Section configuration files control how folders appear in the sidebar navigation. Place a _section.json5 or _section.yaml file in any content folder to customize its appearance.

File Formats#

Arcane Lexicon supports two configuration formats:

JSON5 (Recommended)#

JSON5 supports comments and trailing commas, making it ideal for configuration:

{
  // This is a comment
  "title": "Getting Started",
  "icon": "rocket",
  "order": 1,
  "collapsed": false,
}

YAML#

Standard YAML format:

title: Getting Started
icon: rocket
order: 1
collapsed: false

Priority#

If both _section.json5 and _section.yaml exist in the same folder, JSON5 takes priority.

All Options#

Examples#

Basic Section#

{
  "title": "Guide",
  "icon": "book",
  "order": 1
}

Expanded by Default#

{
  "title": "Getting Started",
  "icon": "rocket",
  "order": 1,
  "collapsed": false  // Always show children
}

Ignored Folder#

Use ignore to exclude a folder and all its contents from navigation:

{
  "ignore": true
}

This is useful for:

• Draft content not ready for publication
• Internal documentation
• Template files

Nested Sections#

Sections can be nested infinitely. Each subfolder can have its own configuration:

content/
  guide/
    _section.json5       # Guide section config
    basics/
      _section.json5     # Basics subsection config
      installation.md
      configuration.md
    advanced/
      _section.json5     # Advanced subsection config
      customization.md

YAML Examples#

Basic#

title: API Reference
icon: code
order: 2

With Comments (using #)#

# This section contains API documentation
title: API Reference
icon: code
order: 2
collapsed: true  # Collapsed by default

Fallback Behavior#

If no section config file exists:

1. The folder name is converted to a title (e.g., getting-started becomes "Getting Started")
2. No icon is displayed
3. Order defaults to 999 (appears after ordered sections)
4. Section is collapsed by default

Section Ordering#

Sections are sorted by:

1. order field (ascending)
2. Title (alphabetical) if order is equal

Example structure:

content/
  guide/
    _section.json5    # order: 1
  features/
    _section.json5    # order: 2
  reference/
    _section.json5    # order: 3
  examples/           # no config, order: 999

Index Pages#

An index.md file in a section folder becomes the section's index page:

content/
  guide/
    _section.json5
    index.md          # Accessed at /guide
    installation.md   # Accessed at /guide/installation

The index page inherits the section path (e.g., /guide), while other pages get the section path plus their filename.

Auto-Expansion#

Sections automatically expand when:

1. The current page is within the section
2. collapsed: false is set in the config

This ensures users can always see their current location in the navigation tree.