# Template: reference article

**Information type:** [Reference](https://docs.redaction-technique.org/en/toolkit/information-types/)

> **Tip: Template**
>
> This is a **starting point to copy and adapt**, not a worked example. For a filled-in version, see the [API documentation template](https://docs.redaction-technique.org/en/toolkit/api-documentation-template/), which is a specialized case of this pattern. To understand how reference material relates to other documentation modes, read [Information types](https://docs.redaction-technique.org/en/toolkit/information-types/).

Use this structure when the reader's primary intent is **lookup** — they already understand what they want to achieve and need exact syntax, parameters, commands, or configuration specifications. Unlike a concept or task article, nobody reads a reference article start to finish; they scan for the one detail they need.

Keep the primary information type clear: a reference article routinely includes concrete syntax examples to illustrate options, but multi-step procedural tutorials belong in a [task article](https://docs.redaction-technique.org/en/toolkit/task-article-template/), and overarching architectural rationales belong in a [concept article](https://docs.redaction-technique.org/en/toolkit/concept-article-template/).

The structure below is a **practical authoring template** for lightweight Markdown/Astro workflows, applying the reference information-typing principle without DITA XML schemas or DTD validation:

```markdown
## Overview

<One or two sentences of context — enough for someone who lands here
from search to know they're in the right place.>

## Syntax

<The exact, literal syntax. A code block, not prose.>

## Parameters

| Parameter | Type | Required | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `<name>` | `<type>` | Yes/No | <what it does> |

## Examples

<At least one complete, runnable example — not a fragment.>

## Limitations

<Known constraints, unsupported combinations, or edge cases. Omit if
none exist; don't invent caveats to fill the section.>

## Related references

- [<Related reference 1>](<link>)
- [<Related reference 2>](<link>)
```

## When to skip a section

- **Limitations**: only if genuine ones exist.
- **Parameters**: if the item being documented takes no parameters, replace the table with a one-line note saying so — don't delete the heading silently, since its absence should be obvious, not implied.
- Never skip **Syntax** or **Examples** — a reference article without a literal, copyable form isn't doing its job.

---

Source: https://docs.redaction-technique.org/en/toolkit/reference-article-template/