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API reference

This page documents everything exported from the main entry @powerduck/md-editor and from the ./react subpath. Signatures are taken directly from the source.

MarkdownEditor​

The top-level editor class. Construct it with a container and options.

class MarkdownEditor {
  constructor(container: HTMLElement | string, options?: MarkdownEditorOptions);

  getValue(): string;
  setValue(value: string): void;
  getHtml(): string;
  renderNow(): void;
  setAutoPreview(auto: boolean): void;
  setMode(mode: EditorMode): void;
  setTheme(theme: EditorTheme): void;
  focus(): void;
  destroy(): void;
}

constructor(container, options?)​

  • container: HTMLElement | string — a DOM element or CSS selector. If no element matches, throws MarkdownEditor: mount container not found.
  • options?: MarkdownEditorOptions — see Configuration.

Builds the layout, creates the CodeEditor, wires keyboard shortcuts, and (in complex mode) builds the toolbar and status bar. An initial render and status-bar update run on construction.

getValue(): string​

Returns the current Markdown source.

setValue(value: string): void​

Replaces the entire document, cancels any pending debounced render, re-renders the preview synchronously, and refreshes the status bar.

getHtml(): string​

Renders the current source to HTML via the internal Renderer and returns the string.

renderNow(): void​

Cancels any pending debounced render and forces a preview render immediately. Useful when autoPreview is false.

setAutoPreview(auto: boolean): void​

Enables or disables automatic preview re-rendering on edit. Enabling immediately renders the current value.

setMode(mode: EditorMode): void​

Switches between 'simple' and 'complex'. Destroying and recreating the toolbar and status bar as needed; toggles line numbers. No-op when the mode is unchanged.

setTheme(theme: EditorTheme): void​

Sets data-theme on the root element and reconfigures the CodeMirror highlight compartment. Also swaps the toolbar theme-toggle icon between sun and moon.

focus(): void​

Moves focus to the CodeMirror editor.

destroy(): void​

Cancels pending renders, destroys the code editor, toolbar, status bar, active popup, and incremental renderer, empties the container, and removes classes and attributes. Call this when unmounting the editor.

CodeEditor​

A thin wrapper around a CodeMirror 6 EditorView, exported for advanced embedding. Most consumers use MarkdownEditor instead.

class CodeEditor {
  readonly view: EditorView;
  constructor(container: HTMLElement, options: CodeEditorOptions);

  setKeymap(bindings: Array<{ key: string; run: (view: EditorView) => boolean }>): void;
  getValue(): string;
  setValue(value: string): void;
  setLineNumbers(enabled: boolean): void;
  setTheme(theme: EditorTheme): void;
  insertAtCursor(text: string): void;
  wrapSelection(prefix: string, suffix: string, placeholder: string): void;
  getSelection(): string;
  wrapLines(prefix: string, placeholder: string): void;
  focus(): void;
  insertMention(): void;
  insertDocLink(): void;
  toggleTaskList(): void;
  destroy(): void;
}

CodeEditorOptions (not re-exported from the main entry) accepts value, onChange, lineNumbers, placeholder, onImageFile, mention, docLink, and theme.

Key methods:

  • setKeymap(bindings) — replaces the custom keymap compartment with the given CodeMirror keymap bindings.
  • insertAtCursor(text) — inserts text at the main selection and moves the cursor past it.
  • wrapSelection(prefix, suffix, placeholder) — wraps the current selection; if nothing is selected, inserts prefix + placeholder + suffix and selects the placeholder.
  • wrapLines(prefix, placeholder) — prefixes each selected line (or the current line) with prefix.
  • toggleTaskList() — toggles - [ ] / - [x] markers on the current or selected lines.

Renderer and renderMarkdown​

class Renderer​

class Renderer {
  readonly md: MarkdownIt;
  constructor(options?: RendererOptions);
  render(source: string): string;
  hydrate(container: HTMLElement): Promise<void>;
}
  • constructor(options?) — builds a markdown-it instance with linkify: true and typographer: true, then conditionally registers math, mindmap, code-highlight, tips, task-list, doc-link, mention, and video plugins.
  • render(source) — synchronously renders source to an HTML string.
  • hydrate(container) — after the HTML is inserted into the DOM, hydrates mindmap placeholders into SVG diagrams. No-op when mindmaps are disabled; failures are swallowed.

function renderMarkdown​

function renderMarkdown(source: string, options?: RendererOptions): string;

