|
| 1 | +--- |
| 2 | +title: Tips & Tricks |
| 3 | +sidebarTitle: Tips & Tricks |
| 4 | +description: Practical patterns for building advanced pages in Mintlify |
| 5 | +icon: lightbulb |
| 6 | +--- |
| 7 | + |
| 8 | +## React Component Support |
| 9 | + |
| 10 | +Mintlify MDX supports embedding custom React components directly in your documentation: |
| 11 | + |
| 12 | +- Import components from the `snippets` folder |
| 13 | +- Use React hooks (useState, useEffect, etc.) |
| 14 | +- Create interactive demos, calculators, and visualizations |
| 15 | +- Build reusable component libraries |
| 16 | + |
| 17 | +```jsx snippets/ColorPicker.jsx |
| 18 | +export const ColorPicker = () => { |
| 19 | + const [color, setColor] = React.useState('#3CD0E2'); |
| 20 | + |
| 21 | + return ( |
| 22 | + <div> |
| 23 | + <input |
| 24 | + type="color" |
| 25 | + value={color} |
| 26 | + onChange={(e) => setColor(e.target.value)} |
| 27 | + /> |
| 28 | + <p>Selected: {color}</p> |
| 29 | + </div> |
| 30 | + ); |
| 31 | +}; |
| 32 | +``` |
| 33 | + |
| 34 | +```mdx Using the Component |
| 35 | +import { ColorPicker } from '/snippets/ColorPicker'; |
| 36 | + |
| 37 | +## Try It Out |
| 38 | + |
| 39 | +<ColorPicker /> |
| 40 | +``` |
| 41 | + |
| 42 | +<Info> |
| 43 | +React components must be placed in the `snippets` folder and exported as named exports. You cannot import components from arbitrary MDX files. |
| 44 | +</Info> |
| 45 | + |
| 46 | +### Preventing the Double Flash |
| 47 | + |
| 48 | +Mintlify pages render server-side first, then hydrate on the client. React components that modify layout or inject dynamic content cause a **double flash**: the server-rendered markup appears, disappears during hydration, then re-renders with client state. This creates a jarring flicker. |
| 49 | + |
| 50 | +The fix: render your component **invisible** on mount, then fade it in after hydration completes. |
| 51 | + |
| 52 | +<Tabs> |
| 53 | + <Tab title="Pattern"> |
| 54 | + Every client-side React component should follow this three-part pattern: |
| 55 | + |
| 56 | + 1. **State gate**: `useState(false)` tracks whether the component has mounted |
| 57 | + 2. **Mount trigger**: `useEffect(() => set(true), [])` fires once after hydration |
| 58 | + 3. **Opacity transition**: the wrapper starts at `opacity: 0` and transitions to `1` |
| 59 | + |
| 60 | + ```jsx snippets/MyComponent.jsx |
| 61 | + export const MyComponent = () => { |
| 62 | + const [ready, setReady] = React.useState(false); |
| 63 | + |
| 64 | + React.useEffect(() => { |
| 65 | + setReady(true); |
| 66 | + }, []); |
| 67 | + |
| 68 | + return ( |
| 69 | + <div style={{ |
| 70 | + opacity: ready ? 1 : 0, |
| 71 | + transition: 'opacity 0.5s ease-out' |
| 72 | + }}> |
| 73 | + {/* your content */} |
| 74 | + </div> |
| 75 | + ); |
| 76 | + }; |
| 77 | + ``` |
| 78 | + |
| 79 | + <Warning> |
| 80 | + Never use `display: none` or `visibility: hidden` for this purpose. Those properties trigger layout reflows when they change, causing the content to "jump" into place. The `opacity` + `transition` approach is GPU-accelerated and reflow-free. |
| 81 | + </Warning> |
| 82 | + </Tab> |
| 83 | + |
| 84 | + <Tab title="With Slide Animation"> |
| 85 | + Combine the opacity gate with a CSS transform for a polished entrance. Use `backfaceVisibility: 'hidden'` and `translateZ(0)` to keep the animation on the GPU compositing layer. |
| 86 | + |
| 87 | + ```jsx snippets/SlideInSection.jsx |
| 88 | + export const SlideInSection = ({ children, direction = 'left' }) => { |
| 89 | + const [ready, setReady] = React.useState(false); |
| 90 | + |
| 91 | + React.useEffect(() => { |
| 92 | + setReady(true); |
| 93 | + }, []); |
| 94 | + |
| 95 | + const offset = direction === 'left' ? '-50px' : '50px'; |
| 96 | + |
| 97 | + return ( |
| 98 | + <div style={{ |
| 99 | + opacity: ready ? 1 : 0, |
