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react-native-nitro-markdown

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High-performance Markdown parser for React Native using Nitro Modules and md4c

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# react-native-nitro-markdown

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**The fast Markdown engine for React Native.** Native **C++ parsing** (CommonMark
+ GitHub Flavored Markdown), real React Native rendering, first-class
**streaming** for LLM/chat output, and a **headless AST** API — powered by
[md4c](https://github.com/mity/md4c) and [Nitro Modules](https://nitro.margelo.com/).

## Why Nitro Markdown?

Most React Native Markdown libraries parse in JavaScript on the JS thread. Nitro
Markdown parses in a **native C++ engine** over JSI, then renders flexible React
Native components — so you get native parse speed *and* component flexibility.

- ⚡ **Native C++ parsing** — ~2.8× to ~19× faster than JS parsers ([benchmarks](https://github.com/JoaoPauloCMarra/react-native-nitro-markdown/blob/main/docs/comparison.md)).
- 🔀 **Streaming** — built for token-by-token LLM / chat output.
- 🧩 **Headless AST** — parse without UI for search, validation, indexing.
- 🎨 **Real components** — theme, override per node, or swap whole renderers.
- 📜 **Virtualization** — bounded memory and fast first screen on long docs.
- 📊 **GFM tables, task lists, inline & block math, syntax highlighting** built in.
- 🛡️ **Type-safe** — full TypeScript types for nodes, renderers, options.
- 🔒 **Safe by default** — bounded parse input (default 10M chars, overridable via
  `options.maxInputLength`), a hard C++ cap, seeded fuzzing and a CommonMark/GFM
  conformance corpus in the test gate, and a link/image URL policy
  ([security policy](./SECURITY.md)).

## Install

```sh
bun add react-native-nitro-markdown react-native-nitro-modules@0.36.5 ratex-react-native@0.1.14
```

```sh
# Expo development build
bunx expo install react-native-nitro-markdown react-native-nitro-modules@0.36.5 ratex-react-native@0.1.14
bunx expo prebuild
```

`react-native-nitro-modules` and `ratex-react-native` are peer dependencies
(parsing and math rendering use native code). Expo Go cannot load Nitro
modules — use a development build. Full guide: **[Installation](https://github.com/JoaoPauloCMarra/react-native-nitro-markdown/blob/main/docs/installation.md)**.

## Quick start

```tsx
import { Markdown } from "react-native-nitro-markdown";

export function Article() {
  return (
    <Markdown
      options={{ gfm: true, math: true }}
      onError={(error) => {
        console.error(error);
      }}
    >
      {"# Hello\nThis is **native** markdown."}
    </Markdown>
  );
}
```

Native parse failures call `onError` instead of rendering an empty document.
Headless `parseMarkdown` throws; do not treat an empty AST as success. Keep
product fonts and colors in an app wrapper around `<Markdown>`.

## Streaming (LLM / chat)

```tsx
import { useEffect } from "react";
import { MarkdownStream, useMarkdownSession } from "react-native-nitro-markdown";

type StreamingMessageProps = {
  subscribe: (onToken: (token: string) => void) => () => void;
  onError: (error: Error) => void;
};

export function StreamingMessage({
  subscribe,
  onError,
}: StreamingMessageProps) {
  const session = useMarkdownSession();

useEffect(
    () => subscribe((token) => session.getSession().append(token)),
    [session, subscribe],
  );

return (
    <MarkdownStream
      session={session}
      updateStrategy="raf"
      incrementalParsing
      onError={onError}
    />
  );
}
```

`MarkdownStream` batches native range updates. Plain-text and fenced-code
appends take an incremental path; structural updates re-parse with stable AST
node reuse. Failed updates call `onError(error, "parse")` and retain the last
valid render. For very large initial content, pass `initialParseMode="async"`
so the first frame renders without parsing. Full guide:
**[Streaming](https://github.com/JoaoPauloCMarra/react-native-nitro-markdown/blob/main/docs/streaming.md)**.

