Vue.js 3+ rich text editor component – Legacy guide

CKEditor 5 consists of the ready-to-use editor builds and the CKEditor 5 Framework upon which the builds are based.

The easiest way to use CKEditor 5 in your Vue.js application is by choosing one of the rich text editor builds and simply passing it to the configuration of the Vue.js component. Read more about this solution in the Quick start section of this guide.

Additionally, you can integrate CKEditor 5 from source which is a much more flexible and powerful solution, but requires some additional configuration.

# Quick start

Install the CKEditor 5 WYSIWYG editor component for Vue.js and the editor build of your choice.

Assuming that you picked @ckeditor/ckeditor5-build-classic:

npm install --save @ckeditor/ckeditor5-vue @ckeditor/ckeditor5-build-classic

You now need to enable the CKEditor 5 component in your application. There are 2 ways to do so:

• via a direct script include,
• by using ES6 module imports.

Optionally, you can use the component locally.

# Direct script include

This is the quickest way to start using CKEditor 5 in your project. Assuming Vue is installed, include the <script> tags for the WYSIWYG editor component and the build:

<script src="../node_modules/@ckeditor/ckeditor5-build-classic/build/ckeditor.js"></script>
<script src="../node_modules/@ckeditor/ckeditor5-vue/dist/ckeditor.js"></script>

Enable the component globally in your application using the application instance:

Vue.createApp( { /* options */ } ).use( CKEditor ).mount( /* DOM element */ );

Use the <ckeditor> component in your template:

• The editor directive specifies the editor build.
• The v-model directive enables an out–of–the–box two–way data binding.
• The config directive helps you pass the configuration to the editor instance.

<div id="app">
    <ckeditor :editor="editor" v-model="editorData" :config="editorConfig"></ckeditor>
</div>

Vue.createApp( {
    data() {
        editor: ClassicEditor,
        editorData: '<p>Content of the editor.</p>',
        editorConfig: {
            // The configuration of the editor.
        }
    }
} ).use( CKEditor ).mount( '#app' );

Voilà! You should see CKEditor 5 running in your Vue.js app.

# Using ES6 modules

The editor component comes as a UMD module, which makes it possible to use in various environments, for instance, applications generated by Vue CLI, built using webpack, etc.

To create an editor instance, you must first import the editor build and the component modules into the root file of your application (for example,main.js when generated by Vue CLI). Then, enable the component using the application instance:

import { createApp } from 'vue';
import CKEditor from '@ckeditor/ckeditor5-vue';

createApp( { /* options */ } ).use( CKEditor ).mount( /* DOM element */ );

The following example showcases a single–file component of the application. Use the <ckeditor> component in your template:

• The editor directive specifies the editor build (the editor constructor).
• The v-model directive enables an out–of–the–box two–way data binding.
• The config directive helps you pass the configuration to the editor instance.

<template>
    <div id="app">
        <ckeditor :editor="editor" v-model="editorData" :config="editorConfig"></ckeditor>
    </div>
</template>

<script>
    import ClassicEditor from '@ckeditor/ckeditor5-build-classic';

    export default {
        name: 'app',
        data() {
            return {
                editor: ClassicEditor,
                editorData: '<p>Content of the editor.</p>',
                editorConfig: {
                    // The configuration of the editor.
                }
            };
        }
    }
</script>

# Using the component locally

If you do not want the CKEditor 5 component to be enabled globally, you can skip the use() part entirely. Instead, configure it in the components property of your view.

<template>
    <div id="app">
        <ckeditor :editor="editor" ... ></ckeditor>
    </div>
</template>

<script>
    export default {
        name: 'app',
        components: {
            // Use the <ckeditor> component in this view.
            ckeditor: CKEditor.component
        },
        data() {
            return {
                editor: ClassicEditor,

                // ...
            };
        }
    }
</script>

# Integrating a build from the online builder

This guide assumes that you have created a zip archive with the editor built using the CKEditor 5 online builder.

