Routing

File-based routing, source directory structure, clean URLs, and route rewrites

VitePress uses file-based routing where markdown files map directly to HTML pages.

File to URL Mapping

.
├─ index.md           →  /index.html (/)
├─ about.md           →  /about.html
├─ guide/
│  ├─ index.md        →  /guide/index.html (/guide/)
│  └─ getting-started.md → /guide/getting-started.html

Project Structure

.
├─ docs                    # Project root
│  ├─ .vitepress          # VitePress directory
│  │  ├─ config.ts        # Configuration
│  │  ├─ theme/           # Custom theme
│  │  ├─ cache/           # Dev server cache (gitignore)
│  │  └─ dist/            # Build output (gitignore)
│  ├─ public/             # Static assets (copied as-is)
│  ├─ index.md            # Home page
│  └─ guide/
│     └─ intro.md

Source Directory

Separate source files from project root:

// .vitepress/config.ts
export default {
  srcDir: './src'  // Markdown files live in ./src/
}

With srcDir: 'src':

.
├─ .vitepress/           # Config stays at project root
└─ src/                  # Source directory
   ├─ index.md          →  /
   └─ guide/intro.md    →  /guide/intro.html

Linking Between Pages

Use relative or absolute paths. Omit file extensions:

<!-- Recommended -->
[Getting Started](./getting-started)
[Guide](/guide/)

<!-- Works but not recommended -->
[Getting Started](./getting-started.md)
[Getting Started](./getting-started.html)

Clean URLs

Remove .html extension from URLs (requires server support):

export default {
  cleanUrls: true
}

Server requirements:

• Netlify, GitHub Pages: Supported by default

• Vercel: Enable cleanUrls in vercel.json

• Nginx: Configure try_files $uri $uri.html $uri/ =404

Route Rewrites

Customize the mapping between source and output paths:

export default {
  rewrites: {
    // Static mapping
    'packages/pkg-a/src/index.md': 'pkg-a/index.md',
    'packages/pkg-a/src/foo.md': 'pkg-a/foo.md',
    
    // Dynamic parameters
    'packages/:pkg/src/:slug*': ':pkg/:slug*'
  }
}

This maps packages/pkg-a/src/intro.md → /pkg-a/intro.html.

Important: Relative links in rewritten files should be based on the rewritten path, not the source path.

Rewrites can also be a function:

export default {
  rewrites(id) {
    return id.replace(/^packages\/([^/]+)\/src\//, '$1/')
  }
}

Public Directory

Files in public/ are copied to output root as-is:

docs/public/
  ├─ favicon.ico     →  /favicon.ico
  ├─ robots.txt      →  /robots.txt
  └─ images/logo.png →  /images/logo.png

Reference with absolute paths:

![Logo](/images/logo.png)

Base URL

For sub-path deployment (e.g., GitHub Pages):

export default {
  base: '/repo-name/'
}

All absolute paths are automatically prefixed with base. For dynamic paths in components, use withBase:

<script setup>
import { withBase } from 'vitepress'
</script>

<template>
  <img :src="withBase('/logo.png')" />
</template>

Key Points

• index.md files map to directory root (/guide/ instead of /guide/index)

• Use paths without extensions in links for flexibility

• srcDir separates source from config

• cleanUrls removes .html but requires server support

• rewrites enables complex source structures with clean output URLs