mdast-util-from-markdown

mdast utility that turns markdown into a syntax tree.

Contents

• What is this?
• When should I use this?
• Install
• Use
• API
  • fromMarkdown(doc[, encoding][, options])
• List of extensions
• Syntax
• Syntax tree
• Types
• Compatibility
• Security
• Related
• Contribute
• License

What is this?

This package is a utility that takes markdown input and turns it into an mdast syntax tree.

This utility uses micromark, which turns markdown into tokens, while it turns those tokens into nodes. It’s used in remark-parse, which focusses on making it easier to transform content by abstracting these internals away.

When should I use this?

If you want to handle syntax trees manually, use this. Use micromark instead when you just want to turn markdown into HTML. For an easier time processing content, use the remark ecosystem instead.

You can combine this utility with other utilities to add syntax extensions. Notable examples that deeply integrate with it are mdast-util-gfm, mdast-util-mdx, mdast-util-frontmatter, mdast-util-math, and mdast-util-directive.

Install

This package is ESM only. In Node.js (version 12.20+, 14.14+, or 16.0+), install with npm:

npm install mdast-util-from-markdown

In Deno with esm.sh:

import {fromMarkdown} from 'https://esm.sh/mdast-util-from-markdown@1'

In browsers with esm.sh:

<script type="module">
  import {fromMarkdown} from 'https://esm.sh/mdast-util-from-markdown@1?bundle'
</script>

Use

Say we have the following markdown file example.md:

## Hello, *World*!

…and our module example.js looks as follows:

import {promises as fs} from 'node:fs'
import {fromMarkdown} from 'mdast-util-from-markdown'

main()

async function main() {
  const doc = await fs.readFile('example.md')
  const tree = fromMarkdown(doc)

  console.log(tree)
}

…now running node example.js yields (positional info removed for brevity):

{
  type: 'root',
  children: [
    {
      type: 'heading',
      depth: 2,
      children: [
        {type: 'text', value: 'Hello, '},
        {type: 'emphasis', children: [{type: 'text', value: 'World'}]},
        {type: 'text', value: '!'}
      ]
    }
  ]
}

API

This package exports the identifier fromMarkdown. There is no default export.

The export map supports the endorsed development condition. Run node --conditions development module.js to get instrumented dev code. Without this condition, production code is loaded.

fromMarkdown(doc[, encoding][, options])

Turn markdown into a syntax tree.

Parameters

doc

Value to parse (string or Buffer).

encoding

Character encoding to understand doc as when it’s a Buffer (string, default: 'utf8').

options.extensions

List of syntax extensions (Array<MicromarkSyntaxExtension>, default: []). Passed to micromark as options.extensions.

options.mdastExtensions

List of mdast extensions (Array<MdastExtension>, default: []).

Returns

Root.

List of extensions

• syntax-tree/mdast-util-directive — directives
• syntax-tree/mdast-util-frontmatter — frontmatter (YAML, TOML, more)
• syntax-tree/mdast-util-gfm — GFM
• syntax-tree/mdast-util-gfm-autolink-literal — GFM autolink literals
• syntax-tree/mdast-util-gfm-footnote — GFM footnotes
• syntax-tree/mdast-util-gfm-strikethrough — GFM strikethrough
• syntax-tree/mdast-util-gfm-table — GFM tables
• syntax-tree/mdast-util-gfm-task-list-item — GFM task list items
• syntax-tree/mdast-util-math — math
• syntax-tree/mdast-util-mdx — MDX
• syntax-tree/mdast-util-mdx-expression — MDX expressions
• syntax-tree/mdast-util-mdx-jsx — MDX JSX
• syntax-tree/mdast-util-mdxjs-esm — MDX ESM

Syntax

Markdown is parsed according to CommonMark. Extensions can add support for other syntax. If you’re interested in extending markdown, more information is available in micromark’s readme.

Syntax tree

The syntax tree is mdast.

Types

This package is fully typed with TypeScript. It exports the additional types Value, Encoding, Options, Extension, Handle, Transform, Token, CompileContext, OnEnterError, and OnExitError.

Compatibility

Projects maintained by the unified collective are compatible with all maintained versions of Node.js. As of now, that is Node.js 12.20+, 14.14+, and 16.0+. Our projects sometimes work with older versions, but this is not guaranteed.

Security

As markdown is sometimes used for HTML, and improper use of HTML can open you up to a cross-site scripting (XSS) attack, use of mdast-util-from-markdown can also be unsafe. When going to HTML, use this utility in combination with hast-util-sanitize to make the tree safe.

Related

• syntax-tree/mdast-util-to-markdown — serialize mdast as markdown
• micromark/micromark — parse markdown
• remarkjs/remark — process markdown

Contribute

See contributing.md in syntax-tree/.github for ways to get started. See support.md for ways to get help.

This project has a code of conduct. By interacting with this repository, organization, or community you agree to abide by its terms.

License

MIT © Titus Wormer