---
title: "Understanding Entries"
description: "Learn what entries are and how they form the foundation of your documentation"
---

**Entries** are the fundamental building blocks of your documentation. Each entry represents one page.

## What is an Entry?

An entry is a single Markdown or MDX file that becomes one page on your documentation site.

```
Entry (one file)
    ↓
content/my-docs/guides/installation.md
    ↓
Becomes one page at: /my-docs/guides/installation
```

## Entry Properties

Every entry has these properties:

### Required Properties

**Title** (from frontmatter)

```yaml
---
title: "Installation Guide"
---
```

**Description** (from frontmatter, used for SEO)

```yaml
---
description: "Step-by-step instructions for installation"
---
```

### Optional Properties

**Navigation Label** (override sidebar text)

```yaml
navLabel: "Install" # Sidebar shows "Install" instead of "Installation Guide"
```

**Icon** (emoji or SVG reference)

```yaml
navIcon: "⚡" # Appears next to entry in sidebar
```

**Hidden** (exclude from navigation)

```yaml
navHidden: false # If true, doesn't appear in sidebar but still accessible via URL
```

**Draft** (exclude from production builds)

```yaml
draft: false # If true, excluded from build unless explicitly included
```

## Entry Slug

The slug is the file path converted to a URL path:

```
File Location:     content/docs/getting-started/installation.md
Slug:              getting-started/installation
Full URL:          /docs/getting-started/installation
```

**Rules:**

- Slug is the relative path from the collection folder
- File extension (.md, .mdx) is removed
- Kebab-case is standard for folders: `my-guide/` -> `/my-guide/`

## Example: A Complete Entry

**File:** `content/my-docs/guides/quick-start.md`

```yaml
---
title: "Quick Start Guide"
description: "Get up and running in 5 minutes"
navLabel: "Quick Start"
navIcon: "🚀"
---
# Quick Start Guide

This page teaches users how to get started quickly.
```

**Results in:**

- Slug: `guides/quick-start`
- URL: `/my-docs/guides/quick-start`
- Sidebar Label: "Quick Start"
- Sidebar Icon: 🚀
- Browser Tab Title: "Quick Start Guide"

## Entries in Navigation

Entries appear in the sidebar as clickable links. They're always leaf nodes—you can't put groups inside an entry, but entries can be grouped.

```
Sidebar
├── Group 1
│   ├── Entry: Installation     <- clickable link
│   └── Entry: Configuration    <- clickable link
├── Group 2
│   └── Entry: Advanced Setup   <- clickable link
└── Orphan Entry: FAQ           <- entry without a group
```

## Entry Discovery

Entries are discovered in two ways:

### 1. Auto-Generated

```typescript
// All .md/.mdx files in content/guides/ automatically become entries
{ id: "guides", label: "Guides", autoGenerated: true }
```

### 2. Manually Listed

```typescript
// Only specified entries appear
{
    id: "guides",
    label: "Guides",
    entries: [
        { slug: "guides/getting-started" },
        { slug: "guides/installation" },
    ],
}
```

## Next Steps

Now that you understand entries, learn about:

- [Groups: Collections of Entries](/docs/navigation-system/core-concepts/groups)
- [Auto-Generation](/docs/generation-strategies/auto-generation/how-it-works)
- [Manual Configuration](/docs/generation-strategies/manual-creation/explicit-control)