Basic Blocks - Plate

Basic Blocks is the registry kit for the common structural blocks in a Plate editor. It wires paragraphs, six heading levels, blockquotes, and horizontal rules to Plate UI components. Use the leaf docs when you need the behavior details for one block type.

<Cards> <Card icon="heading" title="Heading" href="/docs/heading"> Structure content with H1 through H6 blocks. </Card> <Card icon="blockquote" title="Blockquote" href="/docs/blockquote"> Wrap quoted or emphasized content in a blockquote. </Card> <Card icon="horizontal-rule" title="Horizontal Rule" href="/docs/horizontal-rule"> Insert a void divider between sections. </Card> </Cards> <ComponentPreview name="basic-blocks-demo" /> <PackageInfo>

Features

Paragraph, H1-H6, blockquote, and horizontal rule components.
Markdown shortcuts for headings, blockquotes, and horizontal rules.
Keyboard shortcuts for heading toggles and blockquote toggling.
Static rendering companion through basic-blocks-base-kit.
Leaf docs for block-specific setup and API details.

</PackageInfo>

Fast Path

<Steps>

Add The Kit

BasicBlocksKit is the normal app/editor kit. It installs the React plugins and the matching registry UI components.

tsx

import { createPlateEditor } from 'platejs/react';

import { BasicBlocksKit } from '@/components/editor/plugins/basic-blocks-kit';

export const editor = createPlateEditor({
  plugins: BasicBlocksKit,
});

Add Static Rendering

Use BaseBasicBlocksKit in static or server-safe rendering paths.

tsx

import { createStaticEditor } from 'platejs';

import { BaseBasicBlocksKit } from '@/components/editor/plugins/basic-blocks-base-kit';

const value = [
  {
    children: [{ text: 'Static content' }],
    type: 'p',
  },
];

export const staticEditor = createStaticEditor({
  plugins: BaseBasicBlocksKit,
  value,
});

</Steps>

Ownership

Layer	Owner	What It Does
`platejs/react`	Package	Exports `ParagraphPlugin`.
`@platejs/basic-nodes`	Package	Exports block rules and base block plugins.
`@platejs/basic-nodes/react`	Package	Exports `BlockquotePlugin`, `HeadingPlugin`, `H1Plugin` through `H6Plugin`, `HorizontalRulePlugin`, and `BasicBlocksPlugin`.
`basic-blocks-kit`	Registry	Adds React UI components, input rules, break rules, and shortcuts.
`basic-blocks-base-kit`	Registry	Adds static UI components for static rendering.
Leaf pages	Docs	Own block-specific behavior: `Heading`, `Blockquote`, and `Horizontal Rule`.

BasicBlocksPlugin is a package-level grouping plugin. It does not install the registry UI components; use BasicBlocksKit when you want Plate UI rendering.

Included Plugins

Block	Plugin	Registry Component	Notes
Paragraph	`ParagraphPlugin`	`ParagraphElement`	Comes from `platejs/react`; the registry kit adds the UI component.
Heading 1-6	`H1Plugin` through `H6Plugin`	`H1Element` through `H6Element`	Each level gets a markdown rule and `mod+alt+<level>` shortcut.
Blockquote	`BlockquotePlugin`	`BlockquoteElement`	Uses a wrapping transform and `mod+shift+period`.
Horizontal rule	`HorizontalRulePlugin`	`HrElement`	Void block; supports dash and underscore markdown rules.

Markdown Shortcuts

Shortcut	Result
`#` through `######`	Converts the current paragraph into H1 through H6.
`>`	Wraps the current block in a blockquote.
`---`	Converts the current block into a horizontal rule, then inserts a paragraph after it.
`___`	Converts the current block into a horizontal rule, then inserts a paragraph after it.

See Plugin Input Rules for the rule engine and trigger model.

Manual Setup

Use manual setup when you want the package plugins without the registry kit.

bash

npm install @platejs/basic-nodes

tsx

import {
  BlockquoteRules,
  HeadingRules,
  HorizontalRuleRules,
} from '@platejs/basic-nodes';
import {
  BlockquotePlugin,
  H1Plugin,
  H2Plugin,
  H3Plugin,
  H4Plugin,
  H5Plugin,
  H6Plugin,
  HorizontalRulePlugin,
} from '@platejs/basic-nodes/react';
import { createPlateEditor, ParagraphPlugin } from 'platejs/react';

export const editor = createPlateEditor({
  plugins: [
    ParagraphPlugin,
    H1Plugin.configure({
      inputRules: [HeadingRules.markdown()],
      shortcuts: { toggle: { keys: 'mod+alt+1' } },
    }),
    H2Plugin.configure({
      inputRules: [HeadingRules.markdown()],
      shortcuts: { toggle: { keys: 'mod+alt+2' } },
    }),
    H3Plugin.configure({
      inputRules: [HeadingRules.markdown()],
      shortcuts: { toggle: { keys: 'mod+alt+3' } },
    }),
    H4Plugin.configure({
      inputRules: [HeadingRules.markdown()],
      shortcuts: { toggle: { keys: 'mod+alt+4' } },
    }),
    H5Plugin.configure({
      inputRules: [HeadingRules.markdown()],
      shortcuts: { toggle: { keys: 'mod+alt+5' } },
    }),
    H6Plugin.configure({
      inputRules: [HeadingRules.markdown()],
      shortcuts: { toggle: { keys: 'mod+alt+6' } },
    }),
    BlockquotePlugin.configure({
      inputRules: [BlockquoteRules.markdown()],
      shortcuts: { toggle: { keys: 'mod+shift+period' } },
    }),
    HorizontalRulePlugin.configure({
      inputRules: [
        HorizontalRuleRules.markdown({ variant: '-' }),
        HorizontalRuleRules.markdown({ variant: '_' }),
      ],
    }),
  ],
});

API Reference

API	Use
`BasicBlocksPlugin`	Package grouping plugin for blockquote, heading, and horizontal rule behavior.
`BaseBasicBlocksPlugin`	Static/headless grouping plugin for blockquote, heading, and horizontal rule behavior.
`HeadingRules.markdown()`	Creates heading input rules based on the configured H1-H6 plugin key.
`BlockquoteRules.markdown()`	Creates the `>` block-start rule.
`HorizontalRuleRules.markdown({ variant })`	Creates dash or underscore thematic-break rules.