| name | env-specific-content |
| description | Write rsp.lsst.io content that differs across RSP environments — rsp-url/rsp-link roles, the rsp-only directive, substitutions, .in.rst includes, and page excludes. Use whenever content mentions an environment URL or varies per environment. |
Environment-specific content
rsp.lsst.io is built once per RSP environment (base, idfdev, idfint, idfprod, summit, tucson-teststand, usdfdev, usdfprod) from a single source tree, with -W so warnings are fatal.
idfprod is the primary, public edition.
Content that varies across environments must use the project's machinery — never hard-code an environment hostname or URL.
This skill is a summary and decision guide.
docs/contributing/env-specific-docs.rst is the full treatment (including the complete service-name table, code-sample substitutions, and the jinja directive) — read it for anything beyond what's below.
1. Which mechanism to use
Reach from the most targeted to the most general:
| Situation | Mechanism |
|---|
| A URL or link to an RSP service | rsp-url / rsp-link role |
A URL or link to a specific dataset's service (e.g. dp1's TAP endpoint) | rsp-data-url / rsp-data-link role |
| A link to a dataset's own documentation site | rsp-dataset-docs role |
| A table of which datasets expose which data-access services | rsp-data-table directive |
| An env-specific word, name, or phrase a role can't produce | substitution (|rsp-env|, |rsp-at|, …) |
| A paragraph or section shown only in some environments | rsp-only directive |
| A large block of divergent content | rsp-only (or jinja) + an *.in.rst include |
| A whole page absent from some environments | conditionalize the toctree entry and add the source to page_excludes.yaml |
2. Usage examples (real patterns from this repo)
rsp-url / rsp-link roles
Each role takes a service name (e.g. rsp, portal, nublado, tap, webdav, times-square) and resolves it for the environment being built.
rsp-url renders the URL as a code literal; rsp-link renders a hyperlink.
A path can be appended after the service name.
From docs/guides/portal/starting-and-stopping/index.rst:
From the RSP landing page at :rsp-link:`rsp` click on the left panel for the Portal.
From docs/guides/life/quotas.rst (explicit link title, and a URL with an appended path):
Always consult your :rsp-link:`Quotas page <rsp/settings/quotas>` (found under your account settings or directly at :rsp-url:`rsp/settings/quotas`) for limits being currently applied.
Targeting a service absent from the environment being built raises a fatal warning — wrap such references in a matching rsp-only block (below).
Dataset-aware roles and the availability table
Discovery describes services per dataset too. Three roles and a directive expose that dimension; all resolve against the environment being built.
:rsp-data-url:service dataset — a code literal of a dataset's data-access service URL. Service is one of `tap`, `sia`, `cutout`, `datalink`, `hips`; dataset is a name like `dp1`, `dp02`, `dp03`. Example: `:rsp-data-url:`tap dp1. A path may follow the dataset (tap dp1/tables).:rsp-data-link:service dataset`` — the hyperlink twin, with the usual title <service dataset> form.:rsp-dataset-docs:dataset`` — a link to a dataset's own docs site (discovery's docs_url), with a title <dataset> form... rsp-data-table:: — a table of datasets × data-access services for the current environment, each available cell linking to the endpoint (datasets exposing none of these services are omitted; no datasets at all → no output). Options: :services: / :datasets: to narrow rows/columns, :scope: environments (+ :service:) for a datasets × dataset-serving-environments matrix, :title: for a caption.
A dataset/service absent in the environment being built (or a dataset with no docs_url) raises a fatal warning, so wrap dataset references in an rsp-only block. Careful: the per-dataset service names (sia, cutout, datalink, hips) are NOT valid rsp-only conditions — only tap and api double as both. Gate on api (true wherever the environment serves datasets), tap, or environment names, and build the affected environments to confirm the guarded content resolves everywhere the condition holds. The rsp-data-table belongs inside .. rsp-only:: api so its lead-in prose is dropped where the environment serves no datasets. See docs/guides/api/api.primary.in.rst for a real use.
Substitutions
For env-specific prose a role can't produce, use substitutions defined in rst_prolog.rst.jinja (available on every page).
From docs/guides/life/quotas.rst:
As an approved user of the |rsp-at| you have access to certain individual, group, and shared resources.
|rsp-env| (plain-text display name), |rsp-env-link| (linked display name), and |rsp-at| (link to this environment's homepage) are the common ones.
Roles and ordinary substitutions don't expand inside literal blocks. For an environment URL inside a code sample, add the :substitutions: option and use a substitution like |rsp-tap-url|. From docs/guides/notebooks/faq/index.rst:
.. code-block:: bash
:substitutions:
export EXTERNAL_TAP_URL="|rsp-tap-url|"
rsp-only directive
Include a block only where its condition holds. Tokens are service names, environment names, or primary (= idfprod); default is logical AND, with :any: for OR and :not: to negate.
From docs/guides/notebooks/faq/index.rst — a block (and its lead-in prose) shown only where TAP exists:
.. rsp-only:: tap
As an example, we will walk through how to access the Rubin LSST TAP service locally.
From docs/guides/recovery/index.rst — the negated form for "every environment except the primary one":
.. rsp-only:: primary
:not:
To recover a staff account, contact one of the RSP environment's administrators or your manager.
Large divergent block: *.in.rst include
To swap a large block per environment, combine rsp-only with an include of an *.in.rst fragment.
The .in.rst suffix keeps Sphinx from building the fragment as its own page; name it <page-stem>.<context>.in.rst.
From docs/guides/recovery/index.rst:
.. rsp-only:: primary
.. include:: user-recovery.primary.in.rst
(Real fragment: docs/guides/recovery/user-recovery.primary.in.rst.)
Whole page absent from some environments
This is a two-part change that must agree on the gating service.
First, conditionalize the toctree entry with a jinja directive on the service's URL attribute. From docs/guides/auth/index.rst:
.. jinja:: rsp
.. toctree::
:titlesonly:
creating-user-tokens
token-scopes
{% if env.api_tap_url %}using-topcat-outside-rsp{% endif %}
Second, register the page's source under the matching service token in src/rspdocs/sphinxext/page_excludes.yaml, so Sphinx skips it (and doesn't flag it as an orphan) where the service is absent:
tap:
- guides/auth/using-topcat-outside-rsp.rst
When excluding an index page that heads a subtree, also exclude the subtree (a ** glob) so its children don't become orphans.
3. Gotchas
- Never hard-code an environment hostname. Use a role (or, in code samples, a substitution) so URLs resolve per environment.
- Referencing a service that's absent from the environment being built is a fatal warning — wrap it in a matching
rsp-only block.
page_excludes.yaml (and environments.json) are validated by the rspdocs-validate-config pre-commit hook: keys must be recognized service tokens, so a typo fails at commit time.- An excluded page must not be linked unconditionally from a page that builds everywhere — the two-part change (toctree gate + exclude) keeps them in sync.
4. Progressive disclosure
This skill covers the common cases only.
For the full service-name table, code-sample substitutions, the jinja directive for computed (not just shown/hidden) text, and the details of page excludes, read docs/contributing/env-specific-docs.rst.
5. Verify
Environment-specific mistakes often only show up in the environment they affect, so build at least two environments with differing behavior — the primary plus one where the relevant service is absent:
tox -e sphinx-idfprod
tox -e sphinx-base
(If tox is not on PATH, use uvx tox -e ….)
Both must be green; read the output for warnings, not just the exit status.
