front-matter vs gray-matter vs yaml-front-matter
Markdown Front Matter Parsers Comparison
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What's Markdown Front Matter Parsers?

These libraries are designed to parse front matter from Markdown files, which is often used for metadata in static site generators and content management systems. Front matter is typically written in YAML or JSON format at the top of a Markdown file, allowing developers to define variables such as title, date, and layout. Each of these libraries offers unique features and capabilities for handling front matter, making them suitable for different use cases in web development.

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front-matter2,582,122681-315 years agoMIT
gray-matter1,677,7564,058-664 years agoMIT
yaml-front-matter111,241193-204 years agoMIT
Feature Comparison: front-matter vs gray-matter vs yaml-front-matter

Supported Formats

  • front-matter:

    front-matter exclusively supports YAML format for front matter parsing, making it simple and effective for projects that only require YAML without any additional features.

  • gray-matter:

    gray-matter supports both YAML and JSON formats, providing flexibility for developers who may need to switch between formats or use different types of metadata in their Markdown files.

  • yaml-front-matter:

    yaml-front-matter is focused solely on YAML, ensuring robust parsing capabilities specifically tailored for YAML syntax, which can be beneficial for projects that leverage YAML's features.

Customization Options

  • front-matter:

    front-matter offers limited customization options, focusing on simplicity and ease of use, which may be sufficient for straightforward use cases but lacks advanced features.

  • gray-matter:

    gray-matter provides extensive customization options, allowing developers to define custom delimiters and ignore specific sections of front matter, making it adaptable to various project requirements.

  • yaml-front-matter:

    yaml-front-matter offers some customization capabilities, but its primary focus is on accurate YAML parsing rather than extensive configuration options.

Performance

  • front-matter:

    front-matter is optimized for performance, making it a suitable choice for projects where speed is critical, especially when processing a large number of Markdown files.

  • gray-matter:

    gray-matter balances performance with flexibility, ensuring that it remains efficient while providing additional features for parsing and customization.

  • yaml-front-matter:

    yaml-front-matter is efficient in parsing YAML but may not be as fast as front-matter due to its focus on YAML-specific features and parsing intricacies.

Ease of Use

  • front-matter:

    front-matter is designed for ease of use, with a straightforward API that allows developers to quickly integrate it into their projects without a steep learning curve.

  • gray-matter:

    gray-matter has a slightly steeper learning curve due to its additional features, but it remains user-friendly for those familiar with front matter concepts.

  • yaml-front-matter:

    yaml-front-matter is user-friendly for those who are comfortable with YAML, but may pose challenges for developers unfamiliar with YAML syntax.

Community and Support

  • front-matter:

    front-matter has a smaller community and fewer resources available compared to the others, which may limit support options for troubleshooting.

  • gray-matter:

    gray-matter has a larger community and more extensive documentation, providing better support and resources for developers.

  • yaml-front-matter:

    yaml-front-matter has a moderate community presence, offering some support but not as extensive as gray-matter.

How to Choose: front-matter vs gray-matter vs yaml-front-matter
  • front-matter:

    Choose front-matter if you need a lightweight and straightforward solution for parsing YAML front matter without additional dependencies. It's ideal for simple projects where minimalism and speed are priorities.

  • gray-matter:

    Opt for gray-matter if you require a more versatile parser that supports both YAML and JSON front matter, along with the ability to customize parsing behavior. It's suitable for projects that need flexibility and additional features such as ignoring front matter in specific contexts.

  • yaml-front-matter:

    Select yaml-front-matter if your primary focus is on YAML parsing and you want a library that integrates seamlessly with YAML-specific features. This package is best for projects heavily reliant on YAML syntax and structure.

Similar Npm Packages to front-matter

front-matter is a lightweight npm package designed for parsing front matter from files, typically used in static site generators and content management systems. Front matter refers to the metadata that is placed at the top of a file, often in YAML or TOML format, which provides information about the content such as title, date, tags, and more. The front-matter package allows developers to easily extract this metadata from their files, making it a valuable tool for managing content in a structured way.

While front-matter is a popular choice, there are other libraries that offer similar functionality. Here are a few alternatives:

  • gray-matter is a widely used library for parsing front matter from Markdown and other text files. It supports multiple formats, including YAML, TOML, and JSON, making it versatile for various use cases. gray-matter not only extracts the front matter but also returns the content of the file without the metadata, allowing for easy integration into static site generators and other applications. If you need a robust solution that can handle different front matter formats, gray-matter is an excellent choice.
  • yaml-front-matter is another library focused specifically on parsing YAML front matter. It provides a straightforward API for extracting metadata from files that use YAML format for their front matter. If your project primarily uses YAML and you want a dedicated solution for handling it, yaml-front-matter is a lightweight and efficient option.

To see how front-matter compares with gray-matter and yaml-front-matter, check out the comparison: Comparing front-matter vs gray-matter vs yaml-front-matter.

Similar Npm Packages to gray-matter

gray-matter is a popular npm package used for parsing front matter from Markdown files. Front matter is a section at the beginning of a Markdown document that contains metadata about the content, typically formatted in YAML or JSON. gray-matter allows developers to easily extract this metadata and separate it from the actual content, making it a valuable tool for static site generators and content management systems. Its ability to handle various formats and its straightforward API make it a go-to choice for many developers working with Markdown.

