# Layouts Layouts wrap page content in a shared HTML shell. A layout is a **layout component**: an `.ep` file that emits the document (or a region) and exposes `` placeholders. Layouts live in the top-level `layouts/` directory (or `src/layouts/` in a [`src/` project](project-structure.md)). Because `layouts/` is a component root, any `.ep` file there can also be used as a component from another template. Layouts can also come from a [layer](../guides/extending/layers.md) — another repo, package or directory — with the site's own `layouts/` always searched first. > `.html` layout templates are not supported: a layout is always a `.ep` > component. `{% extends %}`/`{% block %}` are rejected in `.ep` files — compose > with `` instead. ## Writing a layout A layout is a normal `.ep` component. A document shell emits a full `` document; because it declares no scoped `