Configure a Code input

Last modified: July 3rd, 2025

Permissions required

Members of all Default Permission Groups, or Custom Permission Groups with the site:file:write permission, can configure inputs in all locations in the configuration cascade. You can limit permission to specific locations in the configuration using file globs.

A Code input is an editing interface for code or mono-spaced plain text content. By configuring your inputs, you can customize the appearance and functionality for a better editing experience.

These instructions assume that you know where in the configuration cascadeyou want to configure your input. For more information, please read our documentation on Code inputs, inputs in general, and the configuration cascade.

To configure a Code input:

  1. Open your website files in your local development environment, or log in to CloudCannon and select the Site for which you want to configure your input.
  2. Navigate to the location in the configuration cascade where you want to configure your input. This can be the root of your CloudCannon Configuration File, within the collections_config.* key in your CloudCannon Configuration File, a Schema file, a markup file, or any where you configure a Structure.
  3. Identify the _inputs key, or create one at that level of the configuration cascade.
  4. Add an input name key for your input under the _inputs key (a.k.a., _inputs.*). We recommend naming your input something simple that indicates the function or context.
  5. Add the type key under your input name key, with the value code.
  6. (Optional.) Add any other general configuration keys (e.g., label, comment, context) under your input name key.
  7. (Optional.) Add any specific configuration keys under _inputs.*.options (e.g., syntax, theme, show_gutter).

CloudCannon will now apply this input configuration to all markup files that use your input name key, without needing to save your configuration. This allows you to make changes to your input configuration and see those changes affect inputs live.

When you are happy with your input configuration, you must save your input configuration.

cloudcannon.config.yaml
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_inputs:
  example_ruby:
    type: code

All inputs are defined under the _inputs key, regardless of where they are in the configuration cascade.

This Code input is called example_ruby.

The value of the type key determines the input type. This is a code input.

cloudcannon.config.json
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{
  "_inputs": {
    "example_ruby": {
      "type": "code"
    }
  }
}

All inputs are defined under the _inputs key, regardless of where they are in the configuration cascade.

This Code input is called example_ruby.

The value of the type key determines the input type. This is a code input.

When you add your input key name to a data or markup file, your configured Code input will appear in the Data Editor, Visual Editor, or Content Editor.

data.yml
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example_ruby: |
  def say_hello
    puts 'Hi there!'
  end

  say_hello

Input configuration options#

General configuration options are available for all input types. You can define the label, comment, and context box for your Code input, whether it is hidden or disabled, and how CloudCannon should handle configuration at multiple levels of the configuration cascade.

Specific configuration options for Code inputs include defining the height of the code area, tab size, theme color, gutter visibility, syntax highlighting, and how CloudCannon handles empty values. You can also add input validation to require a value, specify the minimum and maximum value length, or match a regular expression.

Here is an example of a Code input using some of the most commonly used configuration keys.

cloudcannon.config.yaml
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_inputs:
  example_ruby:
    type: code
    label: Example Ruby Code
    comment: Enter the example code for the feature
    options:
      max_visible_lines: 25
      min_visible_lines: 15
      show_gutter: false
      syntax: ruby
      theme: darcula
      required: true
cloudcannon.config.json
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{
  "_inputs": {
    "example_ruby": {
      "type": "code",
      "label": "Example Ruby Code",
      "comment": "Enter the example code for the feature",
      "options": {
        "max_visible_lines": 25,
        "min_visible_lines": 15,
        "show_gutter": false,
        "syntax": "ruby",
        "theme": "darcula",
        "required": true
      }
    }
  }
}

For a complete list of configuration keys available for inputs please read our inputs reference documentation.

These keys configure the appearance and functionality of Code inputs in CloudCannon.

max_visible_lines — Integer#

This key determines the maximum number of visible lines in the code area, controlling maximum height. When content exceeds this number of lines, the input becomes a scroll area. Defaults to 30.

min_visible_lines — Integer#

This key determines the minimum number of visible lines in the code area, controlling initial height. When content exceeds this number of lines, the input expands line by line until it reaches the value of max_visible_lines. Defaults to 10.

show_gutter — Boolean#

This key toggles the line numbers and code-folding controls. Defaults to true.

syntax — String#

This key determines how the input parses your content for syntax highlighting. The value should match the code language. This key has no default.

