Node.js

Install and configure Plate for Node.js.

Use Plate in Node.js when you need to read, validate, transform, or serialize editor values outside the browser. Node scripts use the base runtime imports, while React editors use /react subpaths. This guide walks through a server-safe editor, Markdown IO, and a content transform.

Node.js Setup

Use base imports

Do not import from platejs/react or @platejs/*/react in Node.js scripts. Use createBaseEditor from platejs and base plugins from @platejs/* packages.

Install Packages

Install the core runtime and the packages your pipeline needs.

pnpm add platejs @platejs/basic-nodes @platejs/markdown

pnpm add platejs @platejs/basic-nodes @platejs/markdown

Package	Owns
`platejs`	`createBaseEditor`, core editor APIs, core paragraph behavior.
`@platejs/basic-nodes`	Base headings, blockquotes, horizontal rules, and text marks.
`@platejs/markdown`	Markdown serialization, deserialization, and the `MarkdownPlugin` API.

Create a Server Editor

Create the editor with base plugins only. The editor exposes editor.read(...) for committed state and editor.update(...) for writes without mounting a React tree.

scripts/process-content.ts

import type { Value } from 'platejs';
 
import {
  BaseBasicBlocksPlugin,
  BaseBasicMarksPlugin,
} from '@platejs/basic-nodes';
import { createBaseEditor } from 'platejs';
 
const value: Value = [
  {
    children: [{ text: 'Document Title' }],
    type: 'h1',
  },
  {
    children: [
      { text: 'With ' },
      { bold: true, text: 'bold' },
      { text: ' text.' },
    ],
    type: 'p',
  },
];
 
const editor = createBaseEditor({
  plugins: [BaseBasicBlocksPlugin, BaseBasicMarksPlugin],
  value,
});
 
const plainText = editor.api.string([]);
 
console.info(plainText);

scripts/process-content.ts

import type { Value } from 'platejs';
 
import {
  BaseBasicBlocksPlugin,
  BaseBasicMarksPlugin,
} from '@platejs/basic-nodes';
import { createBaseEditor } from 'platejs';
 
const value: Value = [
  {
    children: [{ text: 'Document Title' }],
    type: 'h1',
  },
  {
    children: [
      { text: 'With ' },
      { bold: true, text: 'bold' },
      { text: ' text.' },
    ],
    type: 'p',
  },
];
 
const editor = createBaseEditor({
  plugins: [BaseBasicBlocksPlugin, BaseBasicMarksPlugin],
  value,
});
 
const plainText = editor.api.string([]);
 
console.info(plainText);

Read and Write Markdown

Add MarkdownPlugin when the script needs Markdown helpers. Call deserializeMd and serializeMd directly for one-off conversion scripts.

scripts/markdown-io.ts

import {
  BaseBasicBlocksPlugin,
  BaseBasicMarksPlugin,
} from '@platejs/basic-nodes';
import {
  MarkdownPlugin,
  deserializeMd,
  serializeMd,
} from '@platejs/markdown';
import { createBaseEditor } from 'platejs';
 
const editor = createBaseEditor({
  plugins: [BaseBasicBlocksPlugin, BaseBasicMarksPlugin, MarkdownPlugin],
});
 
const value = deserializeMd(
  editor,
  [
    '# Migration Note',
    '',
    'Move legacy content into **Plate** format.',
  ].join('\n')
);
 
const markdown = serializeMd(editor, { value });
 
console.info(markdown);

scripts/markdown-io.ts

import {
  BaseBasicBlocksPlugin,
  BaseBasicMarksPlugin,
} from '@platejs/basic-nodes';
import {
  MarkdownPlugin,
  deserializeMd,
  serializeMd,
} from '@platejs/markdown';
import { createBaseEditor } from 'platejs';
 
const editor = createBaseEditor({
  plugins: [BaseBasicBlocksPlugin, BaseBasicMarksPlugin, MarkdownPlugin],
});
 
const value = deserializeMd(
  editor,
  [
    '# Migration Note',
    '',
    'Move legacy content into **Plate** format.',
  ].join('\n')
);
 
const markdown = serializeMd(editor, { value });
 
console.info(markdown);