| 100 | + transform: ready ? 'translateX(0) translateZ(0)' : `translateX(${offset}) translateZ(0)`, |
| 101 | + transition: 'opacity 0.8s ease-out, transform 0.8s ease-out', |
| 102 | + backfaceVisibility: 'hidden' |
| 103 | + }}> |
| 104 | + {children} |
| 105 | + </div> |
| 106 | + ); |
| 107 | + }; |
| 108 | + ``` |
| 109 | + </Tab> |
| 110 | + |
| 111 | + <Tab title="Page Modes"> |
| 112 | + Mintlify has four page modes set via frontmatter. Choose based on how much chrome you need: |
| 113 | + |
| 114 | + | Mode | Sidebar | Table of Contents | Footer | Top Navbar | Use Case | |
| 115 | + |------|---------|-------------------|--------|------------|----------| |
| 116 | + | *(default)* | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Standard documentation pages | |
| 117 | + | `wide` | Yes | Hidden | Yes | Yes | Pages with tables, diagrams, or wide content | |
| 118 | + | `center` | Hidden | Hidden | Yes | Yes | Text-heavy pages like changelogs | |
| 119 | + | `custom` | Hidden | Hidden | Hidden | **Yes** | Landing pages, branded layouts | |
| 120 | + |
| 121 | + ```mdx |
| 122 | + --- |
| 123 | + title: "My Page" |
| 124 | + mode: "wide" |
| 125 | + --- |
| 126 | + ``` |
| 127 | + |
| 128 | + <Note> |
| 129 | + All modes preserve the **top navbar**. There is no built-in way to hide it. The `custom` mode is the most minimal — it gives you a blank canvas with only the top nav remaining. |
| 130 | + </Note> |
| 131 | + </Tab> |
| 132 | + |
| 133 | + <Tab title="Custom Mode Landing Pages"> |
| 134 | + The DotNetDocs home page uses `mode: "custom"` — Mintlify hides the sidebar, table of contents, and footer automatically, leaving only the top navbar. Your React components fill the page. |
| 135 | + |
| 136 | + However, Mintlify still applies content width constraints and renders auto-generated prose elements (the `h1` from `title` and `p` from `description` in frontmatter). A CSS wrapper class handles these: |
| 137 | + |
| 138 | + ```mdx index.mdx |
| 139 | + --- |
| 140 | + title: My Docs - Landing Page |
| 141 | + sidebarTitle: Home |
| 142 | + mode: "custom" |
| 143 | + icon: house |
| 144 | + --- |
| 145 | + |
| 146 | + import { Hero } from '/snippets/Hero.jsx' |
| 147 | + import { Features } from '/snippets/Features.jsx' |
| 148 | + import { CTA } from '/snippets/CTA.jsx' |
| 149 | + |
| 150 | + <div className="custom-landing"> |
| 151 | + <Hero /> |
| 152 | + <Features /> |
| 153 | + <CTA /> |
| 154 | + </div> |
| 155 | + ``` |
| 156 | + |
| 157 | + ```css style.css |
| 158 | + /* Remove content width constraints so components go edge-to-edge */ |
| 159 | + .custom-landing main, |
| 160 | + .custom-landing article { |
| 161 | + max-width: 100% !important; |
| 162 | + padding: 0 !important; |
| 163 | + } |
| 164 | + |
| 165 | + /* Suppress the auto-generated h1 and description from frontmatter */ |
| 166 | + .custom-landing .prose > h1:first-child, |
| 167 | + .custom-landing .prose > p:first-child { |
| 168 | + display: none; |
| 169 | + } |
| 170 | + ``` |
| 171 | + |
| 172 | + The result at runtime: |
| 173 | + |
| 174 | + ```plaintext |
| 175 | + ┌──────────────────────────────────────────┐ |
| 176 | + │ Mintlify Top Navbar │ ← Always visible (all modes) |
| 177 | + ├──────────────────────────────────────────┤ |
| 178 | + │ │ |
| 179 | + │ <Hero /> ← Full-width canvas │ |
| 180 | + │ <Features /> ← No sidebar or TOC │ |
| 181 | + │ <CTA /> ← No footer │ |
| 182 | + │ │ |
| 183 | + └──────────────────────────────────────────┘ |
| 184 | + ``` |
| 185 | + |
| 186 | + <Warning> |
| 187 | + Mintlify warns that **inline `style` props on custom mode pages cause layout shift on page load**. Use Tailwind classes or a custom CSS file instead of `style={{...}}` for layout properties like width, padding, and margins. The `opacity`/`transform` pattern for flash prevention is fine because those properties don't affect layout. |
