## ✨ `.astro` Syntax Astro comes with its own server-side, component-based templating language. Think of it as HTML enhanced with the full power of JavaScript. Learning a new syntax can be intimidating, but the `.astro` format has been carefully designed with familiarity in mind. It borrows heavily from patterns you likely already know—components, Frontmatter, and JSX-like expressions. We're confident that this guide will help you feel comfortable writing `.astro` files in no time. --- ### The `.astro` format If you're already familiar with **HTML or JavaScript**, you'll likely feel comfortable with `.astro` files right away. Think of `.astro` as **component-oriented HTML**. Components are reusable, self-contained blocks of HTML and CSS that belong together. ```html Document

Hello world!

``` ```html

Hello world!

``` Developers have come up with a myriad of different techniques for composing blocks of HTML over the years, but far and away the most successful has been [JSX](https://reactjs.org/docs/introducing-jsx.html). We love JSX! In fact, `.astro` files borrow the highly-expressive expression syntax directly from JSX. ```jsx

Hello {name}!

So good!

``` `.astro` files also borrow the concept of [Frontmatter](https://jekyllrb.com/docs/front-matter/) from Markdown. Instead of introducing a new HTML-oriented `import` and `export` syntax, `.astro` just uses JavaScript. ```jsx --- // This area is TypeScript (and therefore JavaScript)! import MyComponent from './MyComponent.astro' --- Document ``` ### Data and Props `.astro` components can define local variables inside of the Frontmatter script. These are automatically exposed to the content below. ```jsx --- let name = 'world'; ---

Hello {name}!

``` `.astro` components can also accept props when they are rendered. Public props can be marked using the `export` keyword. Local values are overwritten when props are passed, otherwise they are considered the default value. ```jsx --- export let greeting = 'Hello'; export let name; ---

{greeting} {name}!

``` ### Fragments At the top-level of an `.astro` file, you may render any number of elements. ```html
``` Inside of an expression, you must wrap multiple elements in a Fragment. Fragments must open with `<>` and close with ``. ```jsx
{[0, 1, 2].map((id) => ( <>
))}
``` ### `.astro` versus `.jsx` `.astro` files can end up looking very similar to `.jsx` files, but there are a few key differences. Here's a comparison between the two formats. | Feature | Astro | JSX | | ---------------------------- | ------------------------------------------ | -------------------------------------------------- | | File extension | `.astro` | `.jsx` or `.tsx` | | User-Defined Components | `` | `` | | Expression Syntax | `{}` | `{}` | | Spread Attributes | `{...props}` | `{...props}` | | Boolean Attributes | `autocomplete` === `autocomplete={true}` | `autocomplete` === `autocomplete={true}` | | Inline Functions | `{items.map(item =>
  • {item}
    • )}` | `{items.map(item =>
  • {item}
    • )}` | | IDE Support | WIP - [VS Code][code-ext] | Phenomenal | | Requires JS import | No | Yes, `jsxPragma` (`React` or `h`) must be in scope | | Fragments | Automatic top-level, `<>` inside functions | Wrap with `` or `<>` | | Multiple frameworks per-file | Yes | No | | Modifying `` | Just use `` | Per-framework (``, ``, etc) | | Comment Style | `` | `{/* JavaScript */}` | | Special Characters | ` ` | `{'\xa0'}` or `{String.fromCharCode(160)}` | | Attributes | `dash-case` | `camelCase` | ### URL resolution It’s important to note that Astro **won’t** transform HTML references for you. For example, consider an `` tag with a relative `src` attribute inside `src/pages/about.astro`: ```html ``` Since `src/pages/about.astro` will build to `/about/index.html`, you may not have expected that image to live at `/about/thumbnail.png`. So to fix this, choose either of two options: #### Option 1: Absolute URLs ```html ``` The recommended approach is to place files within `public/*`. This references a file it `public/thumbnail.png`, which will resolve to `/thumbnail.png` at the final build (since `public/` ends up at `/`). #### Option 2: Asset import references ```jsx --- // ✅ Correct: references src/thumbnail.png import thumbnailSrc from './thumbnail.png'; --- ``` If you’d prefer to organize assets alongside Astro components, you may import the file in JavaScript inside the component script. This works as intended but this makes `thumbnail.png` harder to reference in other parts of your app, as its final URL isn’t easily-predictable (unlike assets in `public/*`, where the final URL is guaranteed to never change). ### TODO: Composition (Slots) [code-ext]: https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=astro-build.astro-vscode