendMarkdownConfig` option](#extendmarkdownconfig) to modify this).
There is no separate MDX configuration for [including pages marked as draft in the build](https://docs.astro.build/en/reference/configuration-reference/#markdowndrafts). This Markdown setting will be respected by both Markdown and MDX files and cannot be overridden for MDX files specifically.
…every MDX file will have `customProperty` in its frontmatter! See [our Markdown documentation](https://docs.astro.build/en/guides/markdown-content/#example-injecting-frontmatter) for more usage instructions and a [reading time plugin example](https://docs.astro.build/en/guides/markdown-content/#example-calculate-reading-time).
### Layouts
Layouts can be applied [in the same way as standard Astro Markdown](https://docs.astro.build/en/guides/markdown-content/#frontmatter-layout). You can add a `layout` to [your frontmatter](#frontmatter) like so:
Then, you can retrieve all other frontmatter properties from your layout via the `frontmatter` property, and render your MDX using the default [`<slot />`](https://docs.astro.build/en/core-concepts/astro-components/#slots). See [layout props](#layout-props) for a complete list of props available.
<!-- Rendered MDX will be passed into the default slot. -->
<slot/>
</body>
</html>
```
You can set a layout’s [`Props` type](/en/guides/typescript/#component-props) with the `MDXLayoutProps` helper.
:::note
`MDXLayoutProps` is the same as the `MarkdownLayoutProps` utility type with `rawContent()` and `compiledContent()` removed (since these are not available for `.mdx` files). Feel free to **use `MarkdownLayoutProps` instead** when sharing a layout across `.md` and `.mdx` files.
📚 See the [Markdown Options reference](https://docs.astro.build/en/reference/configuration-reference/#markdown-options) for a complete list of options.
MDX will extend [your project's existing Markdown configuration](https://docs.astro.build/en/reference/configuration-reference/#markdown-options) by default. To override individual options, you can specify their equivalent in your MDX configuration.
For example, say you need to disable GitHub-Flavored Markdown and apply a different set of remark plugins for MDX files. You can apply these options like so, with `extendMarkdownConfig` enabled by default:
But what if you want to specify your own markup for these blockquotes? In the above example, you could create a custom `<Blockquote />` component (in any language) that either has a `<slot />` component or accepts a `children` prop.
```astro title="src/components/Blockquote.astro"
---
const props = Astro.props;
---
<blockquote{...props}class="bg-blue-50 p-4">
<spanclass="text-4xl text-blue-600 mb-2">“</span>
<slot/>
</blockquote>
```
Then in the MDX file you import the component and export it to the `components` export.
```mdx title="src/pages/posts/post-1.mdx" {2}
import Blockquote from '../components/Blockquote.astro';
Now, writing the standard Markdown blockquote syntax (`>`) will use your custom `<Blockquote />` component instead. No need to use a component in Markdown, or write a remark/rehype plugin! Visit the [MDX website](https://mdxjs.com/table-of-components/) for a full list of HTML elements that can be overwritten as custom components.
#### Custom components with imported `mdx`
When rendering imported MDX content, custom components can be passed via the `components` prop.
Note: An MDX file's exported components will _not_ be used unless you manually import and pass them via the `components` property. See the example below:
import { Content, components } from '../content.mdx';
import Heading from '../Heading.astro';
---
<Contentcomponents={{...components,h1:Heading}}/>
```
### Syntax highlighting
The MDX integration respects [your project's `markdown.syntaxHighlight` configuration](https://docs.astro.build/en/guides/markdown-content/#syntax-highlighting).
We will highlight your code blocks with [Shiki](https://github.com/shikijs/shiki) by default. You can customize this highlighter using the `markdown.shikiConfig` option in your `astro.config`. For example, you can apply a different built-in theme like so:
__`astro.config.mjs`__
```js
import { defineConfig } from 'astro/config';
import mdx from '@astrojs/mdx';
export default defineConfig({
markdown: {
shikiConfig: {
theme: 'dracula',
},
},
integrations: [mdx()],
});
```
Visit [our Shiki configuration docs](https://docs.astro.build/en/guides/markdown-content/#shiki-configuration) for more on using Shiki with Astro.
