Advanced Collection Patterns

Collection patterns use glob syntax to match files in your repository. This guide covers advanced pattern techniques for complex content structures.

Glob Pattern Syntax

Basic Wildcards

Single Star (*) - Matches any characters except directory separator

posts/*.md
# Matches: posts/hello.md
# Matches: posts/world.md
# Does NOT match: posts/2024/hello.md

**Double Star (**)** - Matches any characters including directory separators (recursive)

posts/**/*.md
# Matches: posts/hello.md
# Matches: posts/2024/hello.md
# Matches: posts/2024/01/15/hello.md

Character Sets

Braces ({}) - Match any of the comma-separated patterns

content/{blog,docs}/**/*.md
# Matches: content/blog/post.md
# Matches: content/docs/guide.md
# Does NOT match: content/pages/about.md

Brackets ([]) - Match any character in the set

posts/202[0-4]/**/*.md
# Matches: posts/2020/post.md
# Matches: posts/2024/post.md
# Does NOT match: posts/2025/post.md

Ranges - Match character ranges

posts/[a-m]*/*.md
# Matches: posts/about/intro.md
# Matches: posts/guides/start.md
# Does NOT match: posts/news/update.md

Negation

Exclamation (!) - Exclude patterns

posts/**/!(draft-|_)*.md
# Matches: posts/published-post.md
# Does NOT match: posts/draft-post.md
# Does NOT match: posts/_hidden.md

Common Pattern Examples

Date-Based Structure

Match posts organized by date:

# Year/Month/Day structure
posts/[0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9]/[0-9][0-9]/[0-9][0-9]/*.md
# Matches: posts/2024/01/15/my-post.md

# Year/Month structure
blog/{2023,2024,2025}/*/*.md
# Matches: blog/2024/01/post.md

# Year only
content/posts/202[0-9]/**/*.md
# Matches: content/posts/2020/post.md through 2029

Category-Based Structure

Match specific categories:

# Specific categories
content/{tutorials,guides,news}/**/*.md

# All categories except one
content/!(drafts)/**/*.md

# Multiple file types
docs/**/*.{md,mdx}

Multi-Level Navigation

For documentation with sections:

# Two-level structure (category/page)
docs/*/!(_)*.md
# Matches: docs/guides/intro.md
# Does NOT match: docs/guides/subsection/page.md
# Does NOT match: docs/guides/_partial.md

# Three-level structure (section/category/page)
docs/*/*/*.md
# Matches: docs/getting-started/installation/npm.md

Special File Handling

Exclude or include specific file types:

