2 min read 456 words Updated Mar 14, 2026 Created Mar 14, 2026

Folders

Kiln follows a "Parity First" philosophy with your directory structure. The folder hierarchy you create in your Obsidian vault is exactly what gets built for the web, complete with auto-generated index pages, clean URLs, and [graph visualization](../User Interface/Global Graph.md).

Structure Mirroring

Kiln preserves your file organization 1:1. If you have a folder path in your vault like Recipes/Desserts/Cakes, Kiln generates the corresponding URL structure (e.g., yoursite.com/recipes/desserts/cakes).

Folder names are slugified for web-friendly URLs: spaces become dashes and letters are lowercased. For example, a folder called My Cool Project becomes my-cool-project in the URL.

Auto-Generated Index Pages

When a user navigates to a folder, Kiln automatically generates an index page for that directory. This page displays:

Subfolders listed first, each linking to their own index page.
Files listed below, showing the note title and last modified date.

Empty folders — those with no files and no subfolders — are skipped entirely and do not generate a page.

Replacing a Folder Page with Custom Content

You can override the auto-generated folder page by creating a file with the same name as the folder. For example, placing a Recipes.md note next to a Recipes/ folder means the /recipes URL displays your note instead of the auto-generated listing.

The override follows a strict priority hierarchy:

Folder → Canvas → Base → Note

A note always wins. See Kiln quirks for full details on how overrides interact with links.

You can also place an index.md file inside a folder to replace its auto-generated page. An index.md at the vault root becomes your site homepage.

Hiding Folders from Output

Folders (and files) that start with a . are automatically excluded from the generated site. To hide specific folders without renaming them to dotfiles, add the _hidden_ prefix to the folder name.

For example, renaming your template folder to _hidden_Templates prevents Kiln from processing it. See [hidden files and folders](../Rendering/Hidden files folders.md) for more details.

The Explorer sidebar lists folders before files at every level, with alphabetical sorting (A–Z, case-insensitive) within each group. To control the display order, prefix folder names with numbers:

📂 01-Guide
  📄 01-Getting-Started.md
  📄 02-Installation.md
📂 02-Advanced
📄 About.md

Graph Integration

Folders are not just containers; they are part of your knowledge network. Each folder appears as a node in both the Global Graph and Local Graph, with links connecting it to every file and subfolder it contains. This lets you visualize how clusters of knowledge are structurally grouped.

Sitemap and SEO

Every folder page is automatically included in your site's [sitemap.xml](../SEO/Sitemap xml.md) with its last-modified date, ensuring search engines can discover and index your full site structure.