Documentation Page Front Matter
This skill guides writing YAML front matter for mkdocs-material documentation pages. Front matter controls social card generation and page metadata.
Front Matter Format
yaml
--- title: "Page Title" description: "Brief description of the page." ---
Title Guidelines
- •Use descriptive titles that provide context
- •Include the subject matter (e.g., "LanceDB Configuration" not just "Configuration")
- •Keep titles concise but informative
- •For API reference pages: "[Subject] API" or "API reference for [Subject]"
- •For configuration pages: "[Subject] Configuration"
- •For index pages: Use the section name (e.g., "Integrations", "User Guide")
Description Guidelines
DO:
- •Briefly summarize what the page covers
- •Keep descriptions general and conceptual
- •Use simple, direct language
- •Focus on the page content, not the subject itself
DON'T:
- •Enumerate specific implementation details that may become outdated
- •List specific technologies, databases, or tools unless the page is specifically about one
- •Prescribe use cases (avoid "for local development", "ideal for production", etc.)
- •Use verbose explanations
- •Describe what the subject does (describe the page instead)
Examples
Good Descriptions
yaml
# API reference page description: "API reference for DuckDBMetadataStore." # Configuration page description: "Configuration options for ClickHouseMetadataStore." # Concept page description: "How Metaxy calculates and tracks versions." # Index page description: "Available metadata store backends for Metaxy." # Integration overview description: "Dagster integration for Metaxy." # Guide page description: "Defining dependencies between features."
Bad Descriptions (Avoid These)
yaml
# Too verbose, lists specific details description: "Connect Metaxy with orchestrators like Dagster, databases like ClickHouse and BigQuery, and plugins for SQLModel and SQLAlchemy." # Prescribes use case description: "Use DuckDB as a fast embedded analytical database for local development and testing with Metaxy." # Enumerates implementation details description: "Configuration options for DuckDBMetadataStore including database path, extensions, and DuckLake settings." # Describes the subject, not the page description: "A pluggable metadata layer for ML pipelines that tracks feature versions, dependencies, and data lineage."
Patterns by Page Type
| Page Type | Title Pattern | Description Pattern |
|---|---|---|
| Overview/Index | Section name | Brief summary of section contents |
| API Reference | "[Subject] API" | "API reference for [Subject]." |
| Configuration | "[Subject] Configuration" | "Configuration options for [Subject]." |
| Concept/Guide | Concept name | Brief statement of what the page explains |
| Example | "[Name] Example" | Brief statement of what the example demonstrates |
| Integration | "[Tool] Integration" | "[Tool] integration for Metaxy." |
Checklist
Before finalizing front matter, verify:
- • Title provides enough context to be meaningful in isolation
- • Description is one sentence or less
- • Description describes the page, not the subject
- • No specific implementation details that could become outdated
- • No prescriptive language about use cases
- • Consistent with patterns used across the documentation