# Section

> Semantic section wrapper with spacing and background tokens.

- Status: stable
- Group: layout
- Page: https://www.digitaltableteur.com/design-system/components/section
- Contract: https://www.digitaltableteur.com/contracts/v1/Section.contract.json

## When to use

Section is the page-level band: it owns vertical rhythm (`spacing`, responsive paddings) and surface (`background`), while Container inside it owns the horizontal clamp. `hero` and `follow` are a pair; the hero band keeps a generous top and tight bottom, and the section right after uses `follow` to avoid a double gap. `inverse` flips to the dark surface with matching text tokens. Give sections an `id` when they are anchor or skip targets.

## When not to use

- Do not nest Sections; bands are siblings; nesting compounds paddings and backgrounds.
- Do not use Section inside a component or card; it is page architecture, not component padding.
- Do not use Section inside components or cards; it is page architecture, not component padding.

## Look-alikes

- Card: Do not wrap page sections or whole forms in cards, and never nest cards in cards; that is Section/Stack territory.
- Center: Do not use Center as a page layout root; that is Container + Section.

## Props

| Prop | Type | Default | Description | Required |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `children` | `ReactNode` | none | Section content. | Yes |
| `spacing` | `"sm" \| "md" \| "lg" \| "xl" \| "none" \| "hero" \| "follow"` | `md` | Block padding scale. | No |
| `background` | `"default" \| "muted" \| "accent" \| "inverse"` | `default` | Surface background token. | No |
| `className` | `string` | none | Section class names. | No |
| `id` | `string` | none | Section id (anchor target). | No |
| `spotlightTarget` | `string` | none | Optional stable selector target for host-app guided navigation. | No |

## Variants

- Available spacings: `none`, `sm`, `md`, `lg`, `xl`, `hero`, `follow` (default `md`).
- Available backgrounds: `default`, `muted`, `accent`, `inverse` (default `default`).

## Invalid combinations

The contract records no invalid combinations.

## Keyboard

The contract records no keyboard interaction.

## Rules

Every item under When not to use is a MUST NOT. MUST and SHOULD follow RFC 2119.

| Level | Rule | How it is checked |
| --- | --- | --- |
| MUST | Required stories produce no axe violations at the configured severity. | Automated by `npm run test:stories:matrix:ci`. WCAG 2.5.8. |
| MUST | The accessibility tree (role, name, state) matches the committed snapshot for every required story. | Automated by `npm run test:stories:matrix:ci`. WCAG 1.3.1, 4.1.2. |
| MUST | The component remains legible and operable under a real browser forced-colors: active pass. | Automated by `npm run test:stories:hc`. |
| MUST | A human completed an end-to-end accessibility review of this component. | Manual review, last on 2026-11-04. |
| SHOULD | Pair spacing="hero" on the page hero with spacing="follow" on the next section; that is what kills the double gap. | Not stated in the contract. |
| SHOULD | Alternate background="muted" sparingly to group related content; every-other-band zebra striping reads as noise. | Not stated in the contract. |
| SHOULD | Put a Container directly inside; Section handles vertical, Container horizontal. | Not stated in the contract. |
| SHOULD | Give anchor/deep-link targets an id, and use spotlightTarget only when the host app needs stable guided-navigation selectors. | Not stated in the contract. |
| SHOULD NOT | Do not nest Sections; bands are siblings; nesting compounds paddings and backgrounds. | Not stated in the contract. |

## Install and import

- Install: `npm install @digitaltableteur/react` (version 0.9.1, restricted access on npm).
- Import: `import { Section } from "@digitaltableteur/react";`
- Entry point: `@digitaltableteur/react/layout` exports it too.
- Styles: import `@digitaltableteur/react/style.css` once at the app boundary.
- Also available as the custom element `<dt-section>`; see the custom elements manifest.

## Links

- Machine-readable contract (Design System Contract 1.0): https://www.digitaltableteur.com/contracts/v1/Section.contract.json
- Markdown version of this page: https://www.digitaltableteur.com/design-system/components/section.md
- Component index as JSON: https://www.digitaltableteur.com/design-system/components.json
- All components: https://www.digitaltableteur.com/design-system/components
- Source: The implementation lives in a private repository. This page, its Markdown twin and the contract are generated from it at build time and are the public source of truth.