# Templating URL: /bengal/docs/build-sites/customize/templating/ Section: templating Description: Kida template engine, layouts, inheritance, and partials --- > For a complete page index, fetch /bengal/llms.txt. Bengal's template system uses Kida (https://lbliii.github.io/kida/) as the default engine, with support for Jinja2 and custom engines. Note Do I need this? Yes when writing or overriding HTML templates. Skip if you only write Markdown — see Authoring (/bengal/docs/build-sites/write/authoring/). New to templates? Start with Themer Quickstart (/bengal/docs/get-started/quickstart-themer/). Functions vs Filters Quick Reference One-page guide to when to use functions vs filters (/bengal/docs/build-sites/customize/templating/functions-quick-reference/) Template Functions Quick overview of filters and functions available in templates (/bengal/docs/build-sites/customize/templating/functions/) Image Processing Resize, crop, and optimize images in templates (/bengal/docs/build-sites/customize/templating/image-processing/) Bring Your Own Template Engine Implement a custom template engine with full access to Bengal's 200+ template functions, filters, and tests (/bengal/docs/build-sites/customize/templating/custom-engine/) ## Template Engines - Kida (https://lbliii.github.io/kida/) (local reference (/bengal/docs/reference/kida-syntax/)) — Bengal's native template engine (default). Unified`{% end %}`blocks, pattern matching, pipeline operators - Jinja2 (https://jinja.palletsprojects.com/) — Industry-standard engine with excellent documentation and tooling - Custom engines — Bring your own via the plugin API Tip Kida is Jinja2-compatible: Your existing Jinja2 templates work without changes. Use Kida-specific features (https://lbliii.github.io/kida/docs/syntax) incrementally. ## Template Lookup Order flowchart LR A[Page Request] --> B{templates/ ?} B -->|Found| C[Use Your Template] B -->|Not Found| D{Theme templates/ ?} D -->|Found| E[Use Theme Template] D -->|Not Found| F[Use Bengal Default] Bengal searches: Your project → Theme → Bengal defaults ## Quick Start - Basic Template (#) - Base Layout (#) - Partial (#) kida KIDA ``` {# templates/layouts/single.html #} {% extends "baseof.html" %} {% block content %}

{{ page.title }}

{{ page.content | safe }}
{% end %} ``` kida KIDA ``` {# templates/baseof.html #} {% block title %}{{ page.title }}{% end %} {% block header %}{% include "./partials/header.html" %}{% end %} {% block content %}{% end %} {% block footer %}{% include "./partials/footer.html" %}{% end %} ``` kida KIDA ``` {# templates/partials/header.html #}
``` ## Key Concepts Concept Syntax Purpose Extends `{% extends "base.html" %}` Inherit from parent template Block `{% block name %}...{% end %}` Replaceable section Include `{% include "./partial.html" %}` Insert another template Variable `Templating` Output a value Filter `{{ text \| truncate(100) }}` Transform a value Kida resolves`./` and `../`relative template paths from the current template. For shared component libraries, configure`kida.template_aliases`and include templates with`@alias/` prefixes such as `{% include "@components/card.html" %}`. ## Template Inheritance flowchart TB A["baseof.html
(blocks: head, content, footer)"] B["single.html
(extends baseof)"] C["list.html
(extends baseof)"] D["doc.html
(extends single)"] A --> B A --> C B --> D ## Kida Features Kida is Bengal's default template engine: - Unified syntax:`{% end %}` closes all blocks (no more `{% end %}`, `{% end %}`) - Pattern matching:`{% match %}...{% case %}`for cleaner conditionals - Pipeline operator:`|>`for readable filter chains - Fragment caching: Built-in`{% cache %}`directive - Jinja2 compatible: Existing Jinja2 templates work without changes Kida Syntax Reference Complete Kida syntax documentation (/bengal/docs/reference/kida-syntax/) Kida Tutorial Learn Kida from scratch (/bengal/docs/tutorials/theming/getting-started-with-kida/) Kida How-Tos Common Kida tasks and patterns (/bengal/docs/build-sites/customize/templating/kida/) Migrate from Jinja2 Convert Jinja2 templates to Kida (/bengal/docs/build-sites/customize/templating/kida/migration/from-jinja/) ## Choose Your Engine Kida is the default. To use a different engine, configure`bengal.toml` (or `config/_default/site.yaml`): yaml YAML ``` site: template_engine: jinja2 # Options: kida (default), jinja2, mako ``` ### Custom Engines (BYOR) Bring your own template engine via the protocol API. Your engine automatically gets all 80+ template functions if it satisfies the`TemplateEnvironment`protocol: python PYTHON ``` from bengal.rendering.engines import register_engine from bengal.rendering.template_functions import register_all class MyEngine: def __init__(self, site): self.site = site self.template_dirs = [site.root_path / "templates"] # Environment must have globals, filters, tests dicts self._env = MyEnvironment() # Automatically get all 80+ template functions! register_all(self._env, site) def render_template(self, name: str, context: dict) -> str: # Your implementation ... register_engine("myengine", MyEngine) ``` Then configure: yaml YAML ``` site: template_engine: myengine ``` See Bring Your Own Template Engine (/bengal/docs/build-sites/customize/templating/custom-engine/) for the complete guide. Tip Override sparingly: You only need to create templates you want to customize. Use`bengal theme swizzle --template-path