unified

Learn/Guide/unified in the browser

unified in the browser

unified is many different projects that are maintained on GitHub and distributed mainly through npm. Almost all the projects can be used anywhere: in Bun, Deno, Node.js, on the edge, or in browsers. To use our projects in a browser, you need to do one or two things. And there’s different ways to go about it.

Contents

Bundle

A common way to use unified in the browser is to bundle it with a bundler. You perhaps know bundlers already: webpack, Rollup, or esbuild. You might be using one. Or otherwise have a favorite. If not, esbuild is a good choice.

Bundling is almost always a good idea. It gives end users a single file to download. Often minified.

Say we have some code using unified in example.js:

import rehypeStringify from 'rehype-stringify'
import remarkParse from 'remark-parse'
import remarkRehype from 'remark-rehype'
import {unified} from 'unified'

const file = await unified()
  .use(remarkParse)
  .use(remarkRehype)
  .use(rehypeStringify)
  .process('Hello, *world*!')

console.log(String(file))
(alias) const rehypeStringify: Plugin<[(Options | null | undefined)?], Root, string>
import rehypeStringify

Plugin to add support for serializing as HTML.

  • @this processor.
  • @param Configuration (optional).
  • @returns Nothing.
(alias) const remarkParse: Plugin<[(Readonly<Options> | null | undefined)?], string, Root>
import remarkParse

Add support for parsing from markdown.

  • @this processor.
  • @param Configuration (optional).
  • @returns Nothing.
(alias) function remarkRehype(processor: Processor, options?: Readonly<Options> | null | undefined): TransformBridge (+1 overload)
import remarkRehype

Turn markdown into HTML.

Notes
Signature
  • if a processor is given, runs the (rehype) plugins used on it with a hast tree, then discards the result (bridge mode)
  • otherwise, returns a hast tree, the plugins used after remarkRehype are rehype plugins (mutate mode)

👉 Note: It’s highly unlikely that you want to pass a processor.

HTML

Raw HTML is available in mdast as html nodes and can be embedded in hast as semistandard raw nodes. Most plugins ignore raw nodes but two notable ones don’t:

  • rehype-stringify also has an option allowDangerousHtml which will output the raw HTML. This is typically discouraged as noted by the option name but is useful if you completely trust authors
  • rehype-raw can handle the raw embedded HTML strings by parsing them into standard hast nodes (element, text, etc). This is a heavy task as it needs a full HTML parser, but it is the only way to support untrusted content
Footnotes

Many options supported here relate to footnotes. Footnotes are not specified by CommonMark, which we follow by default. They are supported by GitHub, so footnotes can be enabled in markdown with remark-gfm.

The options footnoteBackLabel and footnoteLabel define natural language that explains footnotes, which is hidden for sighted users but shown to assistive technology. When your page is not in English, you must define translated values.

Back references use ARIA attributes, but the section label itself uses a heading that is hidden with an sr-only class. To show it to sighted users, define different attributes in footnoteLabelProperties.

Clobbering

Footnotes introduces a problem, as it links footnote calls to footnote definitions on the page through id attributes generated from user content, which results in DOM clobbering.

DOM clobbering is this:

<p id=x></p>
<script>alert(x) // `x` now refers to the DOM `p#x` element</script>

Elements by their ID are made available by browsers on the window object, which is a security risk. Using a prefix solves this problem.

More information on how to handle clobbering and the prefix is explained in Example: headings (DOM clobbering) in rehype-sanitize.

Unknown nodes

Unknown nodes are nodes with a type that isn’t in handlers or passThrough. The default behavior for unknown nodes is:

  • when the node has a value (and doesn’t have data.hName, data.hProperties, or data.hChildren, see later), create a hast text node
  • otherwise, create a <div> element (which could be changed with data.hName), with its children mapped from mdast to hast as well

This behavior can be changed by passing an unknownHandler.

  • @overload
  • @overload
  • @param destination Processor or configuration (optional).
  • @param options When a processor was given, configuration (optional).
  • @returns Transform.
(alias) const unified: Processor<undefined, undefined, undefined, undefined, undefined>
import unified

Create a new processor.

