Contributing to Clerk's documentation

Thanks for being willing to contribute to Clerk's documentation! This document outlines how to effectively contribute updates and fixes to the documentation content located in this repository.

Written in MDX

Clerk's documentation content is written in a variation of markdown called MDX. MDX allows us to embed React components in the content, unlocking rich, interactive documentation experiences. Clerk's documentation site also supports GitHub Flavored Markdown, adding support for things like tables and task lists.

Clerk's documentation uses mdx-annotations which provides a consistent way to apply props to markdown elements. This is utilized for various features such as controlling image quality and defining code block line highlights.

MDX files (including any code blocks) are formatted using a custom Prettier plugin. It is recommended to enable "format on save" (or similar) in your code editor, but the formatter can also be run manually on all files using npm run format.

Project setup

Fork and clone the repo
Run npm install to install dependencies
Create a branch for your PR with git checkout -b pr/your-branch-name

Tip: Keep your main branch pointing at the original repository and make pull requests from branches on your fork. To do this, run:
git remote add upstream https://github.com/clerk/clerk-docs.git
git fetch upstream
git branch --set-upstream-to=upstream/main main
This will add the original repository as a "remote" called "upstream," Then fetch the git information from that remote, then set your local main branch to use the upstream main branch whenever you run git pull. Then you can make all of your pull request branches based on this main branch. Whenever you want to update your version of main, do a regular git pull.

Creating an issue

If you have found a contribution you would like to make, but it is rather large, it is recommended to open an issue first. Doing so not only helps keep track of what you plan to work on, but also facilitates discussions with maintainers, who can provide valuable feedback and ideas even before you begin implementing changes.

Modifications such as correcting misspelled words, addressing grammatical or punctuation errors, or making similar minor adjustments probably don't require the creation of an issue. In such cases, you are welcome to proceed by creating a pull request.

The structure of the issue should be:

Title: Summarize the problem you want to solve in one sentence, using an active voice. E.g. "Fix broken "Home" link on sidenav"
Description ("Leave a comment"): Discuss what your finding is, why it needs a solution, and where you found it/how it can be reproduced. Links, screenshots, and videos can be helpful tools!

Creating a Pull Request

When you're ready to submit your contribution, you're going to create a pull request, also referred to as a PR.

If this is your first time, or you need a refresher on how to create a PR, you can check out this video:

How to Contribute to an Open Source Project on GitHub

The structure of the PR should be:

Title: Summarize the change you made, using an active voice. E.g. "Fix broken "Home" link on sidenav"
- If there is an issue that this PR is meant to resolve, the titles will probably be the same.
Description ("Leave a comment"): Describe what the concern was and summarize how you solved it.

Preview your changes

When you open a pull request, a member of the Clerk team can add the deploy-preview label to your pull request, which will trigger a preview deployment with your changes.

Previewing changes locally (for Clerk employees)

Clerk employees can run the application and preview their documentation changes locally. To do this, follow the instructions in the clerk README.

Validating your changes

Before committing your changes, run our linting checks to validate the changes you are making are correct. Currently we:

Check for broken links. If your change contains URLs that are not authored inside this repository (e.g. marketing pages or other docs) the linter will fail. You'll need to add your URLs to the EXCLUDE_LIST inside check-links.mjs.

To run all linting steps:

npm run lint

Getting your contributions reviewed

Once you open up a pull request with your changes, a member of the Clerk team will review your pull request and approve it, or leave addressable feedback. We do our best to review all contributions in a timely manner, but please be patient if someone does not take a look at it right away.

Once your pull request is approved, a member of the Clerk team will merge it and make sure it gets deployed! 🚀

Deployment

The content rendered on https://clerk.com/docs is pulled from the main branch in this repository. If your PR is merged to the main branch, a workflow is triggered that updates the production pages. Changes should be reflected on https://clerk.com/docs within a matter of seconds.

Repository structure

The documentation content is located in the /docs directory. Each MDX file located in this directory will be rendered under https://clerk.com/docs at its path relative to the root /docs directory, without the file extension.

