Directives

Directives sit between <{ and }>, and come in two kinds:

	Template directives	Content directives
Examples	for:, if:, list: and variables like {title}	toc:, :toc, files:, endpoint: and your own nodes
What they do	Shape how the Markdown around them renders	Bring content into the page, written into the file, the HTML, or both
Who writes the output	You, as a template	Raindown or your node, from your input
Where they sit	Often inside paragraphs, tables and lists	On their own lines, between blocks
In the HTML	Invisible, since the input is a template	In bold, or as comments with hide_directives

Template directives

Shape how the Markdown around them renders, like Liquid or Jinja: variables like {title}, loops with for:, conditions with if: and lists with list:.

You write their output as a template, and they decide whether it appears and how many times, filling in values like {title}. They're invisible in the HTML, since the input is a template, and showing them would break the tables and lists they often sit in.

Content directives

Bring content into the page: a table of contents with toc: and :toc, files with files:, endpoints with endpoint: and your own nodes.

Raindown or your node writes their output, and you only give them input, like folder: 'notes' or an endpoint's curl snippet. Most also write their content into the Markdown below them, so it's there for people and agents reading the file.

They sit on their own lines between content blocks, and show in bold in the HTML, so you can see where a page's content comes from, unless you hide them.

Blocks and end tags

A block directive wraps the Markdown it applies to, and closes with an end tag named after it:

<{ if: draft }>
This is a draft.

It has two paragraphs.
<{ :if }>

A directive with no block, like <{ :toc }>, closes itself. Directives in prose or code are left as text.