## Headless parsing

```ts
import {
  parseMarkdown,
  parseMarkdownWithOptions,
  extractPlainText,
} from "react-native-nitro-markdown/headless";

const ast = parseMarkdown("# Title");
const mathAst = parseMarkdownWithOptions("Inline $x^2$", { math: true });
const text = extractPlainText("Hello **world**"); // "Hello world"

// Search / indexing: skip source offsets natively for a leaner, faster AST.
const lean = parseMarkdownWithOptions(doc, { sourceOffsets: false });
```

Use the `/headless` export for AST data, plain-text extraction, indexing, or
tests without rendering UI. Parser functions throw when the native module is
unavailable, parsing fails, or native output is invalid; catch errors at your
application boundary. The headless entry still requires an iOS or Android native
runtime. Full guide: **[Headless](https://github.com/JoaoPauloCMarra/react-native-nitro-markdown/blob/main/docs/headless.md)**.

## Source AST rendering

Already have a `MarkdownNode`? Pass it via `sourceAst` to skip native parsing on
render:

```tsx
<Markdown sourceAst={ast}>{"# Cached AST"}</Markdown>
```

When `sourceAst` is provided, `beforeParse` plugins are skipped because parsing
already happened. `afterParse` plugins and `astTransform` still run.

## Theming & customization

Because every node renders as a real React Native component, you can restyle the
whole document, tweak a single node type, or replace a renderer outright:

```tsx
import { Markdown, darkMarkdownTheme } from "react-native-nitro-markdown";

// 1. Swap the whole theme — built-in dark preset (or any partial theme)
<Markdown theme={darkMarkdownTheme}>{content}</Markdown>;

// 2. Override individual node styles (layered on top of the theme)
<Markdown styles={{ heading: { color: "#7c3aed" }, code_block: { borderRadius: 16 } }}>
  {content}
</Markdown>;

// 3. Replace a renderer entirely
<Markdown renderers={{ blockquote: MyCallout }}>{content}</Markdown>;
```

Presets: `defaultMarkdownTheme`, `darkMarkdownTheme`, `minimalMarkdownTheme` (or
`stylingStrategy="minimal"`). Compose with `mergeThemes`. Full guide:
**[Customization](https://github.com/JoaoPauloCMarra/react-native-nitro-markdown/blob/main/docs/customization.md)**.

## Common options

| Prop / option | Default | What it does |
| ------------- | ------- | ------------ |
| `options.gfm` | `true` | Tables, strikethrough, task lists, autolinks. |
| `options.math` | `true` | Inline and block math nodes. |
| `options.html` | `false` | Preserve raw HTML nodes for custom renderers. |
| `options.sourceOffsets` | `true` | Emit per-node `beg`/`end` source offsets as JavaScript UTF-16 indices, matching `String.length` and `String.slice`. Set `false` for one-shot headless parses to shrink the AST and speed up the round trip (the native parser skips the offset map entirely). |
| `options.maxInputLength` | `10000000` | Maximum accepted input length in characters. Oversized inputs fail with a typed `input_too_large` error instead of being parsed. |
| `parseCache` | `true` | Reuse parsed ASTs for repeated content. The cache is scoped per `<Markdown>` instance (max 32 entries); per-instance hit/miss/eviction counters are reported via `onParseComplete`'s `cacheStats`. |
| `sourceAst` | `undefined` | Render a pre-parsed AST instead of parsing `children`. |
| `onError` | `undefined` | Receive parser and plugin failures as `(error, phase, pluginName?)`. Native parse and session failures are typed `MarkdownError`s with stable `code` and `source`. |
| `errorText` | `"Error parsing markdown"` | Localized text rendered when parsing fails. |
| `imageOptions` | `undefined` | Image URL policy: `allowedProtocols`, `allowedHosts`, and `remoteImages: "deny"` to block remote image loading entirely. |
| `highlightCode` | `false` | Built-in code syntax highlighting (fixture-backed languages: JS/TS family, Python, shell). |
| `virtualize` | `false` | Virtualize top-level blocks for long documents. |

See **[Usage](https://github.com/JoaoPauloCMarra/react-native-nitro-markdown/blob/main/docs/usage.md)** for the full prop table and **[Customization](https://github.com/JoaoPauloCMarra/react-native-nitro-markdown/blob/main/docs/customization.md)** for themes, per-node styles, custom renderers, and plugins.