For example, the file at /docs/quickstarts/setup-clerk.mdx can be found at https://clerk.com/docs/quickstarts/setup-clerk.

Navigation manifest

The navigation element rendered on https://clerk.com/docs is powered by the manifest file at /docs/manifest.json. Making changes to this data structure will update the rendered navigation.

Manifest JSON schema →

Equivalent TypeScript types and descriptions

export type Nav = Array<NavGroup>

/**
 * Nav groups are separated by horizontal rules
 */
type NavGroup = Array<NavItem>

/**
 * A nav item is either a link, or a sub-list with nested `items`
 */
type NavItem = LinkItem | SubNavItem

/**
 * A link to an internal or external page
 */
type LinkItem = {
  /**
   * The visible item text. May contain backticks (`) to render `<code>`
   *
   * @example 'Next.js Quickstart'
   * @example '`<SignIn>` and `<SignUp>`'
   */
  title: string
  /**
   * The item link. Internal links should be relative
   *
   * @example '/docs/quickstarts/nextjs'
   * @example 'https://example.com'
   */
  href: string
  /**
   * Muted text to display next to the item text
   *
   * @example 'Community'
   * @example 'Beta'
   */
  tag?: string
  /**
   * Icon to display next to the item text
   *
   * @example 'globe'
   * @see [Available icons]{@link https://github.com/clerk/clerk/blob/main/src/app/(website)/docs/icons.tsx}
   */
  icon?: string
  /**
   * Whether to enable text wrapping for the item text
   *
   * @default true
   */
  wrap?: boolean
  /**
   * Set to "_blank" to open link in a new tab
   */
  target?: '_blank'
}
type SubNavItem = {
  /**
   * The visible item text. May contain backticks (`) to render `<code>`
   *
   * @example 'Next.js Quickstart'
   * @example '`<SignIn>` and `<SignUp>`'
   */
  title: string
  /**
   * The nested sub-items
   */
  items: Nav
  /**
   * Muted text to display next to the item text
   *
   * @example 'Community'
   * @example 'Beta'
   */
  tag?: string
  /**
   * Icon to display next to the item text
   *
   * @example 'globe'
   * @see [Available icons]{@link https://github.com/clerk/clerk/blob/main/src/app/(website)/docs/icons.tsx}
   */
  icon?: string
  /**
   * Whether to enable text wrapping for the item text
   *
   * @default true
   */
  wrap?: boolean
  /**
   * Whether to collapse the sub-nav
   *
   * @default false
   */
  collapse?: boolean
}

Visual representation of the manifest TypeScript types

Editing content

As mentioned above, all of the documentation content is located in the /docs directory. If you are having trouble finding the file associated with a specific page on the live documentation site, try clicking the "Edit this page on GitHub" link.

File metadata

Each file has a few required frontmatter fields, which are defined like so:

---
title: Page title
description: Some brief, but effective description of the page's content.
---

title - The title of the page. Used to populate the HTML <title> tag and the h1 of the page. Supports markdown e.g. title: '`<SignUp>`'
description - The description of the page. Used to populate a page's <meta name="description"> tag

These fields should be present on every documentation page.

Headings

Headings should be nested by their rank. Headings with an equal or higher rank start a new section, headings with a lower rank start new subsections that are part of the higher ranked section. Please see the Web Accessibility Initiative documentation for more information.

Headings should be written in sentence-casing, where only the first word of the heading is capitalized. E.g. "This is a heading".

h1's are not necessary and are considered tech-debt, as the title property in the frontmatter will set the h1.

h2 and h3 headings are automatically included in the table of contents. You can control this behaviour by using the toc prop:

{/* Replace the text for this heading in the table of contents */}

## Lorem ipsum {{ toc: 'Hello world' }}

{/* Exclude heading from table of contents */}

## Lorem ipsum {{ toc: false }}

Headings are automatically assigned an id attribute which is a slugified version of the text content. You can optionally override this by providing an id prop:

