moreminimore-redesign/templates/blank/.agents/skills/building-emdash-site/references/querying-and-rendering.md

Querying and Rendering Content

Content Queries

All query functions are imported from "emdash".

getEmDashCollection

Fetch multiple entries from a collection. Returns { entries, error, cacheHint, nextCursor }.

import { getEmDashCollection } from "emdash";

// Basic
const { entries: posts } = await getEmDashCollection("posts");

// With options
const { entries: posts, cacheHint } = await getEmDashCollection("posts", {
	status: "published",
	limit: 10,
	orderBy: { published_at: "desc" },
	where: { category: "news" },
});

Options:

• status -- filter by status ("published", "draft", etc.)
• limit -- max entries
• cursor -- opaque cursor for keyset pagination (pass nextCursor from a previous result)
• orderBy -- { field: "asc" | "desc" } (default: { created_at: "desc" })
• where -- filter by field values or taxonomy terms. Supports arrays for OR: { category: ["news", "featured"] }
• locale -- filter by locale (when i18n is configured)

getEmDashEntry

Fetch a single entry by slug. Returns { entry, error, isPreview, cacheHint }.

import { getEmDashEntry } from "emdash";

const { entry: post, cacheHint } = await getEmDashEntry("posts", slug);

if (!post) {
	return Astro.redirect("/404");
}

Entry Shape

interface ContentEntry<T> {
	id: string; // The slug (used in URLs)
	data: T; // All fields, including system fields
	edit: EditProxy; // Visual editing attributes (spread onto elements)
}

// data includes system fields plus your custom fields:
interface PostData {
	id: string; // Database ULID (use for taxonomy lookups, etc.)
	slug: string;
	status: string;
	title: string;
	featured_image?: {
		id: string;
		src?: string;
		alt?: string;
		width?: number;
		height?: number;
	};
	content?: PortableTextBlock[];
	createdAt: Date;
	updatedAt: Date;
	publishedAt: Date | null;
	// Bylines (eagerly loaded)
	byline: BylineSummary | null; // Primary author
	bylines: ContentBylineCredit[]; // All credits (with roleLabel, source)
	// ... your custom fields
}

Important: entry.id is the slug (for URLs), entry.data.id is the database ULID (for API calls like getEntryTerms).

Caching

Query results include a cacheHint for Astro's Route Caching:

---
const { entries: posts, cacheHint } = await getEmDashCollection("posts");
Astro.cache.set(cacheHint);
---

Always call Astro.cache.set(cacheHint) -- it enables automatic cache invalidation when content changes.

Rendering Portable Text

PortableText component

---
import { PortableText } from "emdash/ui";
---
<PortableText value={post.data.content} />

Renders standard blocks (paragraphs, headings, lists, blockquotes, code blocks, images) and inline marks (bold, italic, code, strikethrough, links).

Custom block types

For custom PT blocks (e.g., marketing components), pass a components prop:

---
import { PortableText } from "emdash/ui";
import Hero from "./blocks/Hero.astro";
import Features from "./blocks/Features.astro";

const customTypes = {
	"marketing.hero": Hero,
	"marketing.features": Features,
};
---
<PortableText value={page.data.content} components={{ type: customTypes }} />

Each custom component receives the block data as props.

Image Component

Always use the EmDash Image component for CMS images. Image fields are objects, not strings.

---
import { Image } from "emdash/ui";
---

{/* Correct -- passes the image object */}
<Image image={post.data.featured_image} />

{/* Also works with explicit props */}
{post.data.featured_image?.src && (
	<img src={post.data.featured_image.src} alt={post.data.featured_image.alt || ""} />
)}

Common mistake:

{/* WRONG -- image is an object, not a string */}
<img src={post.data.featured_image} />

Visual Editing Attributes

Entries include edit attributes for inline editing. Spread them onto the element that displays the field:

<h1 {...post.edit.title}>{post.data.title}</h1>
<p {...post.edit.excerpt}>{post.data.excerpt}</p>
<div {...post.edit.featured_image}>
	<Image image={post.data.featured_image} />
</div>

When an admin is logged in and views the site, these attributes enable click-to-edit functionality.

Common Page Patterns

List page (e.g., /posts/index.astro)

---
import { getEmDashCollection, getEntryTerms } from "emdash";
import { Image } from "emdash/ui";
import Base from "../../layouts/Base.astro";

const { entries: posts, cacheHint } = await getEmDashCollection("posts", {
	orderBy: { published_at: "desc" },
});
Astro.cache.set(cacheHint);

const sortedPosts = posts.toSorted((a, b) => {
	const dateA = a.data.publishedAt?.getTime() ?? 0;
	const dateB = b.data.publishedAt?.getTime() ?? 0;
	return dateB - dateA;
});
---
<Base title="Posts">
	{sortedPosts.map(post => (
		<article>
			{post.data.featured_image && <Image image={post.data.featured_image} />}
			<a href={`/posts/${post.id}`}>{post.data.title}</a>
			{post.data.excerpt && <p>{post.data.excerpt}</p>}
		</article>
	))}
</Base>

