How to merge TText siblings?

[nklhtv]

I've tried to create a normalizeNode plugin that merges TText siblings into one (my TText nodes does not have any other props that text), but maybe my approach is not correct as i get errors on other places (calling editor.api.blocks() throws error Cannot find a descendant at path [49,53] in node)

My plugin calls replaceNodes with the new children array that has merged TText nodes.

import {
  createSlatePlugin,
  ElementApi,
  NodeApi,
  NodeEntry,
  NodeIn,
  SlateEditor,
  TElement,
  TextApi,
  TText,
  Value,
} from "platejs";

function normalizeBlock<N extends NodeIn<Value>>(editor: SlateEditor, [node, path]: NodeEntry<N>): boolean {
  if (ElementApi.isElement(node) && node.type === "p") {
    const children = node.children.reduce<(TText | TElement)[]>((result, child) => {
      if (result.length > 0) {
        const lastChild = result[result.length - 1];
        if (TextApi.isText(child) && TextApi.isText(lastChild)) {
          result[result.length - 1] = {
            text: NodeApi.string(lastChild) + NodeApi.string(child),
          };
          return result;
        }
      }

      result.push(child);
      return result;
    }, []);
    if (node.children.length !== children.length) {
      // const selection = editor.api.isCollapsed() && editor.api.isSelected(path) ? editor.selection : null;
      editor.tf.replaceNodes(
        {
          type: "p",
          children,
        },
        { at: path },
      );
      // if (selection) editor.tf.select(selection);

      return true;
    }
  }
  return false;
}

export const NormalizeBlocksPlugin = createSlatePlugin<"normalize-blocks-plugin">({
  key: "normalize-blocks-plugin",
  normalizeInitialValue: ({ editor }) => {
    editor.children.forEach((node, index) => {
      normalizeBlock(editor, [node, [index]]);
    });
  },
}).overrideEditor(({ editor, tf: { normalizeNode } }) => ({
  transforms: {
    normalizeNode([node, path]) {
      if (normalizeBlock(editor, [node, path])) return;

      normalizeNode([node, path]);
    },
  },
}));

[dosubot[bot]]

Slate already handles this automatically! The built-in normalizeNode() merges adjacent text nodes with matching properties during normalization—you likely don't need a custom plugin.

Why you're getting path errors:

1. Paths become stale after transforms — When you call replaceNodes in normalizeNode, all paths become invalid. You must return immediately after any transform and not call other methods like editor.api.blocks().

2. Possible Slate version conflicts — This is the #1 cause of path errors in Plate. Add overrides to your package.json:

"overrides": {
  "slate": "0.118.0",
  "slate-dom": "0.117.4",
  "slate-react": "0.117.1"
}

If you still need custom merging, use mergeNodes instead of replaceNodes:

.overrideEditor(({ editor, tf: { normalizeNode } }) => ({
  transforms: {
    normalizeNode([node, path]) {
      if (ElementApi.isElement(node)) {
        for (let i = node.children.length - 1; i > 0; i--) {
          const child = node.children[i];
          const prev = node.children[i - 1];
          if (TextApi.isText(child) && TextApi.isText(prev)) {
            editor.tf.mergeNodes({ at: [...path, i] });
            return; // MUST return after any transform
          }
        }
      }
      normalizeNode([node, path]);
    },
  },
}))


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