Unpack it into you application main directory. The directory with the editor’s build cannot be placed inside the src/ directory as Node will return an error. Because of that, we recommend placing the directory next to the src/ and node_modules/ folders:

├── ckeditor5
│   ├── build
│   ├── sample
│   ├── src
│   ├── ...
│   ├── package.json
│   └── webpack.config.js
├── node_modules
├── public
├── src
├── ...
└── package.json

Then, add the package located in the ckeditor5 directory as a dependency of your project:

yarn add file:./ckeditor5

Finally, import the build in your application:

<template>
    <div id="app">
        <ckeditor :editor="editor" v-model="editorData" :config="editorConfig"></ckeditor>
    </div>
</template>

<script>
    import Editor from 'ckeditor5-custom-build/build/ckeditor';

    export default {
        name: 'app',
        data() {
            return {
                editor: Editor,
                editorData: '<p>Content of the editor.</p>',
                editorConfig: {
                    // The configuration of the editor.
                }
            };
        }
    }
</script>

# Using the editor with collaboration plugins

The easiest way to integrate collaboration plugins in a Vue application is to build the editor from source including the collaboration plugins together with the Vue application.

# Using CKEditor 5 from source

Integrating the rich text editor from source allows you to use the full power of the CKEditor 5 Framework. You have two options regarding building your application: Vite or webpack.

# Vite

This guide assumes that you use create-vue as your boilerplate. To get started with Vite and Vue, run the command below.

npm init vue@latest ckeditor5-vue-example

This command will install and execute create-vue, the official project scaffolding tool for Vue. It will also allow you to customize your project, for example, by adding TypeScript. Choose your preferred options.

# Installing necessary packages

You need two packages to use CKEditor 5 from source with Vue and Vite: the official Vue component and the Vite plugin.

Install necessary packages using the following command.

npm install --save @ckeditor/vite-plugin-ckeditor5 @ckeditor/ckeditor5-vue

# Configuring vite.config.js / vite.config.ts

Configuring CKEditor with Vue and Vite is simple. Modify the existing configuration by importing ckeditor5 and adding it to the list of plugins. In the case of TypeScript, the configuration can remain the same. The only difference is the extension - .ts.

// vite.config.js / vite.config.ts

import { fileURLToPath, URL } from 'node:url';
import { defineconfiguration } from 'vite';
import vue from '@vitejs/plugin-vue';
import ckeditor5 from '@ckeditor/vite-plugin-ckeditor5';

export default defineConfig( {
  plugins: [
    vue(),
    ckeditor5( { theme: require.resolve( '@ckeditor/ckeditor5-theme-lark' ) } )
  ],
  resolve: {
    alias: {
      '@': fileURLToPath( new URL( './src', import.meta.url ) )
    }
  }
} );

The configuration slightly differs for ESM projects. If you try to start the development server using the npm run dev command, you may encounter an error: require.resolve is not a function. In this case, you need some additional lines of code.

// vite.config.js / vite.config.ts

import { createRequire } from 'node:module';
const require = createRequire( import.meta.url );

Now, your setup with Vite and Vue is complete. You can also check how to configure webpack in the next section or move straight to Installing plugins.

# Webpack

This guide assumes that you are using Vue CLI 4.5.0+ as your boilerplate and your application has been created using the vue create command. You can install the Vue CLI using the below command.

npm install -g @vue/cli

To create a new project, run:

vue create ckeditor5-vue-example

You can choose the default preset for quick setup. You can also “manually select features” to pick features you need, like TypeScript.

# Configuring vue.config.js

To build CKEditor 5 with your application, certain changes must be made to the default project configuration.

First, install the necessary dependencies:

npm install --save \
    @ckeditor/ckeditor5-vue \
    @ckeditor/ckeditor5-dev-translations@43 \
    @ckeditor/ckeditor5-dev-utils@43 \
    postcss-loader@4 \
    raw-loader@4

Edit the vue.config.js file and use the following configuration. If the file is not present, create it in the root of the application (next to package.json). And if you are using TypeScript, the configuration can remain the same.

// vue.config.js

const path = require( 'path' );
const { CKEditorTranslationsPlugin } = require( '@ckeditor/ckeditor5-dev-translations' );
const { styles } = require( '@ckeditor/ckeditor5-dev-utils' );

module.exports = {
    // The source of CKEditor 5 is encapsulated in ES6 modules. By default, the code
    // from the node_modules directory is not transpiled, so you must explicitly tell
    // the CLI tools to transpile JavaScript files in all ckeditor5-* modules.
    transpileDependencies: [
        /ckeditor5-[^/\\]+[/\\]src[/\\].+\.js$/,
    ],

    configureWebpack: {
        plugins: [
            // CKEditor 5 needs its own plugin to be built using webpack.
            new CKEditorTranslationsPlugin( {
                // See https://ckeditor.com/docs/ckeditor5/latest/features/ui-language.html
                language: 'en',

                // Append translations to the file matching the `app` name.
                translationsOutputFile: /app/
            } )
        ]
    },