Transform Content

Use transaction groups for migrations and bulk cleanup. Pass at: [] when the operation should scan the whole document.

scripts/normalize-headings.ts

import type { Value } from 'platejs';
 
import {
  BaseBasicBlocksPlugin,
  BaseBasicMarksPlugin,
} from '@platejs/basic-nodes';
import { MarkdownPlugin, serializeMd } from '@platejs/markdown';
import { createBaseEditor } from 'platejs';
 
export function normalizeHeadings(value: Value) {
  const editor = createBaseEditor({
    plugins: [BaseBasicBlocksPlugin, BaseBasicMarksPlugin, MarkdownPlugin],
    value,
  });
 
  const insertAt = editor.read((state) => [state.value.root().length]);
 
  editor.update((tx) => {
    tx.nodes.set(
      { type: 'h2' },
      {
        at: [],
        match: (node) => 'type' in node && node.type === 'h1',
      }
    );
 
    tx.nodes.insert(
      [{ children: [{ text: 'Imported from the legacy CMS.' }], type: 'p' }],
      { at: insertAt }
    );
  });
 
  return {
    markdown: serializeMd(editor),
    text: editor.read((state) => state.text.string([])),
    value: editor.read((state) => state.value.root()),
  };
}

scripts/normalize-headings.ts

import type { Value } from 'platejs';
 
import {
  BaseBasicBlocksPlugin,
  BaseBasicMarksPlugin,
} from '@platejs/basic-nodes';
import { MarkdownPlugin, serializeMd } from '@platejs/markdown';
import { createBaseEditor } from 'platejs';
 
export function normalizeHeadings(value: Value) {
  const editor = createBaseEditor({
    plugins: [BaseBasicBlocksPlugin, BaseBasicMarksPlugin, MarkdownPlugin],
    value,
  });
 
  const insertAt = editor.read((state) => [state.value.root().length]);
 
  editor.update((tx) => {
    tx.nodes.set(
      { type: 'h2' },
      {
        at: [],
        match: (node) => 'type' in node && node.type === 'h1',
      }
    );
 
    tx.nodes.insert(
      [{ children: [{ text: 'Imported from the legacy CMS.' }], type: 'p' }],
      { at: insertAt }
    );
  });
 
  return {
    markdown: serializeMd(editor),
    text: editor.read((state) => state.text.string([])),
    value: editor.read((state) => state.value.root()),
  };
}

Runtime Boundaries

Runtime	Import from	Use for
Node.js scripts	`platejs`, `@platejs/*`	Migration, validation, serialization, search indexing.
React editors	`platejs/react`, `@platejs/*/react`	Editable UI, hooks, rendered components, toolbar behavior.
Static rendering	`platejs/static`	Server-rendered read-only content.

Plugin packages can expose both base and React entrypoints. In Node.js, choose the base entrypoint even when the same feature has React components for the browser editor.

API Reference

API	Package	Notes
`createBaseEditor`	`platejs`	Creates a non-React editor instance.
`editor.read((state) => state.text.string([]))`	`platejs`	Reads text from the whole document.
`editor.update((tx) => tx.nodes.set(...))`	`platejs`	Updates matching nodes. Use `at: []` for document-wide transforms.
`editor.update((tx) => tx.nodes.insert(...))`	`platejs`	Inserts nodes at a path.
`deserializeMd`	`@platejs/markdown`	Converts Markdown into a Plate value.
`serializeMd`	`@platejs/markdown`	Converts the editor value or an explicit `value` option to Markdown.

Next Steps

Task	Guide
Serialize to Markdown	Markdown
Serialize to HTML	HTML
Render read-only content	Static Rendering
Query editor state	Editor API
Apply transforms	Editor Transforms

Done. You now have a server-safe Plate runtime that can power migration scripts, validation jobs, and content serialization.

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On This Page

Node.js Setup Install Packages Create a Server Editor Read and Write Markdown Transform Content Runtime Boundaries API Reference Next Steps

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