Releases
What Ardo 6 ships, what is experimental or planned, and the guides for upgrading from earlier majors.
On this page
Ardo releases the framework, UI, and runtime as one package. This page keeps product claims grounded: what is ready to use today, what still evolves, and what is planned. The changelog lists every release.
Upgrade Guides
- Upgrade to Ardo 6 from Ardo 5: a static build without React Router, and fewer app files.
- Upgrade to Ardo 5 from Ardo 4: Ferromark for Markdown and MDX, and Ferriki for highlighting.
- Upgrade to Ardo 4.0 from Ardo 3: stable major-version URLs.
- Migrate from TypeDoc: native API documentation replaces the
typedocoption.
Coding agents follow the same guides through the Agent Instructions.
Shipped
These capabilities are available in the current package line.
| Area | Notes |
|---|---|
| Static site build | Vite build with static HTML for every page, file-based routes, and no client-side router. |
| Markdown and MDX routes | Markdown, MDX, GFM, frontmatter, TOC extraction, and built-in MDX component mapping. |
| Syntax highlighting | Build-time Ferriki highlighting for Markdown code fences and static CodeBlock usage. |
| Search | Generated search data with a built-in search UI. |
| Native API reference | Configured with api in ardo.config.ts for TypeScript library APIs. |
| Content collections | Schema-validated local Markdown and MDX materialized as routes and typed static records for custom React views. |
| Social metadata | Generated canonical, Open Graph, and Twitter metadata for Markdown routes. |
| SEO build outputs | Sitemap, robots output, LLM text artifacts, link checking, and static redirects. |
| Theme hue overrides | Brand, accent, and neutral hues retint the default color ramp from ardo.config.ts or CSS. |
| Components | Callouts, badges, cards, tabs, accordions, steps, code blocks, icons, hero, and features, shown live on Components. |
Experimental
These areas work, but the API or maintenance story may still evolve.
| Area | Notes |
|---|---|
| Native compiler SDK | Pinned to a TypeScript 7.1 nightly; compiler compatibility and API stability require care. |
| Theme token overrides | CSS variables and Vanilla Extract tokens are public, but the broader theming API and build-time customization story may still change. |
| Major docs versioning | Supports static major-version folders, root HTML redirects, versions.json, a version switcher at the end of the sidebar, and a banner on older versions. |
| Static i18n | Complete locale route trees, locale-aware sidebars and switcher, and build-time rejection of missing translations; no runtime fallback. |
| Static OpenAPI | Generates local OpenAPI 3.0/3.1 JSON or YAML reference pages; an interactive playground remains out of scope. |
Planned
| Area | Tracking issue | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Migration guides | #134 | Guides from Docusaurus, Starlight, VitePress, and Mintlify are still needed. |
| Mermaid diagrams | ferromark#531 | Static SVG rendering at compile time. Until then, mermaid fences render as code blocks. |
Nice to Have
These are useful for some teams but are not central to the documentation framework.
| Area | Tracking issue | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Tooltip component | #81 | Needs careful accessibility and mobile interaction design. |
| Page feedback widget | #74 | The UI is small; the harder part is deciding where feedback data goes. |
| Math notation | #68 | Browser-native MathML may keep this lightweight if the markdown pipeline integration stays simple. |
| Custom font configuration | #77 | Most teams can already handle this through CSS and app-level head customization. |
| File tree block | Project-structure docs use code fences today. | |
| Package manager tabs | Tabs with one code block per package manager covers this today. | |
| Example frame | Interactive React examples need a sandboxing and hydration story first. |
Not Planned
Ardo is intentionally not trying to become every kind of documentation product.
| Area | Reason |
|---|---|
| Hosted editing workflow | Ardo is repository-native and self-hosted. Teams that want hosted collaboration should use a hosted docs platform. |
| Built-in analytics product | Static deployments can integrate analytics providers directly; Ardo does not need to own event storage. |
| Lowest-JavaScript prose site | Ardo prioritizes React-native reuse. Astro, VitePress, or Starlight can be better for prose-only sites. |
| TypeScript hover examples | Twoslash-style hovers carry high maintenance and toolchain weight relative to their reach. |
| Embedded live playgrounds | Sandpack-style editors conflict with Ardo's static-first, small-bundle output. |
Edit this page on GitHubLast updated: October 23, 2026