Bundling an NPM version of TinyMCE with ES6 and Vite

The following procedure will assist with bundling a npm version of TinyMCE with Vite using ES6+ syntax. The procedure assumes the user has experience with Vite and ES6+ syntax. The following steps provide a working example for bundling a basic TinyMCE configuration with Vite, and provides links to reference pages at the end of the procedure for bundling additional customizations with the editor.

If TinyMCE will be used with a JavaScript framework (such as React.js, Angular, or Vue.js) the bundle will also require the relevant framework integration package (where available). For a list of supported framework integrations, see: Installing TinyMCE.

Requirements

This guide requires the following:

  • Node.js and npm.

  • Basic knowledge of how to use Vite.

  • For self-hosted deployments: A valid license key starting with T8LK: from your Tiny Account

  • (Optional: For premium features) The latest premium .zip bundle of TinyMCE that includes premium plugins.

When self-hosting TinyMCE 8:

  • A license key is required for commercial deployments

  • Keys must start with the T8LK: prefix

  • For hybrid deployments that need both cloud features and local fallback, you can use both license_key and api_key

Procedures

  1. Create scaffolding for your project.

    npm create vite@5 . && NPM install tinymce

  2. Or add tinymce and the following development dependencies to your existing project.

    • Vite

      For example:

      npm install tinymce && NPM install --save-dev vite

  3. Create a new source file for importing the required components from TinyMCE and configuring the editor.

    The following components are required to bundle TinyMCE:

    • The tinymce global

    • The silver theme

    • The dom model

    • The default icon pack. This is always required and provides the base set of icons for all TinyMCE functionality. The default icons can be extended or overridden using additional icon packs.

    • A skin for styling the user interface, including toolbars and menus. This can be a community, premium or custom skin.

    • A content skin for styling UI features within the content such as table and image resizing. This can be a community, premium or custom skin.

    The global must be first, the rest can be in any order.

    Additional components that are optional but recommended:

    • Content CSS for styling editor content. There are community and premium style skins available, or use custom content CSS.

    • Plugins to be used with the editor.

    • A custom or premium icon pack to extend or override the default icons for toolbar buttons, including contextual toolbars. This can be a premium or custom icon pack.

    This example will only work for TinyMCE 6.8.0 and later.

    Example src/editor.js

    /* Import TinyMCE */
import tinymce from 'tinymce';

/* Default icons are required. After that, import custom icons if applicable */
import 'tinymce/icons/default/icons.min.js';

/* Required TinyMCE components */
import 'tinymce/themes/silver/theme.min.js';
import 'tinymce/models/dom/model.min.js';

/* Import the default skin (oxide). Replace with a custom skin if required. */
import 'tinymce/skins/ui/oxide/skin.js';

/* Import plugins */
import 'tinymce/plugins/advlist';
import 'tinymce/plugins/code';
import 'tinymce/plugins/emoticons';
import 'tinymce/plugins/emoticons/js/emojis';
import 'tinymce/plugins/link';
import 'tinymce/plugins/lists';
import 'tinymce/plugins/table';
import 'tinymce/plugins/help';
import 'tinymce/plugins/help/js/i18n/keynav/en';

// Import premium plugins from NPM
import 'tinymce-premium/plugins/advcode';
import 'tinymce-premium/plugins/tinycomments';
// Always include the licensekeymanager plugin when using premium plugins with a commercial license.
import 'tinymce-premium/plugins/licensekeymanager';

/* content UI CSS is required (using the default oxide skin) */
import 'tinymce/skins/ui/oxide/content.js';

/* The default content CSS can be changed or replaced with appropriate CSS for the editor content. */
import 'tinymce/skins/content/default/content.js';

/* Initialize TinyMCE */
export function render () {
  tinymce.init({
    selector: 'textarea#editor',
    license_key: 'gpl',
    plugins: 'advlist code emoticons link lists table help',
    toolbar: 'bold italic | bullist numlist | link emoticons',
    skin_url: 'default',
    content_css: 'default',
    /* Alternatively to importing premium plugins directly, you can configure external_plugins to load premium plugins in a different location.
     * Remember to include the licensekeymanager plugin when using premium plugins.
    */
    // external_plugins: {
    //   'advcode': '<path_to_premium_plugins>/advcode/plugin.min.js',
    //   'tinycomments': '<path_to_premium_plugins>/tinycomments/plugin.min.js'
    //   'licensekeymanager': '<path_to_premium_plugins>/licensekeymanager/plugin.min.js',
    // },

  });
};

  4. Add the TinyMCE assets and configuration into the project and provide a target element to initialize the editor.

    Example src/index.js

    import * as editor from './editor';

const heading = () => {
  const element = document.createElement('h1');
  element.innerText = 'TinyMCE Vite demo';
  return element;
};

const editorArea = () => {
  const element = document.createElement('textarea');
  element.id = 'editor';
  return element;
};

const parent = document.createElement('p');
parent.appendChild(editorArea());
document.body.appendChild(heading());
document.body.appendChild(parent);

editor.render();

  5. Import the index.js file in the index.html page, such as:

    <!doctype html>
<html lang="en">

<head>
  <meta charset="UTF-8" />
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" />
  <title>Vite App</title>
</head>

<body>
  <script type="module" src="/src/index.js"></script>
</body>

</html>

  6. Run vite in dev mode to test the application

    npx vite dev

  7. If Vite

    1. runs successfully, check that the editor loads in the application.

    2. fails, review any errors and the configuration changes in this procedure; you may need to adjust for conflicts or other issues when bundling TinyMCE into an existing project.

  8. Run vite in production mode to generate the bundle

    npx vite build

  9. If vite runs successfully, check that it generated by running:

    npx vite preview

Next Steps

For information on: