collections.First

Returns the first N elements of the given slice or string.

Syntax

collections.First N SLICE|STRING

Returns

any

Alias

first

{{ slice "a" "b" "c" | first 1 }} → [a]
{{ slice "a" "b" "c" | first 2 }} → [a b]

Given that a string is in effect a read-only slice of bytes, this function can be used to return the specified number of bytes from the beginning of the string:

{{ "abc" | first 1 }} → a
{{ "abc" | first 2 }} → ab

Note that a character may consist of multiple bytes:

{{ "Schön" | first 3 }} → Sch
{{ "Schön" | first 4 }} → Sch\xc3
{{ "Schön" | first 5 }} → Schö

To use the collections.First function with a page collection:

{{ range first 5 .Pages }}
  {{ .Render "summary" }}
{{ end }}

Set N to zero to return an empty slice:

{{ $emptyPageCollection := first 0 .Pages }}

Use first and where together:

{{ range where .Pages "Section" "articles" | first 5 }}
  {{ .Render "summary" }}
{{ end }}

Last updated: February 8, 2026 : content: Minor edits to collections functions (b419af329)

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