Also covers multi-language documentation with hreflang support and Content Layer API integration (docsLoader, schema) specific to Starlight's content model, plus CSS custom property theming. Does not cover generic Astro Content Layer usage outside Starlight (astro-content) or non-Starlight i18n routing (astro-i18n) — those are handled by their own skills.
Production-ready documentation theme for Astro with built-in search, dark mode, i18n, and rich plugin ecosystem.
Agent Workflow (MANDATORY)
Before ANY implementation, use TeamCreate to spawn 3 agents:
- explore-codebase - Analyze existing Starlight config, sidebar, and content structure
- research-expert - Verify Starlight plugin APIs via Context7/Exa
- mcp__context7__query-docs - Check Starlight docs for Content Layer and i18n patterns
After implementation, run sniper for validation.
Overview
When to Use
- Building technical documentation sites
- Creating API reference docs (with starlight-openapi)
- Generating docs from TypeScript types (with starlight-typedoc)
- Adding a blog to a documentation site (with starlight-blog)
- Setting up versioned documentation (with starlight-versions)
- Multi-language documentation with hreflang support
Why Starlight
| Feature | Benefit |
|---|---|
| Pagefind built-in | Full-text search, zero config |
| Dark/light mode | Automatic, CSS custom properties |
| Sidebar config | Filesystem-based or manual groups |
| Plugin ecosystem | DocSearch, blog, openapi, typedoc |
| Content Layer API | Astro 7 content collections integration |
| llms.txt support | starlight-llms-txt for AI discoverability |
| No-JS mobile menu (0.42) | Popover API — menu works with JS disabled; ships compiled JS + .d.ts (faster tsc) |
Reference Guide
Concepts
| Topic | Reference | When to Consult |
|---|---|---|
| Setup | setup.md | Installation, project structure |
| Sidebar | sidebar-config.md | Navigation, groups, auto-gen |
| Search | search.md | Pagefind, DocSearch, exclude pages |
| Plugins | plugins.md | Blog, openapi, typedoc, versions |
| i18n | i18n-multilang.md | Locales, translations, hreflang |
| Content Layer | content-layer.md | docsLoader, schema, collections |
| Customization | customization.md | CSS variables, components override |
Templates
| Template | When to Use |
|---|---|
| starlight-config.md | Full astro.config.mjs with Starlight |
| sidebar-example.md | Complex sidebar with groups and badges |
Best Practices
- Start with filesystem sidebar - Add manual config only when needed
- Keep Pagefind for small sites - DocSearch for high-traffic or large docs
- Use
starlight-llms-txt- AI crawlers increasingly important for docs - Content Layer schema - Type-safe frontmatter prevents runtime errors
- CSS custom properties - Override theme without component slots