{/* Replace the generated ID (`lorem-ipsum`) with `lipsum` */}

## Lorem ipsum {{ id: 'lipsum' }}

Code blocks

Syntax-highlighted code blocks are rendered wherever markdown code blocks are used. To add syntax highlighting, specify a language next to the backticks before the fenced code block.

```typescript
function add(a: number, b: number) {
  return a + b
}
```

You can also specify a filename by passing the filename prop.

```typescript {{ filename: 'add.ts' }}
function add(a: number, b: number) {
  return a + b
}
```

If the code should run in a terminal, you can set the syntax highlighting to something like sh (shell) or bash. The file name should be set to terminal.

```sh {{ filename: 'terminal' }}
npm i @clerk/nextjs
```

Highlighting

You can highlight specific lines in a code block using the mark prop. For example to highlight line 2 and lines 5-7:

```tsx {{ mark: [2, [5, 7]] }}
export function Page() {
  return null
}

export function Layout() {
  return null
}
```

The ins (insert) and del (delete) props work in the same way as the mark prop but apply "diff" style highlighting with prepended + and - signs.

ins and del example

```tsx {{ ins: [2], del: [[5, 7]] }}
export function Page() {
  return null
}

export function Layout() {
  return null
}
```

TypeScript type for code block props

type LineNumber = number
type Mark = LineNumber | [start: LineNumber, end: LineNumber]

interface CodeBlockProps {
  filename?: string
  mark?: Array<Mark>
  ins?: Array<Mark>
  del?: Array<Mark>
}

Code block shortcodes

You can use the following shortcodes within a code block to inject information from the user's current Clerk instance:

{{pub_key}} – Publishable key
{{secret}} – Secret key
{{fapi_url}} – Frontend API URL

```sh {{ filename: '.env.local' }}
NEXT_PUBLIC_CLERK_PUBLISHABLE_KEY={{pub_key}}
CLERK_SECRET_KEY={{secret}}
```

The video below shows what this example looks like once rendered. Notice the eye icon on the code block that once clicked on, reveals the user's secret key.

code-block-keys.mp4

Prettier integration

Code within code blocks is automatically formatted by Prettier when the containing MDX file is formatted. Formatting errors may occur due to invalid syntax and these will cause the "Lint" GitHub action to fail and prevent pull requests from being merged. This is a deliberate tool to help prevent syntax errors from finding their way into code examples.

Formatting can be disabled for a code block by setting the prettier prop to false, but this should only be used when absolutely necessary:

```tsx {{ prettier: false }}
// ...
```

"prettier-ignore" comments are also supported to ignore parts of a code block. This is preferred over the prettier prop where possible:

```tsx
console.log('not ignored')

// prettier-ignore
console.log('ignored')
```

Note

"prettier-ignore" comments are removed when a code block is rendered on the docs site.

`<Steps />`

The <Steps /> component is used to number a set of instructions with an outcome. It uses the highest heading available in the component to denote each step. Can be used with h3 headings.

<Steps>

### Step 1

Do these actions to complete Step 1.

### Another step

#### A heading inside a step

Do these actions to complete Step 2.

</Steps>

The image below shows what this example looks like once rendered.

Callouts

A callout draws attention to something learners should slow down and read.

Note

Callouts can be distracting when people are quickly skimming a page. So only use them if the information absolutely should not be missed!

Callout syntax is based on GitHub's markdown "alerts". To add a callout, use a special blockquote line specifying the callout type, followed by the callout information in a standard blockquote. Five types of callouts are available:

> [!NOTE]
> Useful information that users should know, even when skimming content.

> [!TIP]
> Helpful advice for doing things better or more easily.

> [!IMPORTANT]
> Key information users need to know to achieve their goal.

> [!WARNING]
> Urgent info that needs immediate user attention to avoid problems.

> [!CAUTION]
> Advises about risks or negative outcomes of certain actions.

The image below shows what this example looks like once rendered.

`<CodeBlockTabs />`

The <CodeBlockTabs /> component renders multiple variations of a code block. It accepts an options property, which is an array of strings. For each option provided, it renders a code block.

