# New \`stdlib\` API reference?

**URL:** <https://talk.observablehq.com/t/new-stdlib-api-reference/10924>\
**Category:** Feedback\
**Created:** [October 20, 2026, 3:57am UTC](https://talk.observablehq.com/t/new-stdlib-api-reference/10924 "2026-10-20T03:57:01Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![akrawitz](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/talk.observablehq.com/akrawitz/32/4375_2.png) [@akrawitz](https://talk.observablehq.com/u/akrawitz)\
**Post date:** [October 20, 2026, 3:57am UTC](https://talk.observablehq.com/t/new-stdlib-api-reference/10924/1 "2026-10-20T03:57:01Z")

</div>

The old `stdlib` has a nice API reference in it’s README on Github:

> **[GitHub - observablehq/stdlib: The Observable standard library.](https://github.com/observablehq/stdlib)**
>
> The Observable standard library.

The new `stdlib` doesn’t have an API reference on Github or on Observable (as far as I can tell):

> **[GitHub - observablehq/notebook-kit: A command-line tool for building static sites from...](https://github.com/observablehq/notebook-kit/)**
>
> A command-line tool for building static sites from Observable Notebooks

> **[notebook-kit/src/runtime/stdlib at main · observablehq/notebook-kit](https://github.com/observablehq/notebook-kit/tree/main/src/runtime/stdlib)**
>
> main/src/runtime/stdlib

> **[Observable Notebooks 2.0 Technology Preview | Observable](https://observablehq.github.io/notebook-kit/)**

It appears to be the case that most of the “old” and “new” `stdlib` are the same, but I’m not sure. So, I don’t feel confident relying on the old API reference, but I don’t know of an alternative.

If the new API could be documented by copying the old README and making a relatively small number of edits, that might be worth doing sooner rather than later.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![mbostock](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/talk.observablehq.com/mbostock/32/9_2.png) [@mbostock](https://talk.observablehq.com/u/mbostock)\
**Post date:** [October 20, 2026, 4:26am UTC](https://talk.observablehq.com/t/new-stdlib-api-reference/10924/2 "2026-10-20T04:26:17Z")

</div>

Yes, we need to do better here. Much of the new standard library is the same as [Observable Framework](https://observablehq.github.io/framework/javascript) (and its [implicit imports](https://observablehq.github.io/framework/imports#implicit-imports)). But the Notebook Kit source code is the most up-to-date reference for what’s in the standard library currently. We need to write a new standard library notebook to document everything.