Value must be one of:

abap abc actionscript ada alda apache_conf apex applescript aql asciidoc asl assembly_x86 autohotkey batchfile c9search c_cpp cirru clojure cobol coffee coldfusion crystal csharp csound_document csound_orchestra csound_score csp css curly d dart diff django dockerfile dot drools edifact eiffel ejs elixir elm erlang forth fortran fsharp fsl ftl gcode gherkin gitignore glsl gobstones golang graphqlschema groovy haml handlebars haskell haskell_cabal haxe hjson html html_elixir html_ruby ini io jack jade java javascript json json5 jsoniq jsp jssm jsx julia kotlin latex less liquid lisp livescript logiql logtalk lsl lua luapage lucene makefile markdown mask matlab maze mediawiki mel mixal mushcode mysql nginx nim nix nsis nunjucks objectivec ocaml pascal perl perl6 pgsql php php_laravel_blade pig plain_text powershell praat prisma prolog properties protobuf puppet python qml r razor rdoc red redshift rhtml rst ruby rust sass scad scala scheme scss sh sjs slim smarty snippets soy_template space sparql sql sqlserver stylus svg swift tcl terraform tex text textile toml tsx turtle twig typescript vala vbscript velocity verilog vhdl visualforce wollok xml xquery yaml zeek

Alternatively, you can configure syntax with the naming convention. syntax is assumed to be the section preceding the normalized _code_block suffix (e.g. my_javascript_code_block for javascript).

tab_size — Integer#

This key defines how many spaces each line is auto indented by, and how many spaces a tab is shown as. Defaults to 2.

theme — String#

This key determines the color scheme for syntax highlighting. This key is only applicable if syntax is also defined. Defaults to monokai.

Value must be one of:

ambiance chaos chrome clouds clouds_midnight cobalt crimson_editor dawn dracula dreamweaver eclipse github gob gruvbox idle_fingers iplastic katzenmilch kr_theme kuroir merbivore merbivore_soft mono_industrial monokai nord_dark pastel_on_dark solarized_dark solarized_light sqlserver terminal textmate tomorrow tomorrow_night tomorrow_night_blue tomorrow_night_bright tomorrow_night_eighties twilight vibrant_ink xcode

empty_type — string#

This key determines how CloudCannon handles an empty value. This key does not apply to existing empty values.

Value must be one of the following:

  • string - an empty value for this input will be stored as "".
  • null - an empty value for this input will be stored as a null value (default). This does not apply to TOML files.
_inputs.*.options.required — Boolean#

This key toggles whether CloudCannon requires this Input to have a value. If set to true, CloudCannon will require you to enter a value to save your changes, or discard your unsaved changes.

By default, this key is false (i.e, CloudCannon does not require this Input to have a value).

This key is available for Array, Boolean, Code, Color, File, Number, Object, Select and Multiselect, Text, Rich Text, and URL Inputs.

Show exampleHide example

In this example, we want to require our team to enter an author value for markup files with this Input.

cloudcannon.config.yaml
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_inputs:
  author:
    type: text
    comment: Enter the name of the author for this blog post.
    options:
      required: true
cloudcannon.config.json
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{
  "_inputs": {
    "author": {
      "type": "text",
      "comment": "Enter the name of the author for this blog post.",
      "options": {
        "required": true
      }
    }
  }
}
_inputs.*.options.max_length — Number#

This key defines the maximum string length, in characters, that CloudCannon will allow in an Input. When configured, CloudCannon will warn you when an Input value is too long. If the Input already contains a longer value, CloudCannon will require you to remove characters until the Input contains a valid string to save your changes, or discard your unsaved changes.

Value can be any non-negative integer. If this key is set to 0, CloudCannon requires the Input to be empty. If options.min_length is also configured, this key cannot be a smaller number.

This key has no default.

This key is available for Code, Color, File, Select, Text, Rich Text, and URL Inputs. To use this key in a Select Input, allow_create must be set to true.

Show exampleHide example

In this example, we want our team to enter a blog description using the Rich Text seo_description Input. This Input limits you to a maximum of 125 characters.

cloudcannon.config.yaml
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_inputs:
  seo_description:
    type: markdown
    comment: Enter a brief description of this blog.
    options:
      max_length: 125
      min_length: 25
cloudcannon.config.json
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{
  "_inputs": {
    "seo_description": {
      "type": "markdown",
      "comment": "Enter a brief description of this blog.",
      "options": {
        "max_length": 125,
        "min_length": 25
      }
    }
  }
}
_inputs.*.options.min_length — Number#

This key defines the minimum string length, in characters, that CloudCannon will allow in an Input. When configured, CloudCannon will warn you when an Input value is too short. If the Input already contains a shorter value, CloudCannon will require you to add characters until the Input contains a valid string to save your changes, or discard your unsaved changes.