While gray-matter is a solid choice for parsing front matter, there are several alternatives that offer similar functionality:

  • front-matter is a lightweight library that focuses specifically on parsing front matter from Markdown files. It provides a simple API for extracting the metadata and content from the document. If you are looking for a minimalistic solution without additional features, front-matter is a great option that offers straightforward parsing capabilities.
  • remark-frontmatter is a plugin for the remark Markdown processor that allows you to work with front matter in Markdown files. It integrates seamlessly with the remark ecosystem, making it a good choice if you are already using remark for processing Markdown. This plugin enables you to parse front matter while leveraging the full power of remark for transforming Markdown content.
  • yaml-front-matter is another alternative that specifically focuses on parsing YAML front matter. It provides a simple API for extracting metadata from YAML-formatted front matter in Markdown files. If your project primarily uses YAML for front matter and you want a dedicated solution, yaml-front-matter is an excellent choice.

To see how these packages compare, check out the comparison: Comparing front-matter vs gray-matter vs remark-frontmatter vs yaml-front-matter.

Similar Npm Packages to yaml-front-matter

yaml-front-matter is a JavaScript library designed to parse YAML front matter from text files. Front matter is a common pattern used in static site generators and content management systems, where metadata is defined at the beginning of a file, typically in YAML format. This library allows developers to easily extract this metadata and the content of the file, making it a useful tool for managing structured data in markdown or other text-based formats.

While yaml-front-matter is a robust option for handling YAML front matter, there are several alternatives worth considering:

  • front-matter is a simple library that extracts front matter from markdown files. It supports both YAML and JSON formats, making it versatile for different use cases. If you're looking for a straightforward solution to parse front matter without the need for YAML-specific features, front-matter is a solid choice.
  • gray-matter is another popular library for parsing front matter, supporting multiple formats including YAML, JSON, and TOML. It is widely used in static site generators like Gatsby and Next.js. gray-matter provides additional features such as the ability to customize delimiters and parse front matter from various file types, making it a flexible option for developers who need more control over their front matter parsing.
  • js-yaml is a YAML parser and dumper for JavaScript. While it is not specifically designed for front matter, it can be used in conjunction with other libraries to handle YAML data. If your project requires extensive YAML parsing capabilities beyond just front matter, js-yaml is a powerful tool that can meet those needs.
  • yamljs is another library for parsing and dumping YAML in JavaScript. Similar to js-yaml, it is not specifically focused on front matter but can be used to work with YAML data in various contexts. If you need a lightweight library for general YAML handling, yamljs is a good option.

To compare these packages and find the best fit for your project, check out the comparison link: Comparing front-matter vs gray-matter vs js-yaml vs yaml-front-matter vs yamljs.

README for front-matter

front-matter

build coverage npm github

Sauce Test Status

Extract meta data (front-matter) from documents.

This modules does not do any IO (file loading or reading), only extracting and parsing front matter from strings.

This concept that was originally introduced to me through the jekyll blogging system and is pretty useful where you want to be able to easily add meta-data to content without the need for a database. YAML is extracted from the the top of a file between matching separators of "---" or "= yaml =". It will also extract YAML between a separator and "...".

Install

With npm do:

npm install front-matter

Example

So you have a file example.md:

---
title: Just hack'n
description: Nothing to see here
---

This is some text about some stuff that happened sometime ago

NOTE: As of front-matter@2.0.0 valid front matter is considered to have the starting separator on the first line.

Then you can do this:

var fs = require('fs')
  , fm = require('front-matter')

fs.readFile('./example.md', 'utf8', function(err, data){
  if (err) throw err

  var content = fm(data)

  console.log(content)
})

And end up with an object like this:

{
    attributes: {
        title: 'Just hack\'n',
        description: 'Nothing to see here'
    },
    body: 'This is some text about some stuff that happened sometime ago',
    bodyBegin: 6,
    frontmatter: 'title: Just hack\'n\ndescription: Nothing to see here'
}

Methods

var fm = require('front-matter')

fm(string, { allowUnsafe: false })

Return a content object with two properties:

  • content.attributes contains the extracted yaml attributes in json form
  • content.body contains the string contents below the yaml separators
  • content.bodyBegin contains the line number the body contents begins at
  • content.frontmatter contains the original yaml string contents

NOTE: By default fm() uses ys-yaml's safeLoad unless you set allowUnsafe in the options object to true.

fm.test(string)

Check if a string contains a front matter header of "---" or "= yaml =". Primarily used internally but is useful outside of the module.

Returns true or false

    fm.test(string) #=> true || false

Contributing

front-matter is an OPEN Source Project so please help out by reporting bugs or forking and opening pull requests when possible.

standard

All code is linted/formatted using standard style, any non-conforming code can be automatically formatted using the the fmt make task: make fmt.

Maintainers

Contributors

This module is awesome because of all the folks who submitted pull requests:

CHANGELOG

3.0.0

  • CI only tests Node versions >= v6 (drops v4, and v5)

LICENSE (MIT)

Copyright (c) Jason Campbell ("Author")

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.

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