Astro Basics

Core patterns for Astro 5.x development based on project conventions.

Project Structure

src/
├── components/     # Reusable .astro components
├── content/        # Content collections (markdown, yaml)
│   └── config.ts   # Collection schemas (Zod)
├── layouts/        # Page layouts (BaseLayout, etc.)
├── pages/          # File-based routing
│   ├── index.astro
│   └── [...slug].astro  # Dynamic routes
├── styles/         # Global styles (SCSS or Tailwind)
└── utils/          # Helper functions
public/             # Static assets (copied to dist/)

Component Anatomy

---
// 1. Imports
import Layout from '@layouts/Layout.astro';

// 2. Props interface
interface Props {
  title: string;
  description?: string;
}

// 3. Data fetching (runs at build time)
const posts = await getCollection('blog');

// 4. Props destructuring
const { title, description = '' } = Astro.props;
---

<!-- 5. Template -->
<Layout title={title}>
  <h1>{title}</h1>
  <slot />
</Layout>

<!-- 6. Scoped styles (optional) -->
<style>
  h1 { color: var(--accent-color); }
</style>

<!-- 7. Client-side script (optional) -->
<script>
  console.log('Runs in browser');
</script>

When implementing layouts, props patterns, named slots, style scoping, or script patterns, read references/component-patterns.md for complete BaseLayout, slot, style, and script examples.

When setting up path aliases (tsconfig.json), read references/component-patterns.md for the standard alias configuration.

Quick Reference