Skip to main content

Hidden pages don't appear in your site's navigation, but anyone who knows the URL can still access them. For example, if you create a hidden page like guides/hidden-page.mdx, visitors can reach it at docs.yoursite.com/guides/hidden-page.

Use hidden pages for content you want users to access or reference as context for AI tools, but don't want listed in the navigation.

If your content requires strict access control, you must configure authentication.

To restrict pages to specific user groups, set up group-based access control.

See an example of a hidden page.

Some navigation elements like sidebars, dropdowns, and tabs may appear empty or shift layout on hidden pages.

Hide a page

To hide a page, set hidden: true in the page's frontmatter or remove it from your docs.json navigation.

Set hidden: true in frontmatter

Add hidden: true to a page's frontmatter to remove it from the rendered navigation while still including it in your docs.json configuration.

---
title: "My hidden page"
hidden: true
---

To make a page visible again, remove the hidden field entirely. Do not set hidden: false as it results in undefined behavior.

By default, hidden: true excludes a page from search engine indexing, sitemaps, and AI context.

To include it anyway, set seo.indexing: "all" in docs.json. See Search, SEO, and AI indexing for details.

noindex: true only affects indexing—it does not hide the page from navigation. See Disable indexing for more information.

Remove the page from navigation

If you don't include a page in your docs.json navigation, you hide it. This method works well for pages that you don't want to appear in navigation at all.

Hide a group of pages

To hide a group of pages, set the hidden property to true for the group in your docs.json file:

highlight={4}
"groups": [
  {
    "group": "Getting started",
    "hidden": true,
    "pages": [
      "index",
      "quickstart"
    ]
  },
  {
    "group": "Guides",
    "pages": [
      "guides/hidden-page.mdx",
      "guides/hidden-groups.mdx"
    ]
  }
]

In this example, the Getting started group stays hidden and the Guides group remains visible.

Hide a tab

To hide a tab, add the hidden property for the tab in your docs.json file:

highlight={4}
"tabs": [
  {
    "tab": "Home",
    "hidden": true,
    "pages": [
      "index",
      "quickstart"
    ]
  }
]

Search, SEO, and AI indexing

By default, hidden pages don't appear in indexing for search engines, documentation site search, or as AI assistant context. You have two ways to include hidden content in search and indexing.

The following table summarizes how each property affects page visibility and indexing:

PropertySidebar navigationSite searchSitemapSearch engine indexingAI assistant context
hidden: trueHiddenExcludedExcludedExcludedExcluded
noindex: trueVisibleIncludedIncludedExcludedExcluded
searchable: true (on hidden tab/group)HiddenIncludedIncludedIncludedIncluded
seo.indexing: "all" (in docs.json)HiddenIncludedIncludedIncludedIncluded

Include all hidden pages

To include every hidden page across your site in search, sitemaps, and AI context, add the seo property to your docs.json:

"seo": {
    "indexing": "all"
}

Include pages under specific hidden tabs or groups

To include only the pages under a specific hidden tab or group, set searchable: true on that tab or group in your docs.json. Use this option when you hide tabs or groups to control navigation layout but still want descendant pages discoverable.

highlight={5}
"tabs": [
  {
    "tab": "Storage",
    "hidden": true,
    "searchable": true,
    "groups": [
      {
        "group": "Buckets",
        "pages": ["products/storage/buckets/create-bucket"]
      }
    ]
  }
]

With searchable: true, descendant pages remain in:

  • Documentation site search
  • sitemap.xml
  • AI assistant context
  • MCP server search results
  • Search engine indexing (the noindex meta tag is not applied)

The tab or group itself stays hidden from the rendered navigation.

A page's own hidden: true frontmatter always takes precedence. To re-exclude a descendant group, set hidden: true on it without searchable: true.

Understanding hidden versus noindex

The relationship between hidden and noindex is one-directional:

  • hidden: true → automatically applies noindex: Hidden pages are automatically excluded from search engines, sitemaps, and AI context.
  • noindex: true → does NOT apply hidden: Pages with noindex: true remain visible in navigation. They only affect search engine indexing and AI context.

To exclude a specific page from search engines while keeping it visible in navigation, add noindex: true to its frontmatter. To hide a page from navigation and search engines, use hidden: true.