---
title: Frontend guide
description: Getting started with Mastodon frontend development
menu:
  docs:
    parent: dev
    identifier: frontend
---

## About this guide

The Mastodon user interface consists of two parts built on different technologies:

1. **A client-side React app**  
	The main app used for rendering post feeds, profiles and other "core" social networking functionality
2. **Server-rendered pages built on Ruby on Rails**  
	Used for settings and preferences, the registration and login flows, as well as admin and moderation functionality

This guide will focus on information relevant to the React app:

- [Components](/dev/frontend/components)
- [State management](/dev/frontend/state-management)
- [CSS and styling](/dev/frontend/css-and-styling)
- [Creating themes](/dev/frontend/theming)
- [Design tokens reference](/dev/frontend/design-tokens)