Creates a throwaway Renderer and returns renderer.render(source). Use this to render markdown consistently without mounting an editor.

interface RendererOptions​

interface RendererOptions {
  math?: boolean;       // default true
  mindmap?: boolean;    // default true
  codeHighlight?: boolean; // default true
  tips?: boolean;       // default true
  html?: boolean;       // default false
  breaks?: boolean;     // default false
}

Toolbar​

class Toolbar {
  readonly el: HTMLDivElement;
  constructor(actions: readonly ToolbarAction[]);
  setActive(name: string, active: boolean): void;
  setIcon(name: string, icon: string): void;
  destroy(): void;
}

interface ToolbarAction​

interface ToolbarAction {
  name: string;
  title: string;
  icon: string;
  handler: (button: HTMLButtonElement) => void;
  groupEnd?: boolean;
  toggle?: boolean;
  active?: boolean;
}

Buttons use mousedown + preventDefault so the editor does not lose focus and collapse the selection before the handler runs.

StatusBar and countText​

class StatusBar {
  readonly el: HTMLDivElement;
  constructor(callbacks: StatusBarCallbacks);
  update(state: StatusBarState): void;
  destroy(): void;
}

function countText(value: string): { charCount: number; wordCount: number };
  • countText(value) — returns charCount (the raw string length) and wordCount (whitespace-split tokens after trimming).
  • StatusBar.update(state) — displays chars · words, a render-block count, and a "Refresh preview" button that only appears when autoPreview is off.

IncrementalRenderer​

class IncrementalRenderer {
  constructor(
    container: HTMLElement,
    renderBlock: (source: string) => string,
    maxCacheEntries?: number, // default 800
  );
  update(source: string): IncrementalRenderResult;
  getBlockCount(): number;
  destroy(): void;
}
  • update(source) — splits source into blocks, reuses cached DOM nodes by block key, and appends nodes to a DocumentFragment. Returns { rerenderedCount, totalCount }.
  • getBlockCount() — returns the number of blocks from the last update.

Block splitting​

splitIntoBlocks​

function splitIntoBlocks(source: string): SourceBlock[];

Splits source into blocks at ATX headings, respecting code fences and ::: containers.

interface SourceBlock​

interface SourceBlock {
  key: string;     // content hash + occurrence index, for DOM reuse
  hash: string;    // content hash for change detection
  source: string;  // original markdown source for this block
}

Scheduling utilities​

function debounce<A extends unknown[]>(
  fn: (...args: A) => void,
  wait: number,
): DebouncedFn<A>;

function adaptiveDebounceMs(docLength: number, base?: number, max?: number): number;

function scheduleIdle(callback: () => void, timeout?: number): number;
function cancelIdle(handle: number): void;
  • debounce(fn, wait) — trailing-edge debounce. The returned function also has .cancel() and .flush().
  • adaptiveDebounceMs(docLength, base = 120, max = 600) — returns min(max, base + floor(docLength / 20000) * 60).
  • scheduleIdle(callback, timeout = 300) — uses requestIdleCallback when available, otherwise setTimeout(0).
  • cancelIdle(handle) — cancels the scheduled idle callback.

Icons​

const icons: {
  bold: string; italic: string; heading: string; link: string; code: string;
  image: string; video: string; youtube: string;
  quote: string; list: string; listOrdered: string; taskList: string;
  mention: string; fileText: string; table: string; hr: string; alert: string;
  sigma: string; mindmap: string; eye: string; help: string;
  moon: string; sun: string; refresh: string;
};
type IconName = keyof typeof icons;

Each icon is a 16×16 inline SVG string using currentColor. Use icons.<name> as the icon override in ToolbarItemOverride.

A floating panel anchored to a toolbar button, used internally for insertion dialogs and available for custom extensions.

class Popup {
  readonly el: HTMLDivElement;
  constructor(anchor: HTMLElement, config: PopupConfig);
  show(): void;
  hide(): void;
  destroy(): void;
}

interface PopupConfig {
  title: string;
  fields: readonly PopupField[];
  submitLabel?: string;
  theme?: 'light' | 'dark';
  onSubmit: (values: Record<string, string>) => void;
}

interface PopupField {
  name: string;
  label: string;
  placeholder?: string;
  type?: 'text' | 'textarea';
  required?: boolean;
}

The popup closes on outside click, Escape, or successful submit.

