How to add new node type to the AST for [[_TOC_]] and [[_TOSP_]] ?

[doggy8088]

I'd like to implement a plugin that support custom syntax offered by Wiki page TOC of the Azure DevOps Services.

The syntax will be like this:

[[_TOC_]]

[[_TOSP_]]

Here is the code I wrote currently:

let parsed = unified()
  .use(remarkParse)
  .use(remarkGfm)
  .use(remarkFrontmatter, ['yaml', 'toml'])
  .use(remarkStringify, {
    emphasis: '_',
    rule: '-',
  })
  .processSync(txt).toString();

After running my code, the Markdown will become this:

\[\[_TOC_]]

\[\[_TOSP_]]

But I want the result is:

[[_TOC_]]

[[_TOSP_]]

Is that possible?

I need some help on how to implement this. Is there any docs or reference for me? Thanks.

[ChristianMurphy]

Welcome @doggy8088! 👋

How to add new node type to the AST for [[TOC]] and [[TOSP]] ?

It is possible, though generally not recommended to create yet another markdown flavor (https://github.com/micromark/micromark#extending-markdown)
If you do want to add token type/AST node, see https://github.com/micromark/micromark#creating-a-micromark-extension
And draw some inspiration from https://github.com/landakram/remark-wiki-link

---

An alternative would be nudging Azure/Microsoft toward using standard markdown directives https://github.com/remarkjs/remark-directive#readme, instead of creating another markdown flavor.

[doggy8088]

Thank you for the quick and kind response! 👍

Is there any way to make some text node been avoid escaped? I don't want to create another markdown flavor either. It because my original requirement is simply keep [[_TOC_]] or [[_TOSP_]] been untouched (not-escaped).

[ChristianMurphy]

Is there any way to make some text node been avoid escaped?

No, see https://github.com/orgs/remarkjs/discussions/1067, #1168, remarkjs/react-markdown#726, #1245

remark is an Abtract Syntax Tree, it does not track if the original content was escaped or not.
Escapes are added in some spots to avoid confusion around if a syntax feature will trigger or not.

Your example, the text is link reference-like, the escape is added to avoid the following confusion on whether the reference is defined or not.

---

example 1:

this will render a link, and will not render [] around the text.

[TOC]

... pages of content can go here ...

[TOC]: http://example.com

example 2:

this will only render text (no link) and will show the [] before and after.

[TOC]

... pages of content can go here ...