Template Syntax

January 14, 2026 ยท View on GitHub

pongo2 uses Django-compatible template syntax. This document covers all syntax elements.

Variables

Variables output values from the context:

{{ variable }}

Accessing Attributes

Access struct fields, map keys, and slice/array indices:

{{ user.name }}          {# Struct field or map key #}
{{ user.Name }}          {# Go struct fields are case-sensitive #}
{{ items.0 }}            {# First element of slice/array #}
{{ dict.key }}           {# Map key access #}
{{ user["name"] }}       {# Subscript notation #}
{{ items[index] }}       {# Dynamic index #}

Calling Methods

Call methods on objects:

{{ user.GetFullName() }}
{{ items.Len() }}
{{ now.Format("2006-01-02") }}

Methods can receive arguments:

{{ math.Add(1, 2) }}
{{ string.Replace("hello", "h", "j") }}

Method requirements:

  • Must be exported (capitalized)
  • Must return 1 or 2 values
  • If 2 values, second must be error
  • Can accept *pongo2.Value or concrete types
  • Can optionally accept *pongo2.ExecutionContext as first parameter

Filters

Filters modify variable output:

{{ name|upper }}                    {# JOHN #}
{{ name|lower }}                    {# john #}
{{ text|truncatewords:5 }}          {# First five words... #}
{{ price|floatformat:2 }}           {# 19.99 #}
{{ list|join:", " }}                {# apple, banana, cherry #}

Chain multiple filters:

{{ name|lower|capfirst }}           {# John #}
{{ html|striptags|truncatechars:100 }}

Expressions

pongo2 supports C-like expressions in templates.

Arithmetic Operators

{{ 1 + 2 }}                         {# 3 #}
{{ 10 - 3 }}                        {# 7 #}
{{ 4 * 5 }}                         {# 20 #}
{{ 20 / 4 }}                        {# 5 #}
{{ 17 % 5 }}                        {# 2 (modulo) #}
{{ 2 ^ 10 }}                        {# 1024 (power) #}

Comparison Operators

{{ x == y }}
{{ x != y }}
{{ x < y }}
{{ x > y }}
{{ x <= y }}
{{ x >= y }}

Also supports <> as alternative to !=.

Logical Operators

{{ x and y }}
{{ x or y }}
{{ not x }}
{{ x && y }}                        {# Alternative syntax #}
{{ x || y }}                        {# Alternative syntax #}
{{ !x }}                            {# Alternative syntax #}

The in Operator

Check if a value is contained in another:

{% if "a" in "abc" %}yes{% endif %}             {# String contains #}
{% if key in dict %}yes{% endif %}              {# Map contains key #}
{% if item in list %}yes{% endif %}             {# Slice contains #}
{% if !(key in dict) %}not found{% endif %}     {# Negation #}

Grouping with Parentheses

{{ (1 + 2) * 3 }}                   {# 9 #}
{% if (a or b) and c %}...{% endif %}

Array Literals

Define inline arrays:

{% for item in [1, 2, 3] %}{{ item }}{% endfor %}
{% for name in ["Alice", "Bob", "Charlie"] %}...{% endfor %}

Tags

Tags control template logic and are enclosed in {% %}:

{% if condition %}
  Content shown if true
{% endif %}

Block Tags

Many tags have opening and closing parts:

{% if condition %}
  ...
{% elif other_condition %}
  ...
{% else %}
  ...
{% endif %}

{% for item in items %}
  ...
{% empty %}
  No items found.
{% endfor %}

Comments

Single-line Comments

{# This is a comment and won't appear in output #}

Multi-line Comments

{% comment %}
  This entire block is a comment.
  It can span multiple lines.
  Useful for temporarily disabling template code.
{% endcomment %}

Whitespace Control

TrimBlocks and LStripBlocks

Control whitespace around block tags:

set := pongo2.NewSet("name", pongo2.DefaultLoader)
set.Options.TrimBlocks = true   // Remove first newline after block tags
set.Options.LStripBlocks = true // Strip leading whitespace from block tags

Manual Whitespace Control

Use - to trim whitespace:

{%- if condition -%}   {# Trims whitespace on both sides #}
  content
{%- endif -%}

{{- variable -}}        {# Trims whitespace around variable #}

Spaceless Tag

Remove whitespace between HTML tags:

{% spaceless %}
  <ul>
    <li>Item 1</li>
    <li>Item 2</li>
  </ul>
{% endspaceless %}

Output: <ul><li>Item 1</li><li>Item 2</li></ul>

Escaping

Automatic HTML Escaping

By default, pongo2 escapes HTML special characters:

{{ "<script>alert('xss')</script>" }}
{# Output: &lt;script&gt;alert(&#39;xss&#39;)&lt;/script&gt; #}

Disabling Escaping

{# For a single variable #}
{{ trusted_html|safe }}

{# For a block #}
{% autoescape off %}
  {{ raw_html }}
{% endautoescape %}

JavaScript Escaping

For JavaScript contexts:

<script>
var data = "{{ user_input|escapejs }}";
</script>

Literals

Strings

{{ "hello world" }}
{{ 'single quotes work too' }}

Numbers

{{ 42 }}
{{ 3.14 }}
{{ -17 }}
{{ -2.5 }}

Booleans

{{ true }}
{{ false }}

Differences from Django

forloop Variables

In pongo2, forloop variables are capitalized:

{% for item in items %}
  {{ forloop.Counter }}      {# 1-indexed counter #}
  {{ forloop.Counter0 }}     {# 0-indexed counter #}
  {{ forloop.Revcounter }}   {# Reverse counter #}
  {{ forloop.Revcounter0 }}  {# Reverse 0-indexed #}
  {{ forloop.First }}        {# True on first iteration #}
  {{ forloop.Last }}         {# True on last iteration #}
  {{ forloop.Parentloop }}   {# Access parent loop #}
{% endfor %}

Date/Time Format

pongo2 uses Go's time format, not Python's:

{{ now|date:"2006-01-02" }}
{{ now|time:"15:04:05" }}
{{ now|date:"Monday, January 2, 2006" }}

Reference: https://golang.org/pkg/time/#Time.Format

stringformat Filter

Uses Go's fmt.Sprintf format:

{{ 3.14159|stringformat:"%.2f" }}   {# 3.14 #}
{{ 42|stringformat:"%05d" }}         {# 00042 #}

Reserved Keywords

The following are reserved keywords:

  • in
  • and
  • or
  • not
  • true
  • false
  • as
  • export