Media helpers​

function extractYouTubeId(input: string): string | null;
function youTubeEmbedMarkdown(videoId: string, alt?: string): string; // alt default 'YouTube video'
function imageMarkdown(url: string, alt?: string): string;             // alt default 'image'
function videoMarkdown(url: string, alt?: string): string;             // alt default 'video'
function isVideoFile(url: string): boolean;
  • extractYouTubeId — accepts watch?v=, youtu.be/, embed/, shorts/, v/ URLs, or a raw 11-character ID; returns null if unrecognized.
  • youTubeEmbedMarkdown — returns [![alt](https://img.youtube.com/vi/<id>/hqdefault.jpg)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=<id>).
  • isVideoFile — checks the URL extension against .mp4, .webm, .ogg, .mov, .m4v, .avi, .mkv (query string stripped).

Keyboard utilities​

const DEFAULT_SHORTCUTS: readonly ShortcutDef[];

interface ShortcutDef {
  action: string;
  key: string;        // e.g. 'Mod-b'
  description: string;
}

function matchShortcut(shortcut: string, e: KeyboardEvent): boolean;
function formatShortcut(shortcut: string): string;
function formatShortcutHtml(shortcut: string): string;
  • matchShortcut — parses a Mod/Ctrl/Alt/Shift/key combo and compares it against a KeyboardEvent. Mod resolves to Meta on macOS and Ctrl elsewhere.
  • formatShortcut — renders a shortcut as text, e.g. Mod-b → Ctrl+B (Windows) or Cmd+B (macOS).
  • formatShortcutHtml — renders styled <kbd> elements with modifier symbols.

Mention types​

interface MentionItem {
  id: string;
  label: string;
  avatar?: string;
  description?: string;
  [key: string]: unknown;
}

interface MentionOptions {
  onMentionSearch?: (query: string) => MentionItem[] | Promise<MentionItem[]>;
  onMentionSelect?: (item: MentionItem) => string;
  minChars?: number;  // default 0
  maxItems?: number;  // default 8
}
interface DocItem {
  id: string;
  title: string;
  url: string;
  thumbnail?: string;
  description?: string;
  [key: string]: unknown;
}

interface DocMeta {
  title?: string;
  thumbnail?: string;
  description?: string;
}

interface DocLinkOptions {
  onDocSearch?: (query: string) => DocItem[] | Promise<DocItem[]>;
  onFetchDocMeta?: (url: string) => Promise<DocMeta>;
  insertStyle?: 'card' | 'link' | 'auto'; // default 'auto'
  triggerChar?: string;                    // default '/'
  minChars?: number;                       // default 0
  maxItems?: number;                       // default 8
}

Shared option types​

type EditorMode = 'simple' | 'complex';
type EditorTheme = 'light' | 'dark';

interface ToolbarItemOverride {
  show?: boolean;
  label?: string;
  icon?: string;
}

type ToolbarConfig = string[] | Record<string, ToolbarItemOverride>;

interface MarkdownEditorOptions {
  value?: string;
  mode?: EditorMode;
  theme?: EditorTheme;
  math?: boolean;
  mindmap?: boolean;
  codeHighlight?: boolean;
  tips?: boolean;
  preview?: boolean;
  onChange?: (value: string) => void;
  toolbar?: ToolbarConfig;
  onImageUpload?: (file: File) => Promise<string>;
  mention?: MentionOptions;
  docLink?: DocLinkOptions;
  renderDebounce?: number | false;
  autoPreview?: boolean;
}

Full field-by-field defaults live on the Configuration page.

React subpath​

Imported from @powerduck/md-editor/react:

import {
  MarkdownEditorReact,
  type MarkdownEditorProps,
  type MarkdownEditorHandle,
} from '@powerduck/md-editor/react';

MarkdownEditorProps​

interface MarkdownEditorProps extends Omit<MarkdownEditorOptions, 'value' | 'onChange'> {
  value?: string;        // controlled value
  defaultValue?: string; // uncontrolled initial value (mount only)
  onChange?: (value: string) => void;
  className?: string;
  style?: CSSProperties;
}

MarkdownEditorHandle​

interface MarkdownEditorHandle {
  getValue: () => string;
  setValue: (value: string) => void;
  getHtml: () => string;
  focus: () => void;
  setMode: (mode: EditorMode) => void;
  setTheme: (theme: EditorTheme) => void;
  renderNow: () => void;
}

Next steps​