Layout — Holocron

Page modes

Every page can set a mode in its frontmatter to control how much of the editorial layout is rendered.

Mode	Left sidebar	Right aside	Editorial grid	Use case
`default`	Yes	Yes	Yes	Standard docs pages
`compact`	Yes	No	Yes (2-column)	Focused docs with a narrow frame
`center`	No	Yes	Yes (2-column)	Focused content without nav
`custom`	No	No	No	Landing pages, custom layouts

wide and frame are accepted for Mintlify compatibility and alias to default.

Compact mode

Use compact to keep the left navigation while removing the optional right aside. The content column keeps its normal reading width, so the full page frame becomes narrower and the header aligns with the content on the right. Compact also sets --sidebar-font-size to 12px (the default is 13px, 14px at xl). Override that token on :root if you want a different size.

1234---
$schema: https://holocron.so/frontmatter.json
mode: "compact"
---

Set the same mode in docs.json to make it the default for the full site. Compact mode removes the right aside, so Holocron defaults assistant.display to floating. Ask AI stays available as a bottom pill. Set display to sidebar if you do not want the pill.

12345{
  "layout": {
    "mode": "compact"
  }
}

See AI Assistant for the floating pill. Page frontmatter overrides the site default. Use mode: "default" on a specific page to restore the full three-column layout.

Compact never opens a right rail. Authored asides, API examples, and table-of-contents panels render in the main column. The sidebar Ask AI widget stays hidden.

With the default geometry, compact mode derives a 910px frame from the existing layout values:

11200px max width - 230px right aside - 60px column gap = 910px

There is no separate compact width setting. Changes to layout.maxWidth or layout.columnGap update the compact frame automatically.

Custom mode

Set mode: "custom" to strip the editorial layout entirely. Only the navbar, tab bar, footer, and mobile navigation are rendered. The content area is a plain container where you control everything with your own HTML and Tailwind classes.

1234---
$schema: https://holocron.so/frontmatter.json
mode: "custom"
---

This is useful for landing pages, pricing pages, or any page where you want full control over the layout. Standard MDX components like code blocks, callouts, and icons still work inside custom pages.

`maxWidth`

Use the maxWidth frontmatter field to constrain the content container width in pixels. The navbar stays full-width; only the content area is narrowed and centered.

12345---
$schema: https://holocron.so/frontmatter.json
mode: "custom"
maxWidth: 700
---

Example landing page

1234567891011121314151617181920---
mode: "custom"
maxWidth: 800
---

<div className="flex flex-col items-center py-24 gap-6 text-center">

<h1 className="text-5xl font-bold tracking-tight">
  Your Product Name
</h1>

<p className="text-lg text-muted-foreground max-w-xl">
  A short description of what your product does and why it matters.
</p>

<a href="./quickstart" className="no-underline rounded-lg bg-primary px-5 py-2.5 text-sm font-medium text-primary-foreground">
  Get Started
</a>

</div>

Full-width layout

By default Holocron caps the page grid at 1200px. The left sidebar, content column, and right sidebar all live inside that constraint.

You can make the layout span the full viewport by overriding a single CSS variable.

Override `--grid-max-width`

In your style.css file (see Custom CSS):

1234/* style.css */
:root {
  --grid-max-width: 2600px;
}

This pushes the left and right sidebars toward the screen edges. The content column grows to fill the extra space, up to its 720px cap. Any remaining width is distributed as gap between the three columns.

12345678910111213Default (1200px max)
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│              ┌───────┐    ┌──────────────┐    ┌───────┐                    │
│              │  nav  │    │   content    │    │ aside │                    │
│              └───────┘    └──────────────┘    └───────┘                    │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Full-width (2600px max)
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ ┌───────┐                        ┌──────────────┐                        ┌───────┐       │
│ │  nav  │                        │   content    │                        │ aside │       │
│ └───────┘                        └──────────────┘                        └───────┘       │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

How the grid works

Holocron's page grid is controlled by four CSS variables:

Variable	Default	Description
`--grid-max-width`	`1200px`	Overall page cap
`--grid-nav-width`	`230px`	Left sidebar (table of contents)
`--grid-sidebar-width`	`230px`	Right sidebar (aside content)
`--grid-gap`	`60px`	Gap between columns

The content column width is derived automatically:

1content = min(720px, max-width - nav - sidebar - 2 × gap)

This means increasing --grid-max-width does not make the content column infinitely wide. It grows until it hits the 720px cap, then the extra space becomes gap.

Aside height and section spacing

A non-full <Aside> shares its vertical space with the section it belongs to (the content between two headings). The section row expands to fit whichever is taller: the main content or the aside. If the aside callout is taller than the section text, you will see extra whitespace below the main content.

To avoid this, keep aside callouts short and only place them in sections with enough body text to match or exceed the aside height.

True edge-to-edge

If you want the grid to always fill the viewport regardless of screen size, use 100vw:

1234/* style.css */
:root {
  --grid-max-width: 100vw;
}

This removes the max-width constraint entirely. The grid stretches on every screen.