  • @example This example shows how a new processor can be created (from remark) and linked to stdin(4) and stdout(4).
    import process from 'node:process'
    import concatStream from 'concat-stream'
    import {remark} from 'remark'
    
    process.stdin.pipe(
      concatStream(function (buf) {
        process.stdout.write(String(remark().processSync(buf)))
      })
    )
    
  • @returns New unfrozen processor (processor). This processor is configured to work the same as its ancestor. When the descendant processor is configured in the future it does not affect the ancestral processor.
const file: VFile
(alias) unified(): Processor<undefined, undefined, undefined, undefined, undefined>
import unified

Create a new processor.

  • @example This example shows how a new processor can be created (from remark) and linked to stdin(4) and stdout(4).
    import process from 'node:process'
    import concatStream from 'concat-stream'
    import {remark} from 'remark'
    
    process.stdin.pipe(
      concatStream(function (buf) {
        process.stdout.write(String(remark().processSync(buf)))
      })
    )
    
  • @returns New unfrozen processor (processor). This processor is configured to work the same as its ancestor. When the descendant processor is configured in the future it does not affect the ancestral processor.
(method) Processor<undefined, undefined, undefined, undefined, undefined>.use<[], string, Root>(plugin: Plugin<[], string, Root>, ...parameters: [] | [boolean]): Processor<Root, undefined, undefined, undefined, undefined> (+2 overloads)

Configure the processor to use a plugin, a list of usable values, or a preset.

If the processor is already using a plugin, the previous plugin configuration is changed based on the options that are passed in. In other words, the plugin is not added a second time.

Note: use cannot be called on frozen processors. Call the processor first to create a new unfrozen processor.

  • @example There are many ways to pass plugins to .use(). This example gives an overview:
    import {unified} from 'unified'
    
    unified()
      // Plugin with options:
      .use(pluginA, {x: true, y: true})
      // Passing the same plugin again merges configuration (to `{x: true, y: false, z: true}`):
      .use(pluginA, {y: false, z: true})
      // Plugins:
      .use([pluginB, pluginC])
      // Two plugins, the second with options:
      .use([pluginD, [pluginE, {}]])
      // Preset with plugins and settings:
      .use({plugins: [pluginF, [pluginG, {}]], settings: {position: false}})
      // Settings only:
      .use({settings: {position: false}})
    
  • @template {Array} [Parameters=[]]
  • @template {Node | string | undefined} [Input=undefined]
  • @template [Output=Input]
  • @overload
  • @overload
  • @overload
  • @param value Usable value.
  • @param parameters Parameters, when a plugin is given as a usable value.
  • @returns Current processor.
(alias) const remarkParse: Plugin<[(Readonly<Options> | null | undefined)?], string, Root>
import remarkParse

Add support for parsing from markdown.

  • @this processor.
  • @param Configuration (optional).
  • @returns Nothing.
(method) Processor<Root, undefined, undefined, undefined, undefined>.use<[], Root, Root>(plugin: Plugin<[], Root, Root>, ...parameters: [] | [boolean]): Processor<Root, Root, Root, undefined, undefined> (+2 overloads)

Configure the processor to use a plugin, a list of usable values, or a preset.

If the processor is already using a plugin, the previous plugin configuration is changed based on the options that are passed in. In other words, the plugin is not added a second time.

Note: use cannot be called on frozen processors. Call the processor first to create a new unfrozen processor.

  • @example There are many ways to pass plugins to .use(). This example gives an overview:
    import {unified} from 'unified'
    
    unified()
      // Plugin with options:
      .use(pluginA, {x: true, y: true})
      // Passing the same plugin again merges configuration (to `{x: true, y: false, z: true}`):
      .use(pluginA, {y: false, z: true})
      // Plugins:
      .use([pluginB, pluginC])
      // Two plugins, the second with options:
      .use([pluginD, [pluginE, {}]])
      // Preset with plugins and settings:
      .use({plugins: [pluginF, [pluginG, {}]], settings: {position: false}})
      // Settings only:
      .use({settings: {position: false}})
    
  • @template {Array} [Parameters=[]]
  • @template {Node | string | undefined} [Input=undefined]
  • @template [Output=Input]
  • @overload
  • @overload
  • @overload
  • @param value Usable value.
  • @param parameters Parameters, when a plugin is given as a usable value.
  • @returns Current processor.
(alias) function remarkRehype(processor: Processor, options?: Readonly<Options> | null | undefined): TransformBridge (+1 overload)
import remarkRehype

Turn markdown into HTML.

Notes
Signature
  • if a processor is given, runs the (rehype) plugins used on it with a hast tree, then discards the result (bridge mode)
  • otherwise, returns a hast tree, the plugins used after remarkRehype are rehype plugins (mutate mode)

👉 Note: It’s highly unlikely that you want to pass a processor.

