Enable `text-autospace` in Chinese and Japanese documents by tats-u · Pull Request #3872 · withastro/starlight

tats-u · 2026-05-04T14:54:09Z

Description

Closes Enable `text-autospace` CSS property in Chinese and Japanese documents in Starlight like VitePress and Rspress #3871

Especially in Chinese and Japanese, the CSS property text-autospace: normal is preferred for better looking like books by automatically inserting spaces with the moderate width.

Without this, some users and AIs try to insert such spaces manually as workarounds but they are too wide and prevent keywords from searched.

Japanese:

Before:

After:

Note: the current Chinese content of Starlight translation is not affected because it took the workarounds like manually inserting spaces.

The other languages are not affected.

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changeset-bot · 2026-05-04T14:54:19Z

🦋 Changeset detected

Latest commit: ae8d92d

The changes in this PR will be included in the next version bump.

This PR includes changesets to release 1 package

Name	Type
@astrojs/starlight	Minor

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astrobot-houston · 2026-05-04T14:55:25Z

Hello! Thank you for opening your first PR to Starlight! ✨

Here’s what will happen next:

Our GitHub bots will run to check your changes.
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delucis

Thanks @tats-u — this looks good to me. Just one small changelog suggestion.

Co-authored-by: Chris Swithinbank <swithinbank@gmail.com> Co-authored-by: Copilot <copilot@github.com>

Co-authored-by: Copilot <copilot@github.com>

tats-u · 2026-05-05T03:10:17Z

Based on your feedback, I have updated the changeset description.

delucis

Thanks again @tats-u! We’ll get this released in our next minor.

tats-u · 2026-05-08T11:03:20Z

Oh, my fuChrome, the notation :lang(zh, ja) is only supported by Firefox. Shame on them.

I didn't notice it because I'm a Firefox fanboy. I'll send you a fix.