    // Vue CLI would normally use its own loader to load .svg and .css files, however:
    //	1. The icons used by CKEditor 5 must be loaded using raw-loader,
    //	2. The CSS used by CKEditor 5 must be transpiled using PostCSS to load properly.
    chainWebpack: configuration => {
        // (1.) To handle the editor icons, get the default rule for *.svg files first:
        const svgRule = config.module.rule( 'svg' );

        // Then you can either:
        //
        // * clear all loaders for existing 'svg' rule:
        //
        //		svgRule.uses.clear();
        //
        // * or exclude ckeditor directory from node_modules:
        svgRule.exclude.add( path.join( __dirname, 'node_modules', '@ckeditor' ) );

        // Add an entry for *.svg files belonging to CKEditor. You can either:
        //
        // * modify the existing 'svg' rule:
        //
        //		svgRule.use( 'raw-loader' ).loader( 'raw-loader' );
        //
        // * or add a new one:
        config.module
            .rule( 'cke-svg' )
            .test( /ckeditor5-[^/\\]+[/\\]theme[/\\]icons[/\\][^/\\]+\.svg$/ )
            .use( 'raw-loader' )
            .loader( 'raw-loader' );

        // (2.) Transpile the .css files imported by the editor using PostCSS.
        // Make sure only the CSS belonging to ckeditor5-* packages is processed this way.
        config.module
            .rule( 'cke-css' )
            .test( /ckeditor5-[^/\\]+[/\\].+\.css$/ )
            .use( 'postcss-loader' )
            .loader( 'postcss-loader' )
            .tap( () => {
                return {
                    postcssOptions: styles.getPostCssConfig( {
                        themeImporter: {
                            themePath: require.resolve( '@ckeditor/ckeditor5-theme-lark' ),
                        },
                        minify: true
                    } )
                };
            } );
    }
};

# Installing plugins

Having your project configured, you can choose the building blocks of your editor. Install the packages necessary for your integration, but please remember that all packages (excluding @ckeditor/ckeditor5-dev-*, @ckeditor/ckeditor5-vue, and @ckeditor/vite-plugin-ckeditor5) must have the same version as the base editor package.

npm install --save \
    @ckeditor/ckeditor5-editor-classic \
    @ckeditor/ckeditor5-essentials \
    @ckeditor/ckeditor5-basic-styles \
    @ckeditor/ckeditor5-link \
    @ckeditor/ckeditor5-paragraph \
    @ckeditor/ckeditor5-theme-lark

# JavaScript

You can use more packages, depending on which features are needed in your application.

// main.js

import { createApp } from 'vue';
import App from './App.vue';
import CKEditor from '@ckeditor/ckeditor5-vue';

createApp( App ).use( CKEditor ).mount( '#app' );

Now all you need to do is specify the list of rich text editor options (including plugins) in the editorConfig data property:

<!-- App.vue -->

<template>
    <div id="app">
        <ckeditor :editor="editor" v-model="editorData" :config="editorConfig"></ckeditor>
    </div>
</template>

<script>
    // ⚠️ NOTE: We don't use @ckeditor/ckeditor5-build-classic any more!
    // Since we're building CKEditor&nbsp;5 from source, we use the source version of ClassicEditor.
    import { ClassicEditor } from '@ckeditor/ckeditor5-editor-classic';

    import { Essentials } from '@ckeditor/ckeditor5-essentials';
    import { Bold, Italic } from '@ckeditor/ckeditor5-basic-styles';
    import { Link } from '@ckeditor/ckeditor5-link';
    import { Paragraph } from '@ckeditor/ckeditor5-paragraph';

    export default {
        name: 'app',
        data() {
            return {
                editor: ClassicEditor,
                editorData: '<p>Content of the editor.</p>',
                editorConfig: {
                    plugins: [
                        Essentials,
                        Bold,
                        Italic,
                        Link,
                        Paragraph
                    ],

                    toolbar: {
                        items: [
                            'bold',
                            'italic',
                            'link',
                            'undo',
                            'redo'
                        ]
                    }
                }
            };
        }
    };
</script>

# TypeScript

You must make a few tweaks if you chose TypeScript during project initialization. First, change the main file extension to .ts.

// main.ts

import { createApp } from 'vue';
import App from './App.vue';
import CKEditor from '@ckeditor/ckeditor5-vue';

createApp( App ).use( CKEditor ).mount( '#app' );

Then, besides specifying the list of rich text editor options, add the lang property to the Vue component.

