---
title: "Getting Started"
description: "Five independent helpers for the templates and config of a Kirby site – environment variables, meta tags, a sitemap, redirects, and Vite assets."
canonical_url: "https://kirby.tools/docs/helpers"
---

# Getting Started

> Five independent helpers for the templates and config of a Kirby site – environment variables, meta tags, a sitemap, redirects, and Vite assets.

Kirby Helpers is a plugin for [Kirby CMS](https://getkirby.com) with five helpers for your templates and `config.php`. Each works on its own: the sitemap, `robots.txt`, and redirects stay off until you configure them, and the rest are functions you call.

## Install the Plugin

<card icon="i-ri-terminal-box-line" title="Composer">

The recommended way to install the plugin:

```bash
composer require johannschopplich/kirby-helpers
```

</card>

<card icon="i-ri-folder-zip-line" title="ZIP File Download">

Download the [latest release](https://github.com/johannschopplich/kirby-helpers/releases/latest) or head over to the [releases page](https://github.com/johannschopplich/kirby-helpers/releases) to see all versions. Extract the ZIP file to your `site/plugins` folder. Installed this way, `env()` is not available in `config.php` – see [Environment Variables](/docs/helpers/environment-variables#load-the-file-in-configphp).

</card>

The plugin runs on Kirby 5.

## The Helpers

<table>
<thead>
  <tr>
    <th>
      Helper
    </th>
    
    <th>
      Entry Point
    </th>
  </tr>
</thead>

<tbody>
  <tr>
    <td>
      <a href="/docs/helpers/environment-variables">
        Environment Variables
      </a>
    </td>
    
    <td>
      <code>
        env('KEY', $default)
      </code>
    </td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td>
      <a href="/docs/helpers/meta-tags">
        Meta Tags
      </a>
    </td>
    
    <td>
      <code>
        $page->meta()->social()
      </code>
    </td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td>
      <a href="/docs/helpers/sitemap">
        Sitemap and <code>
          robots.txt
        </code>
      </a>
    </td>
    
    <td>
      <code>
        sitemap.enabled
      </code>
      
       and <code>
        robots.enabled
      </code>
    </td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td>
      <a href="/docs/helpers/redirects">
        Redirects
      </a>
    </td>
    
    <td>
      <code>
        redirects
      </code>
    </td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td>
      <a href="/docs/helpers/vite">
        Vite
      </a>
    </td>
    
    <td>
      <code>
        vite()->js()
      </code>
      
       and <code>
        vite()->css()
      </code>
    </td>
  </tr>
</tbody>
</table>

Options live under `johannschopplich.helpers` in `config.php`:

```php [site/config/config.php]
return [
    'johannschopplich.helpers' => [
        'sitemap' => [
            'enabled' => true
        ]
    ]
];
```

---

Every page of this site as Markdown: <https://kirby.tools/sitemap.md>