#### Switch to Prism
You can also use the [Prism](https://prismjs.com/) syntax highlighter by setting `markdown.syntaxHighlight` to `'prism'` in your `astro.config` like so:
This applies a minimal Prism renderer with added support for `astro` code blocks. Visit [our "Prism configuration" docs](https://docs.astro.build/en/guides/markdown-content/#prism-configuration) for more on using Prism with Astro.
#### Switch to a custom syntax highlighter
You may want to apply your own syntax highlighter too. If your highlighter offers a remark or rehype plugin, you can flip off our syntax highlighting by setting `markdown.syntaxHighlight: false` and wiring up your plugin. For example, say you want to apply [Shiki Twoslash's remark plugin](https://www.npmjs.com/package/remark-shiki-twoslash):
__`astro.config.mjs`__
```js
import { defineConfig } from 'astro/config';
import mdx from '@astrojs/mdx';
import shikiTwoslash from 'remark-shiki-twoslash';
[Remark plugins](https://github.com/remarkjs/remark/blob/main/doc/plugins.md) allow you to extend your Markdown with new capabilities. This includes [auto-generating a table of contents](https://github.com/remarkjs/remark-toc), [applying accessible emoji labels](https://github.com/florianeckerstorfer/remark-a11y-emoji), and more. We encourage you to browse [awesome-remark](https://github.com/remarkjs/awesome-remark) for a full curated list!
This example applies the [`remark-toc`](https://github.com/remarkjs/remark-toc) plugin to `.mdx` files. To customize plugin inheritance from your Markdown config or Astro's defaults, [see the `extendPlugins` option](#extendplugins).
__`astro.config.mjs`__
```js
import { defineConfig } from 'astro/config';
import mdx from '@astrojs/mdx';
import remarkToc from 'remark-toc';
export default defineConfig({
integrations: [mdx({
remarkPlugins: [remarkToc],
})],
});
```
### rehypePlugins
[Rehype plugins](https://github.com/rehypejs/rehype/blob/main/doc/plugins.md) allow you to transform the HTML that your Markdown generates. We encourage you to browse [awesome-rehype](https://github.com/rehypejs/awesome-rehype) for a full curated list of plugins!
We apply our own (non-removable) [`collect-headings`](https://github.com/withastro/astro/blob/main/packages/integrations/mdx/src/rehype-collect-headings.ts) plugin. This applies IDs to all headings (i.e. `h1 -> h6`) in your MDX files to [link to headings via anchor tags](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Element/a#linking_to_an_element_on_the_same_page).
This example applies the [`rehype-minify`](https://github.com/rehypejs/rehype-minify) plugin to `.mdx` files. To customize plugin inheritance from your Markdown config or Astro's defaults, [see the `extendPlugins` option](#extendplugins).
__`astro.config.mjs`__
```js
import { defineConfig } from 'astro/config';
import mdx from '@astrojs/mdx';
import rehypeMinifyHtml from 'rehype-minify';
export default defineConfig({
integrations: [mdx({
rehypePlugins: [rehypeMinifyHtml],
})],
});
```
### extendPlugins
**Type:** `'markdown' | 'astroDefaults' | false`
**Default:** `'markdown'`
#### `markdown` (default)
By default, Astro inherits all [remark](#remarkplugins) and [rehype](#rehypeplugins) plugins from [the `markdown` option in your Astro config](https://docs.astro.build/en/guides/markdown-content/#markdown-plugins). This also respects the [`markdown.extendDefaultPlugins`](https://docs.astro.build/en/reference/configuration-reference/#markdownextenddefaultplugins) option to extend Astro's defaults. Any additional plugins you apply in your MDX config will be applied _after_ your configured Markdown plugins.
This example applies [`remark-toc`](https://github.com/remarkjs/remark-toc) to Markdown _and_ MDX, and [`rehype-minify`](https://github.com/rehypejs/rehype-minify) to MDX alone:
These are plugins that modify the output [estree](https://github.com/estree/estree) directly. This is useful for modifying or injecting JavaScript variables in your MDX files.
We suggest [using AST Explorer](https://astexplorer.net/) to play with estree outputs, and trying [`estree-util-visit`](https://unifiedjs.com/explore/package/estree-util-visit/) for searching across JavaScript nodes.