> For clean Markdown content of this page, append .md to this URL. For the complete documentation index, see https://buildwithfern.com/learn/llms.txt.

# Hiding content in your site

> Control visibility of pages, sections, tabs, tab variants, versions, and API endpoints by hiding them from your sidebar and search results.

Fern gives you two main tools for controlling content visibility: `hidden: true` in `docs.yml` removes content from your site's sidebar and search results, while `noindex: true` in page frontmatter excludes a page from search without affecting navigation.

## Hiding a page

### Accessible only by direct URL

Set `hidden: true` in `docs.yml` to remove a page from the sidebar, search results, and [llms.txt](/learn/docs/ai-features/llms-txt) while keeping it accessible via direct link. This is useful for sharing draft documentation with reviewers or linking from external tools like support tickets. There's no need to also set `noindex` — `hidden: true` handles both automatically.

**`docs.yml`**

```yaml title="docs.yml" {4}
navigation:
  - section: Introduction
    contents:
      - page: My Page
        path: ./pages/my-page.mdx
      - page: Hide and Seek
        hidden: true
        path: ./pages/hide-and-seek.mdx
  - api: API Reference
```

#### [See it in action](/learn/docs/customization/hidden-page)

This page is hidden from the sidebar and search engines, but you can access it by direct link.

### Excluded from search only

Set `noindex: true` in a page's frontmatter to exclude it from search engines and [llms.txt](/learn/docs/ai-features/llms-txt) while keeping it discoverable on your site. This is useful for early access documentation or content you want readers to find through navigation but not through search or AI tools.

**`early-access-feature.mdx`**

```mdx title="early-access-feature.mdx" {3}
---
title: Early access feature
noindex: true
---
```

For more SEO-related options, see [SEO metadata](/learn/docs/seo/setting-seo-metadata).

## Hiding an API endpoint

Set `hidden: true` in the endpoint's layout configuration in `docs.yml` to hide it from the sidebar. Like page-level `hidden`, hidden endpoints are automatically excluded from search engine indexing so there's no need to set `noindex: true`.

**`docs.yml`**

```yaml title="docs.yml" {6}
navigation:
  - api: API Reference
    layout:
      - plants:
          - endpoint: POST /plants/{plantId}
            hidden: true
```

For full configuration details including examples for OpenAPI and WebSocket endpoints, see [Hiding endpoints](/learn/docs/api-references/customize-api-reference-layout#hiding-endpoints).

## Hiding a section, tab, tab variant, or version

Hide an entire [section](/learn/docs/configuration/navigation), [tab](/learn/docs/configuration/tabs), [tab variant](/learn/docs/configuration/tabs#tab-variants), or [version](/learn/docs/configuration/versions) from navigation — for example, a legacy API version, an internal tab, or a section of internal tooling docs.

Unlike hiding a page or endpoint, hiding a section, tab, tab variant, or version only removes the group from navigation. The individual pages within it remain indexed by search engines and AI because `hidden` applies to the grouping, not to each page. To also exclude individual pages from search results, add `noindex: true` to each page's frontmatter.

#### Section

**`docs.yml`**

```yaml title="docs.yml" {8}
navigation:
  - section: Introduction
    contents:
      - page: My Page
        path: ./pages/my-page.mdx
  - api: API Reference
  - section: Hidden Section
    hidden: true
    contents:
      - page: Hide and Seek
        path: ./pages/hide-and-seek.mdx
```

![A site with a hidden section](/learn/_fern-img/0f59427855b596d6e1442089491b536d7ccbb12d40ece4dd81559dfb5d06a541.webp)

#### Tab

**`docs.yml`**

```yaml title="docs.yml" {3}
navigation:
  - tab: api
    hidden: true
    layout:
      - section: API Reference
        contents:
          - page: Plant endpoints
            path: ./pages/plant-endpoints.mdx
  - tab: help
    layout:
      - section: Help center
        contents:
          - page: Contact us
            path: ./pages/contact-us.mdx
```

#### Tab variant

**`docs.yml`**

```yaml title="docs.yml" {5}
navigation:
  - tab: help
    variants:
      - title: For developers
        hidden: true
        layout:
          - section: Getting started
            contents:
              - page: Quick start
                path: ./pages/dev-quickstart.mdx
      - title: For product managers
        layout:
          - section: Getting started
            contents:
              - page: Overview
                path: ./pages/pm-overview.mdx
```

#### Version

**`docs.yml`**

```yaml title="docs.yml" {8}
versions:
  - display-name: v3
    path: ./versions/v3.yml
  - display-name: v2
    path: ./versions/v2.yml
  - display-name: v1 (Legacy)
    path: ./versions/v1.yml
    hidden: true
```

The default version (the first version in your `versions` list) can't be hidden.

> Control visibility of pages, sections, tabs, tab variants, versions, and API endpoints by hiding them from your sidebar and search results.