---
navigation.icon: uil:window-section
---

# Views

Nuxt provides several component layers to implement the user interface of your application.

## `app.vue`

![The `app.vue` file is the entry point of your application](/assets/docs/getting-started/views/app.svg)

By default, Nuxt will treat this file as the **entrypoint** and render its content for every route of the application.

```vue [app.vue]
<template>
  <div>
   <h1>Welcome to the homepage</h1>
  </div>
</template>
```

::alert
If you are familiar with Vue, you might wonder where `main.js` is (the file that normally creates a Vue app). Nuxt does this behind the scene.
::

## Components

![Components are reusable pieces of UI](/assets/docs/getting-started/views/components.svg)

Most components are reusable pieces of the user interface, like buttons and menus. In Nuxt, you can create these components in the [`components/` directory](/docs/guide/directory-structure/components), and they will be automatically available across your application without having to explicitly import them.

::code-group

```vue [app.vue]
<template>
  <div>
    <h1>Welcome to the homepage</h1>
    <AppAlert>
      This is an auto-imported component.
    </AppAlert>
  </div>
</template>
```

```vue [components/AppAlert.vue]
<template>
  <span>
    <slot />
  </span>
</template>
```

::

## Pages

![Pages are views tied to a specific route](/assets/docs/getting-started/views/pages.svg)

Pages represent views for each specific route pattern. Every file in the [`pages/` directory](/docs/guide/directory-structure/pages) represents a different route displaying its content.

To use pages, create `pages/index.vue` file and add `<NuxtPage />` component to the `app.vue` (or remove `app.vue` for default entry). You can now create more pages and their corresponding routes by adding new files in the [`pages/` directory](/docs/guide/directory-structure/pages).

::code-group

```vue [pages/index.vue]
<template>
  <div>
    <h1>Welcome to the homepage</h1>
    <AppAlert>
      This is an auto-imported component
    </AppAlert>
  </div>
</template>
```

```vue [pages/about.vue]
<template>
  <section>
    <p>This page will be displayed at the /about route.</p>
  </section>
</template>
```

::

::alert
You will learn more about pages in the [Routing section](/docs/getting-started/routing)
::

## Layouts

![Layouts are wrapper around pages](/assets/docs/getting-started/views/layouts.svg)

Layouts are wrappers around pages that contain a common User Interface for several pages, such as a header and footer display. Layouts are Vue files using `<slot />` components to display the **page** content. The `layouts/default.vue` file will be used by default. Custom layouts can be set as part of your page metadata.

::alert
If you only have a single layout in your application, we recommend using app.vue with the [`<NuxtPage />` component](/docs/api/components/nuxt-page) instead.
::

::code-group

```vue [layouts/default.vue]
<template>
  <div>
    <AppHeader />
    <slot />
    <AppFooter />
  </div>
</template>
```

```vue [pages/index.vue]
<template>
  <div>
    <h1>Welcome to the homepage</h1>
    <AppAlert>
      This is an auto-imported component
    </AppAlert>
  </div>
</template>
```

```vue [pages/about.vue]
<template>
  <section>
    <p>This page will be displayed at the /about route.</p>
  </section>
</template>
```

::

If you want to create more layouts and learn how to use them in your pages, find more information in the [Layouts section](/docs/guide/directory-structure/layouts).

## Advanced: Extending the HTML template

::alert{type=info}
If you only need to modify the head, you can refer to the [SEO and meta section](/docs/getting-started/seo-meta).
::

You can have full control over the HTML template by adding a Nitro plugin that registers a hook.
The callback function of the `render:html` hook allows you to mutate the HTML before it is sent to the client.

```ts [server/plugins/extend-html.ts]
export default defineNitroPlugin((nitroApp) => {
  nitroApp.hooks.hook('render:html', (html, { event }) => { 
    // This will be an object representation of the html template.
    console.log(html)
    html.head.push(`<meta name="description" content="My custom description" />`)
  })
  // You can also intercept the response here.
  nitroApp.hooks.hook('render:response', (response, { event }) => { console.log(response) })
})
```

:ReadMore{link="/docs/guide/going-further/hooks"}