Lexical — Extensible Rich Text Editor Framework by Meta

What Lexical Does

• Rich text — bold, italic, headings, lists, links, code
• Plugins — modular features (markdown, mentions, tables, code blocks)
• Collaboration — Yjs CRDT integration
• Extensible nodes — define custom node types
• Immutable state — predictable updates via EditorState
• A11y — ARIA roles, keyboard navigation
• SSR — server-render initial state

Architecture

Editor maintains an immutable EditorState tree. Updates happen in editor.update() callbacks (transactional). DOM is a projection of state — never edited directly. Plugins register listeners and commands; nodes define their own DOM rendering and JSON serialization.

Self-Hosting

Client library, no server.

Key Features

• ~22KB core (smaller than Draft.js or Slate)
• Immutable EditorState
• Transactional updates
• Plugin architecture
• Yjs collaboration support
• Markdown shortcuts
• Tables, lists, code blocks plugins
• Custom node types
• Accessibility-first

Comparison

FAQ

Q: Does it replace Draft.js? A: Yes. Meta has migrated internally. Draft.js is no longer maintained; new projects should go straight to Lexical.

Q: How does it compare to TipTap? A: Lexical is lighter, has a more modern API, and is maintained by Meta; TipTap is built on ProseMirror with a mature ecosystem and richer extensions.

Q: Does it support collaborative editing? A: Yes. @lexical/yjs integrates with Yjs CRDT.

Sources & Credits

• Docs: https://lexical.dev
• GitHub: https://github.com/facebook/lexical
• License: MIT