Usage & API

This page shows how to wire markstream-vue into common stacks, how the parser fits into the renderer, and which docs to visit when something looks odd (reset order, Tailwind/UnoCSS layers, VitePress integration).

Choose content or nodes first

Situation	Recommended input
Docs pages, static articles, low-frequency updates	content
SSE, token streaming, AI chat, or frequent incremental updates	nodes + final
SSR or worker-preparsed content	nodes

If you only need built-in configuration, stay in this page and Props & Options. If you need to replace rendering behavior, jump to Override Built-in Components.

If your real goal is an AI chat surface, token stream, or SSE response viewer, use the dedicated AI Chat & Streaming path instead of piecing the docs together manually.

If your real goal is a docs site or VitePress theme, use Docs Site & VitePress for the end-to-end content + enhanceApp + CSS setup.

Minimal render

<script setup lang="ts">
import MarkdownRender from 'markstream-vue'

const doc = '# Usage example\n\nSupports **streaming** nodes.'
</script>

<template>
  <MarkdownRender custom-id="docs" :content="doc" />
</template>

@import 'modern-css-reset';

@layer components {
  @import 'markstream-vue/index.css';
}

VitePress + custom tags

If this is your main use case rather than a one-off example, continue with the dedicated Docs Site & VitePress path after this section.

In VitePress, register your custom node component once in enhanceApp, then use custom-html-tags on MarkdownRender to let the parser emit custom nodes automatically.

import type { Component } from 'vue'
import MarkdownRender, { setCustomComponents } from 'markstream-vue'
// docs/.vitepress/theme/index.ts
import DefaultTheme from 'vitepress/theme'
import 'markstream-vue/index.css'

declare const ThinkingNode: Component

export default {
  extends: DefaultTheme,
  enhanceApp() {
    setCustomComponents('docs', { thinking: ThinkingNode })
  },
}

<!-- in a VitePress page -->
<MarkdownRender
  custom-id="docs"
  :custom-html-tags="['thinking']"
  :content="source"
/>

Tip: unknown HTML-like tags (such as <question>) render as raw HTML elements once closed. Incomplete or malformed fragments stay as plain text so they do not swallow nearby Markdown. Add the tag name to custom-html-tags when you want custom node output (type + attrs/content).

Parser pipeline

import { getMarkdown, parseMarkdownToStructure } from 'markstream-vue'

const md = getMarkdown()

const nodes = parseMarkdownToStructure('# Title', md)
// pass nodes to <MarkdownRender :nodes="nodes" />

• getMarkdown(msgId?, options?) returns a configured markdown-it-ts instance.
• parseMarkdownToStructure(content, md) transforms a Markdown string into the AST consumed by the renderer.
• Combine with setCustomComponents(id?, mapping) to swap node renderers for a given custom-id.

Streaming recommendation

For low-frequency updates, passing content directly is convenient. For chat-style token streams or long documents, prefer parsing outside the component and passing nodes so Vue only reconciles the AST you hand it:

import { getMarkdown, parseMarkdownToStructure } from 'markstream-vue'

const md = getMarkdown('chat')
declare const source: string
declare const isFinalChunk: boolean
const nodes = parseMarkdownToStructure(source, md, { final: isFinalChunk })

<script setup lang="ts">
import type { BaseNode } from 'markstream-vue'
import MarkdownRender from 'markstream-vue'

const nodes: BaseNode[] = []
const isFinalChunk = false
</script>

<template>
  <MarkdownRender :nodes="nodes" :final="isFinalChunk" />
</template>

That avoids reparsing the full Markdown string inside MarkdownRender on every tiny content update, which is usually the biggest win for SSE / AI output.

For a full end-to-end rollout order, peer selection, and chat-specific tuning, continue with AI Chat & Streaming.

Component matrix

For a full list of components and props, visit Components & node renderers. Highlights:

• CodeBlockNode — Monaco-powered blocks (requires stream-monaco).
• MarkdownCodeBlockNode — Shiki-based lightweight highlighting.
• MermaidBlockNode — requires mermaid ≥ 11 (no extra CSS).
• D2BlockNode — requires @terrastruct/d2 (no extra CSS).
• ImageNode — emits click, load, error for custom previews.

Styling reminders

1. Reset first (modern-css-reset, @tailwind base, @unocss/reset), then import markstream-vue styles.
2. Use CSS layers when Tailwind/UnoCSS is active (@layer components { @import 'markstream-vue/index.css' }).
3. UNO/Tailwind conflicts — follow the Tailwind guide (includes UnoCSS examples) to prevent utilities from overriding renderer styles.
4. Peer CSS — KaTeX needs its own CSS; Mermaid/D2 do not. Monaco does not require extra CSS.

CSS scoping (important)

The package CSS is scoped under an internal .markstream-vue container to minimize global style conflicts (Tailwind utilities and theme variables included).

• When you use MarkdownRender, you get this container automatically.
• If you render exported node components on their own (e.g. PreCodeNode, FootnoteNode), wrap them with a container element:

<script setup lang="ts">
import type { PreCodeNodeProps } from 'markstream-vue'
import { PreCodeNode } from 'markstream-vue'

const node = {
  type: 'code_block',
  language: 'ts',
  code: 'console.log(1)',
  raw: 'console.log(1)',
} satisfies PreCodeNodeProps['node']
</script>

<template>
  <div class="markstream-vue">
    <PreCodeNode :node="node" />
  </div>
</template>

If visuals still look wrong, reproduce the issue inside the playground (pnpm play) and cross-check with the troubleshooting guide before filing a bug.