| 188 | + </Warning> |
| 189 | + |
| 190 | + <Note> |
| 191 | + The `sidebarTitle` frontmatter field controls what label appears in the sidebar when users are on *other* pages. Even though the sidebar is hidden on the custom page itself, this title still matters for navigation elsewhere. |
| 192 | + </Note> |
| 193 | + </Tab> |
| 194 | +</Tabs> |
| 195 | + |
| 196 | +<Tip> |
| 197 | +**Rules of thumb:** |
| 198 | +- Only `opacity` and `transform` are safe for mount animations — they don't trigger reflows |
| 199 | +- Always use `ease-out` timing — it feels responsive because the fast phase happens first |
| 200 | +- Keep transitions under 0.8s — longer feels sluggish, shorter can still flash |
| 201 | +- Use `translateZ(0)` to force GPU compositing, even if you're not animating position |
| 202 | +</Tip> |
| 203 | + |
| 204 | +### Loading External Scripts |
| 205 | + |
| 206 | +Mintlify doesn't support `<script>` tags directly in MDX. Instead, use Mintlify's built-in `load()` function to fetch external libraries at runtime. Chain multiple `load()` calls with `.then()` to guarantee dependency order, and guard your initialization against Mintlify's hydration timing. |
| 207 | + |
| 208 | +```jsx snippets/AnimatedSection.jsx |
| 209 | +export const AnimatedSection = ({ children }) => { |
| 210 | + const [ready, setReady] = React.useState(false); |
| 211 | + |
| 212 | + React.useEffect(() => { |
| 213 | + load('https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/gsap@3.14.1/dist/gsap.min.js') |
| 214 | + .then(function () { |
| 215 | + return load('https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/gsap@3.14.1/dist/ScrollTrigger.min.js'); |
| 216 | + }) |
| 217 | + .then(function () { |
| 218 | + // Wait for DOM to be fully ready |
| 219 | + if (document.readyState === 'complete') { |
| 220 | + initAnimations(); |
| 221 | + } else { |
| 222 | + window.addEventListener('load', initAnimations); |
| 223 | + } |
| 224 | + // Also try after a delay in case Mintlify hydration is still running |
| 225 | + setTimeout(function () { |
| 226 | + if (ScrollTrigger.getAll().length === 0) { |
| 227 | + initAnimations(); |
| 228 | + } |
| 229 | + }, 1500); |
| 230 | + }) |
| 231 | + .catch(function (e) { |
| 232 | + console.error('GSAP load failed:', e); |
| 233 | + }); |
| 234 | + |
| 235 | + setReady(true); |
| 236 | + }, []); |
| 237 | + |
| 238 | + function initAnimations() { |
| 239 | + gsap.registerPlugin(ScrollTrigger); |
| 240 | + // Your GSAP animations here |
| 241 | + } |
| 242 | + |
| 243 | + return ( |
| 244 | + <div style={{ |
| 245 | + opacity: ready ? 1 : 0, |
| 246 | + transition: 'opacity 0.5s ease-out' |
| 247 | + }}> |
| 248 | + {children} |
| 249 | + </div> |
| 250 | + ); |
| 251 | +}; |
| 252 | +``` |
| 253 | + |
| 254 | +The pattern has three key parts: |
| 255 | + |
| 256 | +1. **Sequential loading**: Chain `.then()` calls so dependent libraries (like ScrollTrigger) load after their prerequisites (GSAP core) |
| 257 | +2. **Hydration-safe init**: Check `document.readyState` first, then also set a `setTimeout` fallback — Mintlify's hydration can delay DOM readiness beyond the browser's `load` event |
| 258 | +3. **Idempotency guard**: Before the timeout fires, check whether initialization already ran (e.g., `ScrollTrigger.getAll().length === 0`) to avoid double-initializing |
| 259 | + |
| 260 | +<Warning> |
| 261 | +The `load()` function is a Mintlify global — it is **not** a standard browser API and won't work outside of Mintlify. Don't confuse it with dynamic `import()` or other module loaders. |
| 262 | +</Warning> |
| 263 | + |
| 264 | +<Tip> |
| 265 | +Pin your CDN URLs to specific versions (e.g., `gsap@3.14.1`) rather than using `@latest`. Unpinned versions can break your docs without warning when the library ships a breaking change. |
| 266 | +</Tip> |
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