HTML

Raw HTML is available in mdast as html nodes and can be embedded in hast as semistandard raw nodes. Most plugins ignore raw nodes but two notable ones don’t:

  • rehype-stringify also has an option allowDangerousHtml which will output the raw HTML. This is typically discouraged as noted by the option name but is useful if you completely trust authors
  • rehype-raw can handle the raw embedded HTML strings by parsing them into standard hast nodes (element, text, etc). This is a heavy task as it needs a full HTML parser, but it is the only way to support untrusted content
Footnotes

Many options supported here relate to footnotes. Footnotes are not specified by CommonMark, which we follow by default. They are supported by GitHub, so footnotes can be enabled in markdown with remark-gfm.

The options footnoteBackLabel and footnoteLabel define natural language that explains footnotes, which is hidden for sighted users but shown to assistive technology. When your page is not in English, you must define translated values.

Back references use ARIA attributes, but the section label itself uses a heading that is hidden with an sr-only class. To show it to sighted users, define different attributes in footnoteLabelProperties.

Clobbering

Footnotes introduces a problem, as it links footnote calls to footnote definitions on the page through id attributes generated from user content, which results in DOM clobbering.

DOM clobbering is this:

<p id=x></p>
<script>alert(x) // `x` now refers to the DOM `p#x` element</script>

Elements by their ID are made available by browsers on the window object, which is a security risk. Using a prefix solves this problem.

More information on how to handle clobbering and the prefix is explained in Example: headings (DOM clobbering) in rehype-sanitize.

Unknown nodes

Unknown nodes are nodes with a type that isn’t in handlers or passThrough. The default behavior for unknown nodes is:

  • when the node has a value (and doesn’t have data.hName, data.hProperties, or data.hChildren, see later), create a hast text node
  • otherwise, create a <div> element (which could be changed with data.hName), with its children mapped from mdast to hast as well

This behavior can be changed by passing an unknownHandler.

  • @overload
  • @overload
  • @param destination Processor or configuration (optional).
  • @param options When a processor was given, configuration (optional).
  • @returns Transform.
(method) Processor<Root, Root, Root, undefined, undefined>.use<[], Root, string>(plugin: Plugin<[], Root, string>, ...parameters: [] | [boolean]): Processor<Root, Root, Root, Root, string> (+2 overloads)

Configure the processor to use a plugin, a list of usable values, or a preset.

If the processor is already using a plugin, the previous plugin configuration is changed based on the options that are passed in. In other words, the plugin is not added a second time.

Note: use cannot be called on frozen processors. Call the processor first to create a new unfrozen processor.

  • @example There are many ways to pass plugins to .use(). This example gives an overview:
    import {unified} from 'unified'
    
    unified()
      // Plugin with options:
      .use(pluginA, {x: true, y: true})
      // Passing the same plugin again merges configuration (to `{x: true, y: false, z: true}`):
      .use(pluginA, {y: false, z: true})
      // Plugins:
      .use([pluginB, pluginC])
      // Two plugins, the second with options:
      .use([pluginD, [pluginE, {}]])
      // Preset with plugins and settings:
      .use({plugins: [pluginF, [pluginG, {}]], settings: {position: false}})
      // Settings only:
      .use({settings: {position: false}})
    
  • @template {Array} [Parameters=[]]
  • @template {Node | string | undefined} [Input=undefined]
  • @template [Output=Input]
  • @overload
  • @overload
  • @overload
  • @param value Usable value.
  • @param parameters Parameters, when a plugin is given as a usable value.
  • @returns Current processor.
(alias) const rehypeStringify: Plugin<[(Options | null | undefined)?], Root, string>
import rehypeStringify

Plugin to add support for serializing as HTML.

  • @this processor.
  • @param Configuration (optional).
  • @returns Nothing.
(method) Processor<Root, Root, Root, Root, string>.process(file?: Compatible | undefined): Promise<VFile> (+1 overload)

Process the given file as configured on the processor.

Note: process freezes the processor if not already frozen.

Note: process performs the parse, run, and stringify phases.

  • @overload
  • @overload
  • @param file File (optional); typically string or VFile]; any value accepted as x in new VFile(x).
  • @param done Callback (optional).
  • @returns Nothing if done is given. Otherwise a promise, rejected with a fatal error or resolved with the processed file. The parsed, transformed, and compiled value is available at file.value (see note).

