JavaScript/jQuery Chat - Markdown Support

You often need to convert Chat messages from Markdown to HTML since Chat supports HTML. This is useful when using OpenAI or supporting Markdown in user inputs.

To support Markdown, use a third-party library for conversion. The unified + remark + rehype stack is a good option, as shown in our AI integration demo:

View Demo

This powerful stack supports various extensions and allows control over different conversion stages. For a simpler, lightweight solution, you can use libraries such as micromark.

Regardless of the library choice, convert the message text within the messageTemplate property:

jQuery
index.html
index.js
<script type="module">
    import {
        micromark
    } from 'https://esm.sh/micromark@3?bundle';
    window.micromark = micromark;
</script>

<div id="chat"></div>
$(() => {
    const chat = $("#chat")
        .dxChat({
            onMessageEntered: ({ component, message }) => {
                component.renderMessage(message);
            },
            messageTemplate: (e, element) => {
                const htmlText = $(micromark(e.message.text)).html();
                $("<div>").html(htmlText).appendTo(element);
            }
        })
    .dxChat("instance");
});
Angular
app.component.html
app.component.ts
<dx-chat
    [items]="messages"
    (onMessageEntered)="onMessageEntered($event)"
    messageTemplate="messageTemplate"
>
    <div *dxTemplate="let data of 'messageTemplate'">
        <div [innerHTML]="convertToHtml(data.message.text)"></div>
    </div>
</dx-chat>
import { DxChatTypes } from "devextreme-angular/ui/chat";
import { micromark } from 'micromark';
// ...
export class AppComponent {
    messages: DxChatTypes.Message[] = [];

    onMessageEntered(e: DxChatTypes.MessageEnteredEvent) {
        if (e.message) {
            this.messages = [...this.messages, e.message];
        }
    }
    convertToHtml(text: string) {
        let html = micromark(text);
        return html.replace(/^<p>/, '').replace(/<\/p>$/, '');
    }
}
Vue
App.vue
<template>
<DxChat
    :items="messages"
    @message-entered="onMessageEntered"
    message-template="message"
>
    <template #message="{ data }">
        <div v-html="convertToHtml(data.message.text)"></div>
    </template>
</DxChat>
</template>

<script setup lang="ts">
import { DxChat } from 'devextreme-vue';
import type { DxChatTypes } from 'devextreme-vue/cjs/chat';
import { micromark } from 'micromark';
import { ref, type Ref } from 'vue';

const messages: Ref<DxChatTypes.Message[]> = ref([]);

const onMessageEntered = (e: DxChatTypes.MessageEnteredEvent) => {
    if (e.message) {
        messages.value = [...messages.value, e.message];
    }
}
const convertToHtml = (text: string) => {
    let html = micromark(text);
    return html.replace(/^<p>/, '').replace(/<\/p>$/, '');
}
</script>
React
App.tsx
import { Chat } from 'devextreme-react';
import { ChatTypes } from 'devextreme-react/cjs/chat';
import 'devextreme/dist/css/dx.light.css'
import { useCallback, useState } from 'react';
import HTMLReactParser from 'html-react-parser';
import { micromark } from 'micromark';

const convertToHtml = (text: string) => {
    let html = micromark(text);
    return html.replace(/^<p>/, '').replace(/<\/p>$/, '');
}
const messageRender = (data: ChatTypes.MessageTemplateData) => {
    return (HTMLReactParser(convertToHtml(data.message!.text!)));
}

export default function App() {
    const [messages, setMessages] = useState<ChatTypes.Message[]>([]);
    const onMessageEntered = useCallback((e: ChatTypes.MessageEnteredEvent) => {
        setMessages((prevMessages) => [...prevMessages, e.message!]);
    }, []);
    return(
        <Chat 
            items={messages}
            onMessageEntered={onMessageEntered}
            messageRender={messageRender}
        />
    );
}