Save patterns
This page shows you how to turn blocks you built into a pattern you can insert anywhere.
Saving, renaming and deleting are limited to Administrators by default. Developers can open them to other roles with the unblock/library/can_manage filter.
Save a selection
- Select the blocks you want, one block or several
- Open the block settings menu (the ⋮ button in the block toolbar)
- Click Save to library
Don't confuse it with Create pattern right below: that's the WordPress entry. It saves a WordPress pattern to the block inserter, not to the Library.
The entry only appears when every block you selected is an Unblock block. Nested blocks are not checked. A core WordPress block sitting inside an Unblock block doesn't hide it. Only the top level of your selection counts.
The dialog
| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| Name | Required. What you'll see under the card in the grid. |
| Description | Shown in the detail view. Write what the pattern is for, not what it contains. |
| Type | Pattern (the default) for a section, Template for a full page. It only sets the Library tab it's listed under; both insert the same way. |
| Library name | Which of your libraries it goes into. Type a name that doesn't exist yet and it gets created. |
| Category name | Optional. Type a name that doesn't exist yet to create it. Left empty, the pattern is filed under Uncategorized. |
On a fresh site the Library name field is pre-filled with My patterns. Accept it and your first library is created on save.
It matches on name, ignoring case and surrounding spaces. Typing my patterns reuses My patterns instead of creating a second one.
What gets captured
The save takes a self-contained copy of the selection:
- The markup — your blocks, their attributes, their classes
- The CSS — only the selectors, variables and at-rules those blocks actually use, resolved from your design system
Nothing tying the pattern to this particular site comes along, so you can insert the same one twice on a page without the two copies interfering.
Non-Unblock blocks are saved but not previewed. Only Unblock blocks are rendered into the preview; anything else is emptied out, at any depth. A pattern mixing the two still inserts in full, but its preview shows gaps. Build from Unblock blocks alone if the preview matters.
The capture is a snapshot, not a link. Change .hero in your design system afterwards and the saved pattern keeps the values it had at save time. It carries its own copy of the CSS. To change a pattern, insert it, edit it, and save it as a new one, then delete the old one.
Organize libraries and categories
Everything happens in the rail of the Library modal.
- Add a library — the Add Library button at the bottom of the tree
- Add a category — open one of your own libraries and use Add Category
- Rename or delete — inline on the row
Only your own libraries are editable. The official catalog and any connected library show a lock next to their name and are read-only: no rename, no delete, no new category.
To delete patterns, browse one of your own libraries, tick the cards and use the Delete button in the selection bar.
Deleting a category deletes every pattern in it. A saved pattern belongs to exactly one category, so nothing falls back anywhere. Move what you want to keep into another category first.
Next steps
- Share libraries — give another site access to what you just saved
- Library overview — browsing, filters, previews and bulk insert