    Note: unified typically compiles by serializing: most compilers return string (or Uint8Array). Some compilers, such as the one configured with rehype-react, return other values (in this case, a React tree). If you’re using a compiler that doesn’t serialize, expect different result values.

    To register custom results in TypeScript, add them to {@linkcode CompileResultMap}.

namespace console
var console: Console

The console module provides a simple debugging console that is similar to the JavaScript console mechanism provided by web browsers.

The module exports two specific components:

  • A Console class with methods such as console.log(), console.error() and console.warn() that can be used to write to any Node.js stream.
  • A global console instance configured to write to process.stdout and process.stderr. The global console can be used without calling require('console').

Warning: The global console object's methods are neither consistently synchronous like the browser APIs they resemble, nor are they consistently asynchronous like all other Node.js streams. See the note on process I/O for more information.

Example using the global console:

console.log('hello world');
// Prints: hello world, to stdout
console.log('hello %s', 'world');
// Prints: hello world, to stdout
console.error(new Error('Whoops, something bad happened'));
// Prints error message and stack trace to stderr:
//   Error: Whoops, something bad happened
//     at [eval]:5:15
//     at Script.runInThisContext (node:vm:132:18)
//     at Object.runInThisContext (node:vm:309:38)
//     at node:internal/process/execution:77:19
//     at [eval]-wrapper:6:22
//     at evalScript (node:internal/process/execution:76:60)
//     at node:internal/main/eval_string:23:3

const name = 'Will Robinson';
console.warn(`Danger ${name}! Danger!`);
// Prints: Danger Will Robinson! Danger!, to stderr

Example using the Console class:

const out = getStreamSomehow();
const err = getStreamSomehow();
const myConsole = new console.Console(out, err);

myConsole.log('hello world');
// Prints: hello world, to out
myConsole.log('hello %s', 'world');
// Prints: hello world, to out
myConsole.error(new Error('Whoops, something bad happened'));
// Prints: [Error: Whoops, something bad happened], to err

const name = 'Will Robinson';
myConsole.warn(`Danger ${name}! Danger!`);
// Prints: Danger Will Robinson! Danger!, to err
(method) Console.log(message?: any, ...optionalParams: any[]): void (+1 overload)

Prints to stdout with newline. Multiple arguments can be passed, with the first used as the primary message and all additional used as substitution values similar to printf(3) (the arguments are all passed to util.format()).

const count = 5;
console.log('count: %d', count);
// Prints: count: 5, to stdout
console.log('count:', count);
// Prints: count: 5, to stdout

See util.format() for more information.

  • @since v0.1.100
var String: StringConstructor
(value?: any) => string

Allows manipulation and formatting of text strings and determination and location of substrings within strings.

const file: VFile

And you want to use that in some HTML called index.html:

<!doctype html>
<meta charset=utf8>
<title>Example</title>
<script src=example.min.js type=module></script>

To make example.js work in the browser, you can bundle it with esbuild. First, set up a package. Go to the folder in your terminal and run:

npm init --yes
npm install esbuild --save-dev rehype-stringify remark-parse remark-rehype unified

Then, bundle example.js:

npx esbuild --bundle --format=esm --minify --outfile=example.min.js example.js

Now, open index.html in a browser. When you open the console of your developer tools, you should see Hello, <em>world</em>!

You probably also want to configure the target environment for the browsers that you support. That way, JavaScript syntax which is too new for some browsers, will be transformed into older JavaScript syntax that works. Pass the --target flag to do this.

CDN

If you don’t want to bundle unified yourself, you can use a CDN.

A CDN hosts files for you. And they can process them for you as well. The nice thing is that you do not have to install and bundle things yourself. The downside is that you’re dependent on a particular server that you do not control.

One such CDN is esm.sh. Like the code above, you can use it in a browser like this:

<!doctype html>
<meta charset=utf8>
<title>Example</title>
<script type=module>
  import rehypeStringify from 'https://esm.sh/rehype-stringify@10?bundle'
  import remarkParse from 'https://esm.sh/remark-parse@11?bundle'
  import remarkRehype from 'https://esm.sh/remark-rehype@11?bundle'
  import {unified} from 'https://esm.sh/unified@11?bundle'

  const file = await unified()
    .use(remarkParse)
    .use(remarkRehype)
    .use(rehypeStringify)
    .process('Hello, *world*!')

  console.log(String(file))
</script>