<!-- App.vue -->

<template>
  <div id="app">
      <ckeditor :editor="editor" v-model="editorData" :config="editorConfig"></ckeditor>
  </div>
</template>

<script lang="ts">
  // ⚠️ NOTE: We don't use @ckeditor/ckeditor5-build-classic any more!
  // Since we're building CKEditor&nbsp;5 from source, we use the source version of ClassicEditor.
  import { ClassicEditor } from '@ckeditor/ckeditor5-editor-classic';

  import { Essentials } from '@ckeditor/ckeditor5-essentials';
  import { Bold, Italic } from '@ckeditor/ckeditor5-basic-styles';
  import { Link } from '@ckeditor/ckeditor5-link';
  import { Paragraph } from '@ckeditor/ckeditor5-paragraph';

  export default {
      name: 'app',
      data() {
          return {
              editor: ClassicEditor,
              editorData: '<p>Content of the editor.</p>',
              editorConfig: {
                  plugins: [
                      Essentials,
                      Bold,
                      Italic,
                      Link,
                      Paragraph
                  ],

                  toolbar: {
                      items: [
                          'bold',
                          'italic',
                          'link',
                          'undo',
                          'redo'
                      ]
                  }
              }
          };
      }
  };
</script>

Finally, you can build your project. Commands may differ depending on the package manager, so check the scripts section of your package.json file.

# Using the Document editor build

If you use the Document editor in your application, you need to manually add the editor toolbar to the DOM.

Since accessing the editor toolbar is not possible until after the editor instance is ready, put your toolbar insertion code in a method executed upon the ready event of the component, like in the following example:

<template>
        <div id="app">
            <ckeditor :editor="editor" @ready="onReady" ... ></ckeditor>
        </div>
</template>

<script>
    import DecoupledEditor from '@ckeditor/ckeditor5-build-decoupled-document';

    export default {
        name: 'app',
        data() {
            return {
                editor: DecoupledEditor,

                // ...
            };
        },
        methods: {
            onReady( editor )  {
                // Insert the toolbar before the editable area.
                editor.ui.getEditableElement().parentElement.insertBefore(
                    editor.ui.view.toolbar.element,
                    editor.ui.getEditableElement()
                );
            }
        }
    }
</script>

# Localization

CKEditor 5 supports multiple UI languages, and so does the official Vue.js component. Follow the instructions below to translate CKEditor 5 in your Vue.js application.

# Predefined builds

When using one of the predefined builds, you need to import the translations first.

• When using a direct script include:

  <!-- Import translations for the German language. -->
  <script src="../node_modules/@ckeditor/ckeditor5-build-classic/build/translations/de.js"></script>
  <script src="../node_modules/@ckeditor/ckeditor5-build-classic/build/ckeditor.js"></script>
  <script src="../node_modules/@ckeditor/ckeditor5-vue/dist/ckeditor.js"></script>
  

• When using ES6 modules:

  import ClassicEditor from '@ckeditor/ckeditor5-build-classic';
  
  // Import translations for the German language.
  import '@ckeditor/ckeditor5-build-classic/build/translations/de';
  

Then, configure the language of the editor in the component:

<ckeditor :editor="editor" v-model="editorData" :config="editorConfig"></ckeditor>

export default {
    name: 'app',
    data() {
        return {
            editor: ClassicEditor,
            editorData: '<p>Content of the editor.</p>',
            editorConfig: {
                // Run the editor with the German UI.
                language: 'de'
            }
        };
    }
}

For more information, please refer to the Setting the UI language guide.

# CKEditor 5 built from source

Using the editor built from source requires you to modify the webpack configuration. Pass the language (also additionalLanguages) to the constructor of CKEditorTranslationsPlugin to localize your editor:

// vue.config.js
// ...

const { CKEditorTranslationsPlugin } = require( '@ckeditor/ckeditor5-dev-translations' );

// ...

module.exports = {
    // ...

    configureWebpack: {
        plugins: [
            // CKEditor 5 needs its own plugin to be built using webpack.
            new CKEditorTranslationsPlugin( {
                // The UI language. Language codes follow the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_639-1 format.
                language: 'de',

                // Append translations to the file matching the `app` name.
                translationsOutputFile: /app/
            } )
        ]
    },

    // ...
}

After building the application, CKEditor 5 will run with the UI translated to the specified language.

For more information, please refer to the “Setting UI language” guide.

# Component directives

# editor

This directive specifies the editor to be used by the component. It must directly reference the editor constructor to be used in the template.

