Streamdown – AI Streaming Markdown

Streamdown is a drop-in react-markdown replacement designed for AI-powered streaming applications. It handles incomplete markdown syntax gracefully using the remend preprocessor.

Quick Start

Installation

# Direct installation
pnpm add streamdown

# Or via AI Elements CLI (includes Response component)
pnpm dlx ai-elements@latest add message

Tailwind Configuration

Tailwind v4 (globals.css):

@source "../node_modules/streamdown/dist/*.js";

Tailwind v3 (tailwind.config.js):

module.exports = {
  content: [
    './app/**/*.{js,ts,jsx,tsx}',
    './node_modules/streamdown/dist/*.js',
  ],
}

Basic Chat Example

'use client';
import { useChat } from '@ai-sdk/react';
import { Streamdown } from 'streamdown';

export default function Chat() {
  const { messages, sendMessage, status } = useChat();

  return (
    <>
      {messages.map(message => (
        <div key={message.id}>
          {message.parts
            .filter(part => part.type === 'text')
            .map((part, index) => (
              <Streamdown
                key={index}
                isAnimating={status === 'streaming'}
              >
                {part.text}
              </Streamdown>
            ))}
        </div>
      ))}
    </>
  );
}

Core Props

AI SDK Integration

Status-Based isAnimating

The status from useChat maps directly to Streamdown’s isAnimating:

const { messages, status } = useChat();
// status: 'submitted' | 'streaming' | 'ready' | 'error'

<Streamdown isAnimating={status === 'streaming'}>
  {content}
</Streamdown>

Message Parts Pattern

AI SDK v6 uses message parts instead of content string:

{messages.map(message => (
  <div key={message.id}>
    {message.parts
      .filter(part => part.type === 'text')
      .map((part, index) => (
        <Streamdown key={index} isAnimating={status === 'streaming'}>
          {part.text}
        </Streamdown>
      ))}
  </div>
))}

Memoized Response Component

Wrap Streamdown with React.memo for performance:

import { memo, ComponentProps } from 'react';
import { Streamdown } from 'streamdown';

export const Response = memo(
  ({ className, ...props }: ComponentProps<typeof Streamdown>) => (
    <Streamdown
      className={cn('prose dark:prose-invert max-w-none', className)}
      {...props}
    />
  )
);

Configuration Examples

Shiki Themes

import type { BundledTheme } from 'shiki';

const themes: [BundledTheme, BundledTheme] = ['github-light', 'github-dark'];

<Streamdown shikiTheme={themes}>{content}</Streamdown>

Controls

<Streamdown
  controls={{
    code: true,           // Copy button on code blocks
    table: true,          // Download button on tables
    mermaid: {
      copy: true,         // Copy diagram source
      download: true,     // Download as SVG
      fullscreen: true,   // Fullscreen view
      panZoom: true,      // Pan/zoom controls
    },
  }}
>
  {content}
</Streamdown>

Mermaid Diagrams

import type { MermaidConfig } from 'streamdown';

const mermaidConfig: MermaidConfig = {
  theme: 'base',
  themeVariables: {
    fontFamily: 'Inter, sans-serif',
    primaryColor: 'hsl(var(--primary))',
    lineColor: 'hsl(var(--border))',
  },
};

<Streamdown mermaid={{ config: mermaidConfig }}>{content}</Streamdown>

Custom Error Component for Mermaid

import type { MermaidErrorComponentProps } from 'streamdown';

const MermaidError = ({ error, chart, retry }: MermaidErrorComponentProps) => (
  <div className="p-4 border border-destructive rounded">
    <p>Failed to render diagram</p>
    <button onClick={retry}>Retry</button>
  </div>
);

<Streamdown mermaid={{ errorComponent: MermaidError }}>{content}</Streamdown>

Custom Components

Override any markdown element:

<Streamdown
  components={{
    h1: ({ children }) => <h1 className="text-4xl font-bold">{children}</h1>,
    a: ({ href, children }) => (
      <a href={href} className="text-primary underline">{children}</a>
    ),
    code: ({ children, className }) => (
      <code className={cn('bg-muted px-1 rounded', className)}>{children}</code>
    ),
  }}
>
  {content}
</Streamdown>

Security Configuration

Restrict protocols for AI-generated content:

import { defaultRehypePlugins } from 'streamdown';
import { harden } from 'rehype-harden';

<Streamdown
  rehypePlugins={[
    defaultRehypePlugins.raw,
    defaultRehypePlugins.katex,
    [harden, {
      allowedProtocols: ['http', 'https', 'mailto'],
      allowedLinkPrefixes: ['https://your-domain.com'],
      allowDataImages: false,
    }],
  ]}
>
  {content}
</Streamdown>

Streaming vs Static Mode

// Static mode for pre-rendered content
<Streamdown mode="static">{blogContent}</Streamdown>

Built-in Features

• GFM: Tables, task lists, strikethrough, autolinks
• Math: KaTeX rendering with $$...$$ syntax
• Code: Shiki syntax highlighting (200+ languages)
• Diagrams: Mermaid with interactive controls
• CJK: Proper emphasis handling for Chinese/Japanese/Korean
• Security: rehype-harden for link/image protocol restrictions

Reference Files

Common Patterns

Next.js Configuration

If you see bundling errors with Mermaid:

// next.config.js
module.exports = {
  serverComponentsExternalPackages: ['langium', '@mermaid-js/parser'],
  webpack: (config, { isServer }) => {
    if (!isServer) {
      config.resolve.alias = {
        ...config.resolve.alias,
        'vscode-jsonrpc': false,
        'langium': false,
      };
    }
    return config;
  },
};

Shiki External Package

// next.config.js
{
  transpilePackages: ['shiki'],
}

Version Notes

• Streamdown: Works with React 18+ (optimized for React 19)
• AI SDK: Designed for v6 (status-based streaming state)
• Tailwind: Supports v3 and v4 configurations