@ckeditor/ckeditor5-engine

What is @ckeditor/ckeditor5-engine?

@ckeditor/ckeditor5-engine is a core package of CKEditor 5, a modern JavaScript rich text editor. This package provides the engine that powers the editor, including the data model, editing view, and rendering process. It is highly modular and extensible, allowing developers to create custom editing experiences.

What are @ckeditor/ckeditor5-engine's main functionalities?

Creating a Document

This feature allows you to create a new document instance, which is the core of the editing engine. The document holds the data model and manages the editing operations.

const { Document } = require('@ckeditor/ckeditor5-engine');
const doc = new Document();
console.log(doc);

Adding a Root Element

This feature allows you to add a root element to the document. The root element is the top-level container for the document's content.

const { Document } = require('@ckeditor/ckeditor5-engine');
const doc = new Document();
const root = doc.createRoot();
console.log(root);

Inserting Text

This feature allows you to insert text into the document. The Writer class is used to perform editing operations on the document.

const { Document, Writer } = require('@ckeditor/ckeditor5-engine');
const doc = new Document();
const root = doc.createRoot();
const writer = new Writer();
writer.insertText('Hello, world!', root);
console.log(root);

Listening to Changes

This feature allows you to listen to changes in the document. The document emits events whenever its content is modified, enabling you to react to these changes.

const { Document } = require('@ckeditor/ckeditor5-engine');
const doc = new Document();
doc.on('change', (event, batch) => {
  console.log('Document changed:', batch);
});

Other packages similar to @ckeditor/ckeditor5-engine

prosemirror

ProseMirror is a toolkit for building rich-text editors on the web. It provides a similar data model and editing capabilities as @ckeditor/ckeditor5-engine but is more low-level, offering greater flexibility at the cost of requiring more setup and configuration.

slate

Slate is another framework for building rich text editors. It offers a more React-friendly API compared to @ckeditor/ckeditor5-engine and is highly customizable. However, it may require more effort to implement complex features.

quill

Quill is a modern WYSIWYG editor built for compatibility and extensibility. It provides a simpler API compared to @ckeditor/ckeditor5-engine and is easier to get started with, but it may not offer the same level of customization and control.

README

CKEditor 5 editing engine

The CKEditor 5 editing engine implements a flexible MVC-based architecture for creating rich text editing features.

Installation

This plugin is part of the ckeditor5 package. Install the whole package to use it.

npm install ckeditor5

Create free account

If you want to check full CKEditor 5 capabilities, sign up for a free non-commitment 14-day trial.

Architecture overview

• Custom data model. CKEditor 5 implements a tree-structured custom data model, designed to fit multiple requirements such as enabling real-time collaboration and complex editing features (like tables or nested blocks).
• Virtual DOM. CKEditor 5's editing engine features a custom, editing-oriented virtual DOM implementation that aims to hide browser quirks from your sight. No more contentEditable nightmares!
• Real-time collaborative editing. The editor implements Operational Transformation for the tree-structured model as well as many other mechanisms which were required to create a seamless collaborative UX. Additionally, we provide cloud infrastructure and plugins enabling real-time collaborative editing in your application! Check the collaboration demo.
• Extensible. The entire editor architecture was designed for maximum flexibility. The code is event-based and highly decoupled, allowing you to plug in or replace selected pieces. Features do not directly depend on each other and communicate in standardized ways.
• Schema-less core. The core makes minimal assumptions and can be controlled through the schema. This leaves all decisions to plugins and to you.
• Modular architecture. Not only can the core modules be reused and recomposed but even the features were implemented in a highly granular way. Feel like running a headless CKEditor 5 with a couple of features in Node.js? Not a problem!
• Framework for building rich-text editors. Every use case is different and every editor needs to fulfill different goals. Therefore, we give you the freedom to create your own editors with custom-tailored features and UI.
• Heavily tested from day one. CKEditor 5 comes with 3x more tests than React itself. All packages have 100% code coverage.
• 8+ years of support. It is not yet another framework to be gone next year or a hyped proof-of-concept to fail in a real-life scenario. We have over 15 years of experience in creating rich text editors and invested over 4 years in designing and building your next future-proof rich text editor of choice.

Documentation

For a general introduction see the Overview of CKEditor 5 Framework guide and then the Editing engine architecture guide.

Additionally, refer to the @ckeditor/ckeditor5-engine package page in CKEditor 5 documentation for even more information.

License

Licensed under a dual-license model, this software is available under:

• the GNU General Public License Version 2 or later,
• or commercial license terms from CKSource Holding sp. z o.o.

For more information, see: https://ckeditor.com/legal/ckeditor-licensing-options.

Changelog

47.0.0 (October 1, 2025)

We are happy to announce the release of CKEditor 5 v47.0.0.

Release highlights

CKEditor AI (early access)

We are introducing CKEditor AI, a set of versatile AI-powered features that integrate directly into CKEditor 5. It brings generation, summarization, correction, contextual chat help, reviews, and many other capabilities, right into the editor. With CKEditor AI, users will no longer need to switch between the editor and AI tools.

Three features are available in this early access phase:

• Chat: a conversational AI for dynamic, multi-turn interactions that support various context sources, model selection, which can perform changes directly on the document.
• Quick actions: one-click transformations and instant insights for selected text.
• Review: automatic checks for grammar, tone, correctness, style, and more, with UX optimized for performing full-document review.

Each feature is powered by our state-of-the-art AI service, available in the Cloud today and coming soon for on-premises deployments. This makes CKEditor AI a true plug-and-play solution that works out of the box, eliminating the need for months of custom development.

CKEditor AI is available as part of our free trial in early access.

Long-term Support (⭐)

We are introducing the CKEditor 5 LTS (Long-term Support) Edition, giving teams up to 3 years of stability with guaranteed updates.

The first LTS release is v47.0.0 (October 2025). It will receive 6 months of active development with new features and fixes, then 2.5 years of maintenance with security and critical compatibility updates.

For v47.x, the Maintenance phase starts in April 2026. From then, the next versions in the v47.x line will be available only under a commercial LTS Edition license. Therefore, starting in April, integrators without an LTS license should migrate to v48.x (the next regular release).

If you need long-term stability, contact sales or read more about CKEditor 5 LTS Edition.

Other improvements and fixes

This release also brings several smaller but important enhancements and fixes:

• Widgets: the default Tab/Shift+Tab navigation now works better inside nested editables, improving usability. This change is also reflected in the editor’s current widgets (like tables), leading to more intuitive keyboard navigation.
• UI: dialogs in custom features can now be positioned programmatically with more flexible options (Dialog#show()).
• Comments: confirmation views for deleting comments and threads now use simplified CSS selectors (.ck-confirm-view). You may need to adjust custom styles accordingly.

Please refer to the update guide to learn more about these changes.