## Performance

Parsing a ~320 KB document (example app, iOS Simulator; ratios are stable):

| Parser | Time | vs Nitro |
| ------ | ---- | -------- |
| **Nitro (C++)** | **~41 ms** | — |
| CommonMark (JS) | ~113 ms | ~2.8× |
| Markdown-It (JS) | ~184 ms | ~4.5× |
| Marked (JS) | ~814 ms | ~19.8× |

Reproduce it: run the example app and tap **Run Benchmark**. Methodology and a
full capability matrix: **[Comparison & benchmarks](https://github.com/JoaoPauloCMarra/react-native-nitro-markdown/blob/main/docs/comparison.md)**.

## Security

- Parse input is bounded: the JavaScript boundary rejects documents above
  `options.maxInputLength` (default 10M characters) with a typed error, and the
  C++ parser enforces the same hard cap in bytes plus a 64 MB JSON output cap.
- Custom `onLinkPress` handlers receive the original href so apps can handle
  routes and custom schemes. The built-in `Linking` fallback opens only
  validated HTTP(S), mail, and telephone URLs. Remote images load by default
  for compatibility — set `imageOptions={{ remoteImages: "deny" }}` (and/or
  `allowedHosts`) when rendering untrusted markdown in privacy- or SSRF-sensitive
  apps.
- The C++ parser is fuzzed with a seeded, deterministic corpus and checked
  against a CommonMark/GFM conformance corpus in `bun run check`.

See [SECURITY.md](./SECURITY.md) for supported versions and how to report issues.

## Documentation

| Guide | What's inside |
| ----- | ------------- |
| [Installation](https://github.com/JoaoPauloCMarra/react-native-nitro-markdown/blob/main/docs/installation.md) | Expo & bare RN setup, requirements, platforms. |
| [Usage](https://github.com/JoaoPauloCMarra/react-native-nitro-markdown/blob/main/docs/usage.md) | `<Markdown>`, props, elements, virtualization, source AST. |
| [Streaming](https://github.com/JoaoPauloCMarra/react-native-nitro-markdown/blob/main/docs/streaming.md) | Token-by-token LLM / chat rendering. |
| [Headless](https://github.com/JoaoPauloCMarra/react-native-nitro-markdown/blob/main/docs/headless.md) | Parse to AST, plain-text extraction. |
| [Customization](https://github.com/JoaoPauloCMarra/react-native-nitro-markdown/blob/main/docs/customization.md) | Themes, dark mode, per-node styles, renderers, plugins. |
| [Comparison & benchmarks](https://github.com/JoaoPauloCMarra/react-native-nitro-markdown/blob/main/docs/comparison.md) | Why Nitro, parse benchmarks, capability matrix. |
| [API reference](https://github.com/JoaoPauloCMarra/react-native-nitro-markdown/blob/main/docs/api-reference.md) | Full export and type listing. |
| [Security policy](./SECURITY.md) | Supported versions, link/image policy, reporting. |
| [Changelog](./CHANGELOG.md) | Package changes and migration requirements by version. |
| [Troubleshooting](https://github.com/JoaoPauloCMarra/react-native-nitro-markdown/blob/main/docs/troubleshooting.md) | Common install and runtime issues. |

## Compatibility

| Dependency | Supported |
| ---------- | --------- |
| [React Native](https://reactnative.dev/) | `>=0.75` (New Architecture) |
| [Nitro Modules](https://www.npmjs.com/package/react-native-nitro-modules) | `>=0.36.5 <0.37.0` |
| [RaTeX React Native](https://www.npmjs.com/package/ratex-react-native) | `>=0.1.4` (example validated with `0.1.14`) |
| [Expo](https://docs.expo.dev/) | SDK 57 development builds |
| Platforms | iOS, Android (Web not supported) |

## Contributing

```sh
bun install
bun run check          # lint + typecheck + tests
bun run example:ios    # run the example app
```

See [CONTRIBUTING.md](https://github.com/JoaoPauloCMarra/react-native-nitro-markdown/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md). Run native example builds before release when changing native, Nitro, rendering, or packaging files.

## License

[MIT](./LICENSE)

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