# Asset Handling

# Relative URLs

All Markdown files are compiled into Vue components and processed by webpack (opens new window). You can, and should, reference any assets using relative URLs:

![An image](./image.png)

This would work the same way as in *.vue file templates. The image will be processed with url-loader and file-loader, and copied to appropriate locations in the generated static build.

You can also use the ~ prefix to explicitly specify this is a webpack module request, allowing you to reference files with webpack aliases or from npm dependencies:

![Image from alias](~@alias/image.png)
![Image from dependency](~some-dependency/image.png)

One alias that is added by default is @source, if you follow the recommended Directory Structure this is the docs folder.

![Image from images folder](~@source/images/image.png)

Webpack aliases can be configured via configureWebpack in .vuepress/config.js. Example:

module.exports = {
  configureWebpack: {
    resolve: {
      alias: {
        '@alias': 'path/to/some/dir'
      }
    }
  }
}

# Public Files

Sometimes you may need to provide static assets that are not directly referenced in any of your Markdown or theme components (for example, favicons and PWA icons). In such cases, you can put them inside .vuepress/public and they will be copied to the root of the generated directory.

# Base URL

If your site is deployed to a non-root URL, you will need to set the base option in .vuepress/config.js. For example, if you plan to deploy your site to https://foo.github.io/bar/, then base should be set to "/bar/" (it should always start and end with a slash).

With a base URL, to reference an image in .vuepress/public, you’d have to use URLs like /bar/image.png. But this is brittle if you ever decide to change the base. To help with that, VuePress provides a built-in helper $withBase (injected onto Vue’s prototype) that generates the correct path:

<img :src="$withBase('/foo.png')" alt="foo">

Note you can use the above syntax not only in theme components, but in your Markdown files as well.

Also, if a base is set, it’s automatically prepended to all asset URLs in .vuepress/config.js options.