<CodeBlockTabs options={['npm', 'yarn', 'pnpm']}>

```sh {{ filename: 'terminal' }}
npm i @clerk/nextjs
```

```sh {{ filename: 'terminal' }}
yarn add @clerk/nextjs
```

```sh {{ filename: 'terminal' }}
pnpm add @clerk/nextjs
```

</CodeBlockTabs>

The image below shows what this example looks like once rendered.

`<Tabs />`

The <Tabs /> component structures content in a tabular format. It accepts an items property, which is an array of strings. For each option provided, it renders a <Tab /> component, as shown in the example below.

<Tabs items={['React', 'JavaScript']}>
  <Tab>

    Here is some example text about React.

  </Tab>

  <Tab>

    Here is some example text about JavaScript.

  </Tab>
</Tabs>

The video below shows what this example looks like once rendered.

tabs.mp4

`<TutorialHero />`

The <TutorialHero /> component is used at the beginning of a tutorial-type content page. It accepts the following properties:

Property	Type	Description
`beforeYouStart`	{ title: string; link: string; icon: string }[]	Links to things that learners should complete before the tutorial.
`exampleRepo` (optional)	{ title: string; link: string }[]	Links to example repositories.
`exampleRepoTitle` (optional)	string	The title for the example repository/repositories. Defaults to `'Example repository'`.

<TutorialHero
  beforeYouStart={[
    {
      title: 'Set up a Clerk application',
      link: '/docs/quickstarts/setup-clerk',
      icon: 'clerk',
    },
    {
      title: 'Create a Next.js application',
      link: 'https://nextjs.org/docs/getting-started/installation',
      icon: 'nextjs',
    }
  ]}
  exampleRepo={[
    {
      title: 'App router',
      link: 'https://github.com/clerk/clerk-nextjs-app-quickstart',
    }
  ]}
>

- Install `@clerk/nextjs`
- Set up your environment keys to test your app locally
- Add `<ClerkProvider />` to your application
- Use Clerk middleware to implement route-specific authentication
- Create a header with Clerk components for users to sign in and out

</TutorialHero>

`<Cards>`

The <Cards> component can be used to display a grid of cards in various styles.

Cards uses Markdown list syntax with each card separated by three dashes ---.

<Cards>

- [title](href)
- description

---

- [title](href)
- description
- ![alt text](/image.png)

---

- [title](href)
- description
- {<svg viewBox="0 0 32 32">{/* icon */}</svg>}

</Cards>

Properties

Property	Type	Description
`variant`	`'default' \| 'plain' \| 'cta' \| 'image'`	The visual style of the cards, default: `'default'` (see examples below)
`cols`	`2 \| 3 \| 4`	The number of columns in the card grid, default: `2`
`level`	`2 \| 3 \| 4`	The level to use for the card headings, default: `3`

Examples

default variant

<Cards>

- [Quickstarts & Tutorials](/docs/quickstarts/overview)
- Explore our end-to-end tutorials and getting started guides for different application stacks using Clerk.

---

- [UI Components](/docs/components/overview)
- Clerk's pre-built UI components give you a beautiful, fully-functional user management experience in minutes.

</Cards>

default variant with icons

<Cards>

- [Quickstarts & Tutorials](/docs/quickstarts/overview)
- Explore our end-to-end tutorials and getting started guides for different application stacks using Clerk.
- {<svg viewBox="0 0 32 32">{/*  */}</svg>}

---

- [UI Components](/docs/components/overview)
- Clerk's pre-built UI components give you a beautiful, fully-functional user management experience in minutes.
- {<svg viewBox="0 0 32 32">{/*  */}</svg>}

</Cards>

plain variant with icons

<Cards variant="plain">

- [Quickstarts & Tutorials](/docs/quickstarts/overview)
- Explore our end-to-end tutorials and getting started guides for different application stacks using Clerk.
- {<svg viewBox="0 0 32 32">{/*  */}</svg>}

---

- [UI Components](/docs/components/overview)
- Clerk's pre-built UI components give you a beautiful, fully-functional user management experience in minutes.
- {<svg viewBox="0 0 32 32">{/*  */}</svg>}