Detail page (e.g., /posts/[slug].astro)

---
import { getEmDashEntry, getEntryTerms, getSeoMeta } from "emdash";
import { Image, PortableText } from "emdash/ui";
import Base from "../../layouts/Base.astro";

const { slug } = Astro.params;
if (!slug) return Astro.redirect("/404");

const { entry: post, cacheHint } = await getEmDashEntry("posts", slug);
if (!post) return Astro.redirect("/404");

Astro.cache.set(cacheHint);

const seo = getSeoMeta(post, {
	siteTitle: "My Blog",
	siteUrl: Astro.url.origin,
	path: `/posts/${slug}`,
});

const tags = await getEntryTerms("posts", post.data.id, "tag");
---
<Base title={seo.title} description={seo.description}>
	<article>
		{post.data.featured_image && (
			<div {...post.edit.featured_image}>
				<Image image={post.data.featured_image} />
			</div>
		)}
		<h1 {...post.edit.title}>{post.data.title}</h1>
		<PortableText value={post.data.content} />
		{tags.length > 0 && (
			<div>
				{tags.map(t => <a href={`/tag/${t.slug}`}>{t.label}</a>)}
			</div>
		)}
	</article>
</Base>

Taxonomy archive (e.g., /category/[slug].astro)

---
import { getTerm, getEmDashCollection } from "emdash";
import Base from "../../layouts/Base.astro";

const { slug } = Astro.params;
const term = slug ? await getTerm("category", slug) : null;
if (!term) return Astro.redirect("/404");

const { entries: posts } = await getEmDashCollection("posts", {
	where: { category: term.slug },
	orderBy: { published_at: "desc" },
});
---
<Base title={`${term.label} posts`}>
	<h1>{term.label}</h1>
	{posts.map(post => (
		<a href={`/posts/${post.id}`}>{post.data.title}</a>
	))}
</Base>

RSS feed (e.g., /rss.xml.ts)

import type { APIRoute } from "astro";
import { getEmDashCollection } from "emdash";

const siteTitle = "My Site";

export const GET: APIRoute = async ({ url }) => {
	const siteUrl = url.origin;
	const { entries: posts } = await getEmDashCollection("posts", {
		orderBy: { published_at: "desc" },
		limit: 20,
	});

	const items = posts
		.filter((p) => p.data.publishedAt)
		.map((post) => {
			const postUrl = `${siteUrl}/posts/${post.id}`;
			return `    <item>
      <title>${escapeXml(post.data.title)}</title>
      <link>${postUrl}</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">${postUrl}</guid>
      <pubDate>${post.data.publishedAt!.toUTCString()}</pubDate>
      <description>${escapeXml(post.data.excerpt || "")}</description>
    </item>`;
		})
		.join("\n");

	return new Response(
		`<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<rss version="2.0" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom">
  <channel>
    <title>${escapeXml(siteTitle)}</title>
    <link>${siteUrl}</link>
    <atom:link href="${siteUrl}/rss.xml" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/>
    <language>en-us</language>
    <lastBuildDate>${new Date().toUTCString()}</lastBuildDate>
${items}
  </channel>
</rss>`,
		{
			headers: {
				"Content-Type": "application/rss+xml; charset=utf-8",
				"Cache-Control": "public, max-age=3600",
			},
		},
	);
};

function escapeXml(s: string): string {
	return s
		.replace(/&/g, "&amp;")
		.replace(/</g, "&lt;")
		.replace(/>/g, "&gt;")
		.replace(/"/g, "&quot;")
		.replace(/'/g, "&apos;");
}

404 page (/404.astro)

---
import Base from "../layouts/Base.astro";
---
<Base title="Not Found">
	<h1>Page not found</h1>
	<p>The page you're looking for doesn't exist.</p>
	<a href="/">Go home</a>
</Base>

Empty state

When a collection has no content, show a helpful empty state:

{posts.length === 0 ? (
	<section>
		<h2>No posts yet</h2>
		<p>Create your first post in the admin panel.</p>
		<a href="/_emdash/admin/content/posts/new">Create a post</a>
	</section>
) : (
	/* ... render posts ... */
)}

Pagination

getEmDashCollection supports cursor-based keyset pagination. Pass cursor from a previous result's nextCursor to get the next page:

---
const cursor = Astro.url.searchParams.get("cursor") ?? undefined;
const { entries, nextCursor, cacheHint } = await getEmDashCollection("posts", {
	limit: 10,
	cursor,
	orderBy: { published_at: "desc" },
});
Astro.cache.set(cacheHint);
---
{entries.map(post => (
	<a href={`/posts/${post.id}`}>{post.data.title}</a>
))}
{nextCursor && <a href={`?cursor=${nextCursor}`}>Next page</a>}

nextCursor is undefined when there are no more results.

Date Formatting

Dates come as Date objects. Use toLocaleDateString or Intl.DateTimeFormat:

const formatted = post.data.publishedAt?.toLocaleDateString("en-US", {
	year: "numeric",
	month: "long",
	day: "numeric",
});