Value can be any positive integer. If options.max_length is also configured, this key cannot be a greater number.

This key has no default.

This key is available for Code, Color, File, Select, Text, Rich Text, and URL Inputs. To use this key in a Select Input, allow_create must be set to true.

Show exampleHide example

In this example, we want our team to enter a blog description using the Rich Text seo_description Input. This Input requires a minimum of 25 characters.

cloudcannon.config.yaml
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_inputs:
  seo_description:
    type: markdown
    comment: Enter a brief description of this blog.
    options:
      max_length: 125
      min_length: 25
cloudcannon.config.json
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{
  "_inputs": {
    "seo_description": {
      "type": "markdown",
      "comment": "Enter a brief description of this blog.",
      "options": {
        "max_length": 125,
        "min_length": 25
      }
    }
  }
}
_inputs.*.options.pattern — String#

This key defines a regular expression that the Input value must match. When configured, CloudCannon will require you to enter a value that matches the REGEX pattern. If the Input already contains an invalid value, CloudCannon will require you to enter a valid string to save your changes, or discard your unsaved changes.

Value must be a valid REGEX string.

This key has no default.

This key is available for Code, Color, File, Select, Text, Rich Text, and URL Inputs. To use this key in a Select Input, allow_create must be set to true.

Show exampleHide example

In this example, we want our team to add an email address to the contact_email Input using the correct email format.

cloudcannon.config.yaml
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_inputs:
  contact_email:
    type: email
    options:
      pattern: '[a-zA-Z0-9._%+-]+@[a-zA-Z0-9.-]+\.[a-zA-Z]{2,}'
      pattern_message: Please use the format ___@___.__
cloudcannon.config.json
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{
  "_inputs": {
    "contact_email": {
      "type": "email",
      "options": {
        "pattern": "[a-zA-Z0-9._%+-]+@[a-zA-Z0-9.-]+\\.[a-zA-Z]{2,}",
        "pattern_message": "Please use the format ___@___.__"
      }
    }
  }
}
_inputs.*.options.pattern_message — String#

This key defines the message that explains which regular expression an Input will accept. This key requires you to define options.pattern.

This key has no default.

This key is available for Code, Color, File, Select, Text, Rich Text, and URL Inputs.

Show exampleHide example

In this example, we prompt our team to use the correct email format in the contact_email Input using a pattern message.

cloudcannon.config.yaml
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_inputs:
  contact_email:
    type: email
    options:
      pattern: '[a-zA-Z0-9._%+-]+@[a-zA-Z0-9.-]+\.[a-zA-Z]{2,}'
      pattern_message: Please use the format ___@___.__
cloudcannon.config.json
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{
  "_inputs": {
    "contact_email": {
      "type": "email",
      "options": {
        "pattern": "[a-zA-Z0-9._%+-]+@[a-zA-Z0-9.-]+\\.[a-zA-Z]{2,}",
        "pattern_message": "Please use the format ___@___.__"
      }
    }
  }
}

Valid values#

Code inputs can have multiple valid values for empty, single-line, and multiline content. Here are some examples of valid values for the key code.

Empty/null value:

  • code:

Any valid string (quoted or unquoted):

  • code: ""
  • code: ''
  • code: any string
  • code: "any string"
  • code: 'any string'

Any valid multiline string:

  • code: >
    multiline string
  • code: >-
    multiline string
  • code: >+
    multiline string
  • code: |
    multiline string
  • code: |-
    multiline string
  • code: |+
    multiline string

Any valid string:

  • code = ""
  • code = "any string"

Any valid escaped string:

  • code = ''
  • code = 'any string (literal)'

Any valid multiline string:

  • code = """
    multiline string"""
  • code = """\
    multiline string (trimmed)
    \"""
  • code = '''
    literal multiline string'''

Null value:

  • "code": null

Any valid string:

  • "code": ""
  • "code": "any string"

Any valid multiline string:

  • "code": "multiline \n string"

Unconfigured Code inputs#

In some cases, CloudCannon can still detect a Code input even if you have not configured it.

CloudCannon will interpret any unconfigured input with the key name code_block, or that ends in _code_block as a Code input.

about.md
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---
code_block: |
  Some content is better in monospace.

  1 + 1 = 2
  2 + 2 = 4
---

This behavior is convenient if you have simple inputs or do not want to configure inputs. It is also beneficial for new websites on CloudCannon where you have yet to create any CloudCannon-specific configuration.

We recommend configuring your inputs for greater control over their functionality and appearance.

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