</Cards>

image variant

<Cards variant="image">

- [What is Clerk authentication?](/docs/authentication/overview)
- Clerk offers multiple authentication strategies to identify legitimate users of your application, and to allow them to make authenticated requests to your backend.
- ![](/what-is-clerk.png)

---

- [What is the “User” object?](/docs/users/overview)
- The User object contains all account information that describes a user of your app in Clerk. Users can authenticate and manage their accounts, update their personal and contact info, or set up security features for their accounts.
- ![](/user-object.png)

</Cards>

cta variant

<Cards variant="cta">

- [Join our Discord](/discord 'Join Discord')
- Join our official Discord server to chat with us directly and become a part of the Clerk community.
- {<svg viewBox="0 0 32 32">{/*  */}</svg>}

---

- [Need help?](/support 'Get help')
- Contact us through Discord, Twitter, or email to receive answers to your questions and learn more about Clerk.
- {<svg viewBox="0 0 32 32">{/*  */}</svg>}

</Cards>

`<Properties>`

The <Properties> component can be used to display a list of properties.

Properties uses Markdown list syntax with each property separated by three dashes ---.

<Properties>

- `name`

description

---

- `name`
- `type`

description

description continued…

</Properties>

Note

Typically name and type would make use of inline code (`) but this not required

Example

<Properties>

- `path`
- `string`

The root path the sign-in flow is mounted at. Default: `/sign-in`

---

- `fallback`
- `React.ReactNode`

Fallback markup to render while Clerk is loading. Default: `null`

</Properties>

`<Include />`

The <Include /> component can be used to inject the contents of another MDX file:

{/* Render `docs/_partials/oauth-instructions.mdx` */}

<Include src="_partials/oauth-instructions" />

Images and static assets

Images and static assets should be placed in the public/ folder. To reference an image or asset in content, prefix the path with /docs. For example, if an image exists at public/images/logo.png, to render it on a page you would use the following: ![Logo](/docs/images/logo.png).

Use the dark prop to specify a different image to use in dark mode:

![Logo](/docs/images/logo.png){{ dark: '/docs/images/logo-dark.png' }}

You may also optionally provide the following next/image props: quality, priority

![Image](/docs/images/my-image.png){{ quality: 90, priority: true }}

When rendering images, make sure that you provide appropriate alternate text. Reference this decision tree for help picking a suitable value.

Help wanted!

Looking to contribute? Please check out the open issues for opportunities to help out. Thanks for taking the time to help make Clerk's docs better!

Provide feedback

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CONTRIBUTING.md

CONTRIBUTING.md

Contributing to Clerk's documentation

Written in MDX

Project setup

Creating an issue

Creating a Pull Request

Preview your changes

Previewing changes locally (for Clerk employees)

Validating your changes

Getting your contributions reviewed

Deployment

Repository structure

Navigation manifest

Editing content

File metadata

Headings

Code blocks

Highlighting

Code block shortcodes

Prettier integration

`<Steps />`

Callouts

`<CodeBlockTabs />`

`<Tabs />`

`<TutorialHero />`

`<Cards>`

Properties

Examples

`<Properties>`

`<Include />`

Images and static assets

Help wanted!

Files

CONTRIBUTING.md

Latest commit

History

CONTRIBUTING.md

File metadata and controls

Contributing to Clerk's documentation

Written in MDX

Project setup

Creating an issue

Creating a Pull Request

Preview your changes

Previewing changes locally (for Clerk employees)

Validating your changes

Getting your contributions reviewed

Deployment

Repository structure

Navigation manifest

Editing content

File metadata

Headings

Code blocks

Highlighting

Code block shortcodes

Prettier integration

<Steps />

Callouts

<CodeBlockTabs />

<Tabs />

<TutorialHero />

<Cards>

Properties

Examples

<Properties>

<Include />

Images and static assets

Help wanted!

`<Steps />`

`<CodeBlockTabs />`

`<Tabs />`

`<TutorialHero />`

`<Cards>`

`<Properties>`

`<Include />`