# Exclude drafts (files starting with underscore)
posts/**/!(_)*.md

# Only published (files NOT starting with draft-)
content/**/!(draft-)*.md

# Include hidden files
content/**/.*md

# Specific filename patterns
posts/**/*-tutorial.md

Advanced Patterns

Complex Date Filtering

# Only 2024 and 2025
posts/{2024,2025}/**/*.md

# Specific months in 2024
posts/2024/{01,02,03}/**/*.md

# Q1 of any year
posts/*/{01,02,03}/**/*.md

# Last two digits of year
posts/20[2-3][0-9]/**/*.md

Language-Specific Content

# Multi-language structure
content/**/*.{en,es,fr}.md
# Matches: content/about.en.md
# Matches: content/about.es.md

# Default and localized
content/**/!(*.*.md).md
# Matches: content/about.md
# Does NOT match: content/about.en.md

Author-Based Collections

# Posts by specific authors
content/posts/{john,jane}/**/*.md

# Guest posts in separate directory
content/{posts,guest-posts}/**/*.md

# Team vs community
content/posts/{team,community}/**/*.md

Status-Based Collections

# Published only
content/published/**/*.md

# Drafts only
content/drafts/**/*.md

# Everything except archived
content/!(archived)/**/*.md

# Review queue
content/review-queue/**/*.md

Multi-Collection Strategies

Separate by Content Type

# Blog posts
Collection 1:
  Path: content/blog/**/*.md

# Documentation
Collection 2:
  Path: docs/**/*.mdx

# Landing pages
Collection 3:
  Path: pages/**/*.md

Separate by Status

# Published posts
Collection 1:
  Path: content/posts/**/!(_|draft-)*.md

# Draft posts
Collection 2:
  Path: content/{drafts,posts/draft-*}/**/*.md

Separate by Date

# Current year
Collection 1:
  Path: posts/2024/**/*.md

# Archive
Collection 2:
  Path: posts/{2020,2021,2022,2023}/**/*.md

Separate by Category

# Tutorials
Collection 1:
  Path: content/posts/tutorials/**/*.md

# Guides
Collection 2:
  Path: content/posts/guides/**/*.md

# News
Collection 3:
  Path: content/posts/news/**/*.md

Pattern Testing

Test Your Patterns

Before applying patterns, test them:

1. Create sample file structure
2. Apply pattern in collection
3. Verify matched files
4. Adjust pattern as needed

Common Testing Mistakes

# Wrong: Too broad
**/*.md
# Matches EVERYTHING including node_modules

# Right: Specific directory
content/**/*.md
# Matches only content directory

# Wrong: Incorrect negation
posts/!draft*.md
# Syntax error

# Right: Proper negation
posts/!(draft*)*.md
# Correctly excludes draft files

Performance Considerations

Optimize for Large Repositories

Specific paths are faster:

# Slow (scans entire repo)
**/*.md

# Fast (specific directory)
content/posts/**/*.md

Limit depth:

# Slow (unlimited depth)
posts/**/*.md

# Faster (limited depth)
posts/*/*.md
posts/*/*/*.md

Exclude large directories:

# Include node_modules (slow!)
**/*.md

# Exclude dependencies (fast)
!(node_modules|.git)/**/*.md

Pattern Best Practices

Be Specific

# Too broad
**/*.md

# Better
content/**/*.md

# Best
content/posts/**/*.md

Use Negation Wisely

# Avoid double negatives
!(!(posts))/**/*.md

# Use positive patterns
posts/**/*.md

Document Complex Patterns

Collection: Blog Posts
Path: content/{blog,articles}/**/!(draft-|_)*.{md,mdx}
Description: |
  Matches blog posts and articles
  Excludes files starting with "draft-" or "_"
  Includes both .md and .mdx files

Test Edge Cases

Consider:

• Empty directories
• Deep nesting
• Special characters in filenames
• Different file extensions
• Hidden files

Troubleshooting Patterns

No Files Matched

Check:

1. Path separators (use / not \)
2. File extensions match pattern
3. Directory structure matches pattern
4. No typos in path

Too Many Files Matched

Solutions:

1. Add more specific path segments
2. Use negation to exclude directories
3. Limit depth with fewer ** wildcards
4. Add file extension restrictions

Pattern Syntax Errors

Common errors:

# Wrong
posts/!*.md           # Negation needs grouping

# Right
posts/!(draft)*.md    # Negation in extglob

# Wrong
posts/**.md           # Missing directory separator

# Right
posts/**/*.md         # Correct recursive pattern

Real-World Examples

Next.js Blog

# Blog posts
content/posts/**/*.{md,mdx}

# Pages
src/pages/**/!(_app|_document|404).{md,mdx}

# Authors
content/authors/*.json

Documentation Site

# Getting Started
docs/getting-started/**/*.md

# Guides
docs/guides/**/*.md

# API Reference
docs/api/**/*.md

# Exclude partials
docs/**/!(\_)*.md

Multi-Language Site

# English content
content/**/*.en.md

# Spanish content
content/**/*.es.md

# All languages
content/**/*.{en,es,fr,de}.md

Monorepo Structure

# Main site blog
apps/website/content/blog/**/*.md

# Documentation
apps/docs/content/**/*.md

# Marketing pages
apps/marketing/pages/**/*.md

Next Steps

• Create Collections using these patterns
• Define Schemas for your collections
• Integrate with Your Site to consume content

Related Documentation

• Create Collections
• Schema Configuration
• GitHub Sync