showdownjs/showdown

TOML Metadata surrounded by +++

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#868 opened on Oct 8, 2021

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 (0 comments) (0 reactions) (0 assignees)JavaScript (13,700 stars) (1,640 forks)batch import
enhancementhelp wantedscope:makeHtml

Description

Hugo allows TOML metadata (surrounded by +++) - so it's a popular encoding for metadata in files. It would be great if showdown could support it.

Readme says as of today:

metadata: (boolean) [default false] Enable support for document metadata (defined at the top of the document between ««« and »»» or between --- and ---). (since v.1.8.5)

Contributor guide

Tech stack
javascript
Domain
tooling
Issue type
feature
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
3
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
1-3 hours
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
stale
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
clear
Prerequisites
basic JavaScriptunderstanding of regex
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
40
Research direction
Look at the showdown source code, specifically the file where metadata parsing is implemented (likely in src/subParsers/makeHtml.js or similar). The existing metadata support handles delimiters ` ` and `««« ... »»»`. To add TOML (`+++`), you need to modify the parser to recognize `+++` as a valid metadata delimiter, following the same pattern. Check the function that extracts metadata (e.g., `extractMetadata` or inline in the main parsing loop). Also verify that the TOML format itself is not parsed by showdown; the issue is only about the delimiter, not the content. Add a test case for TOML metadata and ensure existing tests pass. Since the issue is stale, it's recommended to comment on the issue to claim it before starting work.