Search Optimization & Sidebar Navigation

Learn how Astro Starlight manages sidebar navigation and internal search indexing.

How Search Works

Search is powered by Pagefind, which runs locally in the user’s browser. It indexes content during the site build step for instant results with zero backend latency.

Optimization Checklist

• Descriptive Titles: Use action-oriented titles like How to Configure SSO instead of SSO Settings.
• Keyword-Rich Descriptions: Pagefind gives extra weight to the frontmatter description field.
• Semantic Headings: Always use proper Markdown headers (##, ###). Pagefind anchors search results directly to individual section headings.
• Synonyms in Introductory Text: Include common alternate phrasing in the opening paragraph (e.g., mentioning “API tokens” alongside “API keys”).

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Sidebar Sorting

By default, articles sort alphabetically by file name. To customize the display order:

---
title: Managing User Roles
sidebar:
  order: 10
  label: User Roles
---