# Coming from Jinja2

URL: /docs/get-started/coming-from-jinja2/
Section: get-started
Tags: migration, jinja2

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Coming from Jinja2 A quick reference for Jinja2 users. For a full migration guide, see Migrate from Jinja2. What Stays the Same Most Jinja2 syntax works in Kida unchanged: {{ variable }} {{ user.name }} {{ items | join(&quot;, &quot;) }} &#123;% if condition %&#125;...&#123;% end %&#125; &#123;% for item in items %&#125;...&#123;% end %&#125; &#123;% extends &quot;base.html&quot; %&#125; &#123;% block content %&#125;...&#123;% end %&#125; &#123;% include &quot;partial.html&quot; %&#125; {# comments #} What's Different Block Endings Jinja2 uses tag-specific endings. Kida uses a unified &#123;% end %&#125;: {# Jinja2 #} &#123;% if user %&#125;...&#123;% endif %&#125; &#123;% for x in items %&#125;...&#123;% endfor %&#125; &#123;% block nav %&#125;...&#123;% endblock %&#125; {# Kida #} &#123;% if user %&#125;...&#123;% end %&#125; &#123;% for x in items %&#125;...&#123;% end %&#125; &#123;% block nav %&#125;...&#123;% end %&#125; Pipeline Operator Kida adds |&gt; for readable, left-to-right filter chains: {# Jinja2 — filters read right-to-left #} {{ title | truncate(50) | upper | escape }} {# Kida — pipeline reads left-to-right #} {{ title |&gt; escape |&gt; upper |&gt; truncate(50) }} Both | and |&gt; work in Kida. Use whichever you prefer. Pattern Matching Kida adds &#123;% match %&#125; for cleaner branching (like Python's match): {# Jinja2 — chained if/elif #} &#123;% if status == &quot;active&quot; %&#125; &lt;span class=&quot;green&quot;&gt;Active&lt;/span&gt; &#123;% elif status == &quot;pending&quot; %&#125; &lt;span class=&quot;yellow&quot;&gt;Pending&lt;/span&gt; &#123;% elif status == &quot;inactive&quot; %&#125; &lt;span class=&quot;red&quot;&gt;Inactive&lt;/span&gt; &#123;% else %&#125; &lt;span&gt;Unknown&lt;/span&gt; &#123;% endif %&#125; {# Kida — pattern matching #} &#123;% match status %&#125; &#123;% case &quot;active&quot; %&#125;&lt;span class=&quot;green&quot;&gt;Active&lt;/span&gt; &#123;% case &quot;pending&quot; %&#125;&lt;span class=&quot;yellow&quot;&gt;Pending&lt;/span&gt; &#123;% case &quot;inactive&quot; %&#125;&lt;span class=&quot;red&quot;&gt;Inactive&lt;/span&gt; &#123;% case _ %&#125;&lt;span&gt;Unknown&lt;/span&gt; &#123;% end %&#125; Scoping Keywords Kida provides explicit scoping for variable assignment: {# Jinja2 #} &#123;% set name = &quot;Alice&quot; %&#125; {# Kida — three scoping options #} &#123;% set name = &quot;Alice&quot; %&#125; {# Same as Jinja2: current scope #} &#123;% let name = &quot;Alice&quot; %&#125; {# Block-local: doesn&#x27;t leak out #} &#123;% export name = &quot;Alice&quot; %&#125; {# Exports to parent scope #} Built-in Caching Kida has native block-level caching (no extensions needed): &#123;% cache &quot;sidebar&quot; %&#125; {# Expensive rendering cached automatically #} &#123;% for item in nav_items %&#125; &lt;a href=&quot;{{ item.url }}&quot;&gt;{{ item.title }}&lt;/a&gt; &#123;% end %&#125; &#123;% end %&#125; API Comparison Operation Jinja2 Kida Create env jinja2.Environment() kida.Environment() File loader jinja2.FileSystemLoader(...) kida.FileSystemLoader(...) Dict loader jinja2.DictLoader(...) kida.DictLoader(...) Load template env.get_template(name) env.get_template(name) From string env.from_string(src) env.from_string(src) Render template.render(**ctx) template.render(**ctx) Add filter env.filters[&quot;name&quot;] = fn env.add_filter(&quot;name&quot;, fn) Add test env.tests[&quot;name&quot;] = fn env.add_test(&quot;name&quot;, fn) Stream render template.generate(**ctx) template.render_stream(**ctx) Async render N/A template.render_stream_async(**ctx) What Kida Adds Feature Description Pipeline |&gt; Left-to-right filter chains &#123;% match %&#125; Pattern matching for cleaner branching &#123;% cache %&#125; Built-in block-level output caching &#123;% let %&#125; / &#123;% export %&#125; Explicit variable scoping Native async &#123;% async for %&#125;, &#123;&#123; await expr &#125;&#125; Streaming render_stream() yields chunks for HTMX/SSE Free-threading True parallelism on Python 3.14t T-string tag k(t&quot;Hello {name}!&quot;) for inline templates See Also Full Migration Guide — Step-by-step with verification Feature Comparison — Detailed feature matrix Thread Safety — Free-threading deep dive

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