HowTo schema

Where to use it

Tutorials, generators, procedural documentation.

A complete example

Valid as written, with every required property and the recommended ones that carry real information.

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "HowTo",
  "name": "Acme Reference",
  "step": [
    {
      "@type": "HowToStep",
      "position": 1,
      "name": "Add the tag",
      "text": "Add the canonical link element."
    },
    {
      "@type": "HowToStep",
      "position": 2,
      "name": "Verify",
      "text": "Fetch the page and read the href."
    }
  ],
  "totalTime": "PT30M",
  "tool": [
    {
      "@type": "HowToTool",
      "name": "curl"
    }
  ],
  "supply": [
    {
      "@type": "HowToSupply",
      "name": "A deployed site"
    }
  ],
  "description": "A one sentence description that restates its own subject."
}

Generate a HowTo node with your own values in the schema generator, and lint what your page actually ships with the schema validator.

Properties

The three mistakes this type attracts

1. 01Step text that does not match the visible steps on the page.
2. 02Using HowTo for a list that is not a procedure.
3. 03Omitting position, leaving step order ambiguous.

Related types

• Service
• Review
• AggregateRating
• Person
• ProfilePage
• ImageObject

Where this appears in the playbook

• Structured data: what each type is for and which ones earned their place.
• The schema graph: composing types into one graph with stable identifiers.
• One JSON-LD script per page, holding one @graph
• Stable @id anchors that cross-reference rather than duplicate
• Optional fields are omitted, never emitted as empty strings
• Does schema markup work? What 42 types on one site actually did: which of these types measurably did anything in production.