bytemd

ByteMD

ByteMD is a Markdown editor component built with Svelte. It could also be used in other libraries/frameworks such as React, Vue and Angular.

Note: It is still in development

Features

1. Lightweight and framework agnostic: ByteMD is built with Svelte. It compiles to vanilla JS DOM manipulation without importing any UI Framework runtime bundle, which makes it lightweight, and easily adapted to other libraries/frameworks.
2. Easy to extend: ByteMD has a plugin system to extend the basic Markdown syntax, which makes it easy to add additional features such as code syntax highlight, math equation and Mermaid flowcharts. You can also write your own plugin if these ones don't meet your needs.
3. Secure by default: Cross-site scripting(XSS) attack such as <script> and <img onerror> have been correctly handled by ByteMD. No need to introduce extra DOM sanitize steps.
4. SSR compatiable: ByteMD could be used in the Server-side rendering(SSR) environment without extra config. SSR is widely used in some cases due to its better SEO and fast time-to-content in slow network connection.

Installation

Package	Status	Description
bytemd		Svelte/Vanilla JS component
@bytemd/react		React component
@bytemd/vue		Vue component

Usage

There are two components: Editor and Viewer. Editor is the Markdown editor, as the name suggests; Viewer is commonly used to display rendered Markdown results without editing.

Before using the component, remember to import CSS file to make styles correct:

import 'bytemd/dist/index.css';

Svelte

<template>
  <Editor {value} on:change={handleChange} plugins={[{/* Add plugins here */}]} />
</template>
<script>
import { Editor, Viewer } from 'bytemd'

let value;
function handleChange(e) {
  value = e.detail.value
}
</script>

React

import { Editor, Viewer } from '@bytemd/react';

const App = () => {
  const [value, setValue] = useState('');

  return (
    <Editor
      value={value}
      onChange={(v) => {
        setValue(v);
      }}
      plugins={
        [
          // Add plugins here
        ]
      }
    />
  );
};

Vue

<template>
  <Editor :value="value" @change="handleChange" :plugins="plugins" />
</template>

<script>
import { Editor, Viewer } from '@bytemd/vue';

export default {
  components: {
    Editor,
  },
  data() {
    return {
      value: '',
      plugins: [
        // Add plugins here
      ],
    };
  },
  methods: {
    handleChange(v) {
      value = v;
    },
  },
};
</script>

Vanilla JS

import { Editor, Viewer } from 'bytemd';

const instance = new Editor({
  target: document.body, // DOM to render
  props: {
    value: '',
    plugins: [
      // Add plugins here
    ],
  },
});

instance.on('change', (e) => {
  const value = e.detail.value;
  console.log(value);
  // ...
});

Technical details

ByteMD uses remark and rehype ecosystem to process Markdown. The complete process is as follows:

1. The markdown text is parsed to an AST
2. The Markdown AST could be manipulated by several remark plugins
3. The Markdown AST is transformed to a HTML AST
4. The HTML AST is sanitized for security reason
5. The HTML AST could be manipulated by several rehype plugins
6. The HTML AST is stringified to HTML
7. Some extra DOM manipulation after the HTML being rendered

It could also be described as a flowchart:

The 2,5,7 steps are designed for user customization via ByteMD plugin API.

Plugins

Package	Status	Description
@bytemd/plugin-breaks		ByteMD plugin to support breaks
@bytemd/plugin-external-links		ByteMD plugin to open external links in new window
@bytemd/plugin-footnotes		ByteMD plugin to support footnotes
@bytemd/plugin-frontmatter		ByteMD plugin to support frontmatter
@bytemd/plugin-highlight		ByteMD plugin to highlight code blocks
@bytemd/plugin-highlight-ssr		ByteMD plugin to highlight code blocks (SSR compatible)
@bytemd/plugin-import-html		ByteMD plugin to import HTML by pasting or dropping
@bytemd/plugin-import-image		ByteMD plugin to import image by pasting or dropping
@bytemd/plugin-math		ByteMD plugin to support math equation
@bytemd/plugin-math-ssr		ByteMD plugin to support math equation (SSR compatible)
@bytemd/plugin-medium-zoom		ByteMD plugin to zoom images like Medium
@bytemd/plugin-mermaid		ByteMD plugin to support Mermaid diagram and flowchart
@bytemd/plugin-scroll-sync		ByteMD plugin to sync scroll position of edit and preview area
@bytemd/plugin-vega		ByteMD plugin to support vega charts

Write a plugin

TODO

License

MIT