Introduction
Textbus is a component-centric, data-driven framework for building rich text editors. To address common pain points in traditional rich text development, we designed our own component system and format system for rich text, aiming to lower the cost of extension so you can ship richer editing features more easily. Whether you are an experienced developer in rich text or a frontend newcomer, Textbus offers a smooth development path and room to grow.
Since 4.0, Textbus embraces the frontend ecosystem: you can render the same document model with Viewfly, Vue, or React. That means you can wire in popular open-source component libraries with almost no extra adapter work, and build rich interactions inside the editor more simply—without reinventing wheels between “rich text” and “business UI.”
For performance, with Viewfly as the rendering layer we once stress-tested using the full text of Dream of the Red Chamber: editing stayed smooth at roughly 50,000 paragraphs—on the order of 15 copies of the novel and about 17 million Chinese characters in one document (one full copy is about 3,100 paragraphs; test machine: MacBook M1 Pro, 32 GB RAM). At that scale, an editable document was once hard to imagine.
If you are ready to set up your environment, go to Getting started, then follow the Basics section in order (from Component basics through Document parsing & compatibility).
Model-driven editing
- Consistent behavior: Input and output share one data model, reducing divergence caused by browser differences.
- Sugar and input rules: You can configure live transforms (for example Markdown-like heading triggers) or fully customize them.
- Parsing and paste: You can tailor how content is parsed and cleaned from the web, Office, and other sources.
- Collaboration: The model can integrate with solutions such as Yjs (see Collaboration).
- Selection and commands: The core abstracts selection and command flow so you write less browser-specific selection code.
Packages and roles
| Package | Role |
|---|---|
@textbus/core | Models for components, slots, formats, and attributes, plus core capabilities such as selection, commands, history, scheduling, and registration |
@textbus/platform-browser | Browser platform capabilities (input, selection bridge, DOM, and more) |
@textbus/adapter-viewfly | Render the document view with Viewfly |
@textbus/adapter-vue | Render the document view with Vue |
@textbus/adapter-react | Render the document view with React |
@textbus/collaborate | Collaboration features and integration |
@textbus/platform-node | Tools and adapters for Node |