Partials

Partials let you extract repeated content into separate files and include them anywhere. Instead of duplicating the same call-to-action, disclaimer, or author bio across multiple pages, write it once and reference it by name.

Partials use Markdoc's built-in {% partial %} tag. Content is inlined at parse time, so there is no runtime overhead.

Setup

Create a _partials/ directory at the root of your content directory. Each .md file inside becomes a named partial.

content/
├── _partials/
│   ├── cta.md
│   └── shared/
│       └── disclaimer.md
├── docs/
│   └── getting-started.md
└── _layout.md

Partial files are plain Markdown — no frontmatter required. They can contain any Markdoc content including runes.

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Basic usage

Use the {% partial %} tag with a file attribute pointing to the filename relative to _partials/. The tag is self-closing.

{% partial file="cta.md" /%}

The partial's content is inserted directly into the page at that position. It behaves as if you had written the content inline.

Subdirectories

Organize partials into subdirectories for larger sites. Reference them with the relative path from _partials/.

{% partial file="shared/disclaimer.md" /%}

Passing variables

Pass data into a partial using the variables attribute. Inside the partial, access variables with the $ prefix.

Partial file (_partials/greeting.md):

Welcome, {% $name %}! You're on the **{% $plan %}** plan.

Usage:

{% partial file="greeting.md" variables={name: "Sarah", plan: "Pro"} /%}

This renders as: "Welcome, Sarah! You're on the Pro plan."

Nesting partials

Partials can include other partials. A shared header partial might pull in a logo partial and a navigation partial.

{% partial file="logo.md" /%}

{% partial file="nav-links.md" /%}

Avoid circular references — a partial that includes itself (directly or indirectly) will cause a parse error.

How it works

Partials are resolved during the parse phase, before any rune transforms run. Each partial file is parsed into a Markdoc AST node and spliced into the page's AST wherever {% partial %} appears. This means:

• Runes inside partials work exactly as they would inline
• Headings in partials appear in the table of contents
• No extra network requests or runtime cost

Editor support

The Refrakt language server provides full IDE support for partials:

• Completions — type {% partial file=" and get autocomplete suggestions for available partial files
• Diagnostics — a warning appears if a referenced partial file does not exist, with suggestions for similar names
• Go-to-definition — jump directly to the partial source file from any {% partial %} tag