<template>
        <div id="app">
            <ckeditor :editor="editor" ... ></ckeditor>
        </div>
</template>

<script>
    import ClassicEditor from '@ckeditor/ckeditor5-build-classic';

    export default {
        name: 'app',
        data() {
            return {
                editor: ClassicEditor,

                // ...
            };
        }
    }
</script>

# tag-name

By default, the editor component creates a <div> container which is used as an element passed to the editor (for example,ClassicEditor#element). The element can be configured, so for example to create a <textarea>, use the following directive:

<ckeditor :editor="editor" tag-name="textarea"></ckeditor>

# v-model

A standard directive for form inputs in Vue. Unlike model-value, it creates a two–way data binding, which:

• sets the initial editor content,
• automatically updates the state of the application as the editor content changes (for example,as the user types),
• can be used to set the editor content when necessary.

<template>
    <div id="app">
        <ckeditor :editor="editor" v-model="editorData"></ckeditor>
        <button @click="emptyEditor">Empty the editor</button>

        <h2>Editor data</h2>
        <code>{{ editorData }}</code>
    </div>
</template>

<script>
    import ClassicEditor from '@ckeditor/ckeditor5-build-classic';

    export default {
        name: 'app',
        data() {
            return {
                editor: ClassicEditor,
                editorData: '<p>Content of the editor.</p>'
            };
        },
        methods: {
            emptyEditor() {
                this.editorData = '';
            }
        }
    }
</script>

In the above example, the editorData property will be updated automatically as the user types and the content changes. It can also be used to change (as in emptyEditor()) or set the initial content of the editor.

If you only want to execute an action when the editor data changes, use the input event.

# model-value

Allows a one–way data binding that sets the content of the editor. Unlike v-model, the value will not be updated when the content of the editor changes.

<template>
    <div id="app">
        <ckeditor :editor="editor" :model-value="editorData"></ckeditor>
    </div>
</template>

<script>
    import ClassicEditor from '@ckeditor/ckeditor5-build-classic';

    export default {
        name: 'app',
        data() {
            return {
                editor: ClassicEditor,
                editorData: '<p>Content of the editor.</p>'
            };
        }
    }
</script>

To execute an action when the editor data changes, use the input event.

# config

Specifies the configuration of the editor.

<template>
    <div id="app">
        <ckeditor :editor="editor" :config="editorConfig"></ckeditor>
    </div>
</template>

<script>
    import ClassicEditor from '@ckeditor/ckeditor5-build-classic';

    export default {
        name: 'app',
        data() {
            return {
                editor: ClassicEditor,
                editorConfig: {
                    toolbar: [ 'bold', 'italic', '|', 'link' ]
                }
            };
        }
    }
</script>

# disabled

This directive controls the isReadOnly property of the editor.

It sets the initial read–only state of the editor and changes it during its lifecycle.

<template>
    <div id="app">
        <ckeditor :editor="editor" :disabled="editorDisabled"></ckeditor>
    </div>
</template>

<script>
    import ClassicEditor from '@ckeditor/ckeditor5-build-classic';

    export default {
        name: 'app',
        data() {
            return {
                editor: ClassicEditor,
                // This editor will be read–only when created.
                editorDisabled: true
            };
        }
    }
</script>

# disableTwoWayDataBinding

Allows disabling the two-way data binding mechanism. The default value is false.

The reason for introducing this option is performance issues in large documents. After enabling this flag, the v-model directive will no longer update the connected value whenever the editor’s data is changed.

This option allows the integrator to disable the default behavior and only call the editor.getData() method on demand, which prevents the slowdowns. You can read more in the relevant issue.

<ckeditor :editor="editor" :disableTwoWayDataBinding="true"></ckeditor>

# Component events

# ready

Corresponds to the ready editor event.

<ckeditor :editor="editor" @ready="onEditorReady"></ckeditor>

# focus

Corresponds to the focus editor event.

<ckeditor :editor="editor" @focus="onEditorFocus"></ckeditor>

# blur

Corresponds to the blur editor event.

<ckeditor :editor="editor" @blur="onEditorBlur"></ckeditor>

# input

Corresponds to the change:data editor event.

<ckeditor :editor="editor" @input="onEditorInput"></ckeditor>

# destroy

Corresponds to the destroy editor event.

Note: Because the destruction of the editor is promise–driven, this event can be fired before the actual promise resolves.

<ckeditor :editor="editor" @destroy="onEditorDestroy"></ckeditor>

# Contributing and reporting issues

The source code of this component is available on GitHub in https://github.com/ckeditor/ckeditor5-vue.