This PR contains the following updates: | Package | Change | [Age](https://docs.renovatebot.com/merge-confidence/) | [Confidence](https://docs.renovatebot.com/merge-confidence/) | |---|---|---|---| | [@astrojs/starlight](https://starlight.astro.build) ([source](https://github.com/withastro/starlight/tree/HEAD/packages/starlight)) | [`0.38.5` → `0.39.2`](https://renovatebot.com/diffs/npm/@astrojs%2fstarlight/0.38.5/0.39.2) | ![age](https://developer.mend.io/api/mc/badges/age/npm/@astrojs%2fstarlight/0.39.2?slim=true) | ![confidence](https://developer.mend.io/api/mc/badges/confidence/npm/@astrojs%2fstarlight/0.38.5/0.39.2?slim=true) | --- ### Release Notes <details> <summary>withastro/starlight (@astrojs/starlight)</summary> ### [`v0.39.2`](https://github.com/withastro/starlight/blob/HEAD/packages/starlight/CHANGELOG.md#0392) [Compare Source](https://github.com/withastro/starlight/compare/@astrojs/starlight@0.39.1...@astrojs/starlight@0.39.2) ##### Patch Changes - [#3890](withastro/starlight#3890) [`2d05e18`](withastro/starlight@2d05e18) Thanks [@tats-u](https://github.com/tats-u)! - Fixes CSS selector for `text-autospace` styles in Chromium browsers ### [`v0.39.1`](https://github.com/withastro/starlight/blob/HEAD/packages/starlight/CHANGELOG.md#0391) [Compare Source](https://github.com/withastro/starlight/compare/@astrojs/starlight@0.39.0...@astrojs/starlight@0.39.1) ##### Patch Changes - [#3885](withastro/starlight#3885) [`010eed1`](withastro/starlight@010eed1) Thanks [@ArmandPhilippot](https://github.com/ArmandPhilippot)! - Fixes the version mentioned in an error message related to autogenerated sidebar groups support. - [#3887](withastro/starlight#3887) [`b3c6990`](withastro/starlight@b3c6990) Thanks [@delucis](https://github.com/delucis)! - Adds 13 new icons: `clock`, `desktop`, `mobile-android`, `window`, `database`, `server`, `code-branch`, `notes`, `question`, `question-circle`, `analytics`, `padlock`, and `solidjs`. ### [`v0.39.0`](https://github.com/withastro/starlight/blob/HEAD/packages/starlight/CHANGELOG.md#0390) [Compare Source](https://github.com/withastro/starlight/compare/@astrojs/starlight@0.38.5...@astrojs/starlight@0.39.0) ##### Minor Changes - [#3618](withastro/starlight#3618) [`dcf6d09`](withastro/starlight@dcf6d09) Thanks [@HiDeoo](https://github.com/HiDeoo)! - **⚠️ BREAKING CHANGE:** This release changes how autogenerated links work in Starlight’s sidebar configuration. If you have sidebar groups using the `autogenerate` key, you must now wrap that configuration in an `items` array: ```diff { label: 'My group', - autogenerate: { directory: 'some-dir' }, + items: [{ autogenerate: { directory: 'some-dir' } }], } ``` This change unlocks the possibility to mix autogenerated links and other links in a single group, for example: ```js { label: 'Mixed group', items: [ 'example-page', { autogenerate: { directory: 'examples' } }, { label: 'More examples', link: 'https://example.com' }, ], } ``` This release also updates the shape of autogenerated sidebar entries in route data. Autogenerated links and groups in `Astro.locals.starlightRoute.sidebar` now include an `autogenerate` object with the [configured `directory` value](https://starlight.astro.build/guides/sidebar/#autogenerated-groups): ```js { type: 'link', label: 'Example', href: '/examples/example/', isCurrent: false, autogenerate: { directory: 'examples' } } ``` - [#3618](withastro/starlight#3618) [`dcf6d09`](withastro/starlight@dcf6d09) Thanks [@HiDeoo](https://github.com/HiDeoo)! - **⚠️ BREAKING CHANGE:** This release changes the default collapsed state of autogenerated sidebar subgroups. Autogenerated subgroups no longer inherit the `collapsed` value from their parent group. They are now expanded by default unless explicitly configured with [`autogenerate.collapsed`](https://starlight.astro.build/reference/configuration/#collapsing-groups). If your sidebar configuration relies on a collapsed parent group to also collapse its autogenerated subgroups, update your configuration to set `autogenerate.collapsed` to `true`: ```diff { label: 'Reference', collapsed: true, items: [ - { autogenerate: { directory: 'reference' } }, + { autogenerate: { directory: 'reference', collapsed: true } }, ], } ``` - [#3845](withastro/starlight#3845) [`4d755f5`](withastro/starlight@4d755f5) Thanks [@delucis](https://github.com/delucis)! - Adds a `<link rel="alternate" hreflang="x-default" href="...">` tag pointing to the default locale in multilingual sites. The `x-default` alternate is used as a signal of which language to fall back to if no other is available. Learn more in Google’s [SEO localization docs](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/specialty/international/localized-versions#xdefault). - [#3862](withastro/starlight#3862) [`ec70630`](withastro/starlight@ec70630) Thanks [@itrew](https://github.com/itrew)! - Makes spacing of items in nested lists more consistent - [#3872](withastro/starlight#3872) [`417a66c`](withastro/starlight@417a66c) Thanks [@tats-u](https://github.com/tats-u)! - Enables [the CSS property `text-autospace`](https://developer.mozilla.org/docs/Web/CSS/Reference/Properties/text-autospace) in Chinese and Japanese documents. If you would prefer to disable autospacing in Chinese and Japanese pages, you can add the following custom CSS to your site: ```css [lang]:where(:lang(zh, ja)) { text-autospace: initial; } ``` - [#3797](withastro/starlight#3797) [`9764ebd`](withastro/starlight@9764ebd) Thanks [@delucis](https://github.com/delucis)! - Avoids the risk of layout shift when users expand and collapse sidebar groups This release can introduce additional padding to the site sidebar on certain devices to reserve space for scrollbars. You may wish to inspect your site sidebar visually when upgrading. If you would prefer to keep the previous styling, you can add the following custom CSS to your site: ```css .sidebar-pane { scrollbar-gutter: auto; } ``` - [#3858](withastro/starlight#3858) [`6672c35`](withastro/starlight@6672c35) Thanks [@delucis](https://github.com/delucis)! - Updates `i18next`, used for Starlight’s localization APIs, from v23 to v26 There should not be any user-facing changes from this update </details> --- ### Configuration 📅 **Schedule**: (UTC) - Branch creation - At any time (no schedule defined) - Automerge - At any time (no schedule defined) 🚦 **Automerge**: Disabled by config. Please merge this manually once you are satisfied. ♻ **Rebasing**: Whenever PR becomes conflicted, or you tick the rebase/retry checkbox. 🔕 **Ignore**: Close this PR and you won't be reminded about this update again. --- - [ ] If you want to rebase/retry this PR, check this box --- This PR has been generated by [Mend Renovate](https://github.com/renovatebot/renovate).

Enable text-autospace in Chinese and Japanese documents

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github-actions Bot added the 🌟 core Changes to Starlight’s main package label May 4, 2026

delucis reviewed May 4, 2026

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Comment thread .changeset/gentle-hats-help.md

delucis added this to the v0.39 milestone May 4, 2026

delucis added the 🌟 minor Change that triggers a minor release label May 4, 2026

tats-u and others added 2 commits May 5, 2026 11:42

Update changeset notes

11b1277

Co-authored-by: Chris Swithinbank <swithinbank@gmail.com> Co-authored-by: Copilot <copilot@github.com>

Update 2

17cf0f7

Co-authored-by: Copilot <copilot@github.com>

tats-u requested a review from delucis May 5, 2026 03:10

delucis previously approved these changes May 5, 2026

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delucis added the ✅ approved Pull requests that have been approved and are ready to merge when next cutting a release label May 5, 2026

Simplify changeset

ae8d92d

delucis dismissed their stale review via ae8d92d May 6, 2026 21:22

delucis approved these changes May 6, 2026

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delucis merged commit 417a66c into withastro:main May 6, 2026
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astrobot-houston mentioned this pull request May 6, 2026

[ci] release #3883

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tats-u deleted the autospace branch May 6, 2026 21:36

tats-u mentioned this pull request May 8, 2026

Make sure to enable text-autospace even in Chromium-based browsers #3890

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Enable `text-autospace` in Chinese and Japanese documents#3872

Enable `text-autospace` in Chinese and Japanese documents#3872
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tats-u commented May 4, 2026

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