Slash Menu

The slash menu is a command palette that opens when the user types / at the start of an empty paragraph. It provides quick access to every block type, media insertion, AI, and formatting option -- all searchable by name.

Setup

Add the SlashMenu component as a child of EditorRoot:

import { EditorRoot, SlashMenu, InputRulePlugin } from "@blokhaus/core";

export default function EditorPage() {
  return (
    <EditorRoot
      namespace="my-editor"
      className="min-h-[400px] p-4 border rounded"
    >
      <SlashMenu />
      <InputRulePlugin />
    </EditorRoot>
  );
}

The InputRulePlugin is responsible for detecting the / trigger character. When the user types / at the start of an empty block, the plugin dispatches the OPEN_SLASH_MENU_COMMAND, which the SlashMenu component listens for.

The SlashMenuItem interface

Every item in the slash menu conforms to this interface:

interface SlashMenuItem {
  /** Unique identifier for the item */
  id: string;
  /** Display label shown in the menu */
  label: string;
  /** Short description shown alongside the label */
  description: string;
  /** Icon component rendered next to the label */
  icon: React.ComponentType<{ size?: number }>;
  /** Called when the item is selected */
  onSelect: () => void;
  /** Extra search terms for fuzzy matching (e.g., "h1" for "Heading 1") */
  keywords?: string[];
}

Default items

The slash menu ships with a comprehensive set of default items, organized by category:

AI

Headings

Blocks

Lists

Media

Format

Adding custom items

Pass additional items via the items prop. Custom items are appended after the default items:

import { SlashMenu } from "@blokhaus/core";
import type { SlashMenuItem } from "@blokhaus/core";
import { Wand2 } from "lucide-react";

const customItems: SlashMenuItem[] = [
  {
    id: "magic-block",
    label: "Magic Block",
    description: "Insert a custom magic block",
    icon: ({ size }) => <Wand2 size={size} />,
    keywords: ["magic", "custom", "special"],
    onSelect: () => {
      // Your custom logic here
      console.log("Magic block selected!");
    },
  },
];

function Editor() {
  return (
    <EditorRoot namespace="my-editor">
      <SlashMenu items={customItems} />
    </EditorRoot>
  );
}

Custom item with editor mutation

Most useful custom items will mutate the editor state. Access the editor instance via useLexicalComposerContext:

"use client";

import { useLexicalComposerContext } from "@blokhaus/core";
import {
  $getSelection,
  $isRangeSelection,
  $getRoot,
  $createParagraphNode,
  $createTextNode,
} from "lexical";

function useCustomSlashItems(): SlashMenuItem[] {
  const [editor] = useLexicalComposerContext();

  return [
    {
      id: "timestamp",
      label: "Timestamp",
      description: "Insert the current date and time",
      icon: ({ size }) => <ClockIcon size={size} />,
      keywords: ["date", "time", "now"],
      onSelect: () => {
        editor.update(() => {
          const selection = $getSelection();
          if (!$isRangeSelection(selection)) return;

          const timestamp = new Date().toLocaleString();
          const paragraph = $createParagraphNode();
          paragraph.append($createTextNode(timestamp));

          const anchor = selection.anchor.getNode();
          // Replace the "/" text node
          if (anchor instanceof TextNode) {
            anchor.remove();
          }
          // Insert the new node
          const root = $getRoot();
          root.append(paragraph);
          paragraph.selectEnd();
        });
      },
    },
  ];
}

Fuzzy search

As the user types after /, the menu filters items by matching the query against three fields:

1. label -- the display name (e.g., "Heading 1")
2. description -- the short description (e.g., "Large heading")
3. keywords -- additional search terms (e.g., ["h1"])

The search is case-insensitive and uses substring matching. For example, typing /head matches "Heading 1", "Heading 2", and "Heading 3". Typing /h1 matches "Heading 1" via its keyword.

When no items match the query, the menu displays "No matching commands".

Keyboard navigation

The slash menu supports full keyboard navigation:

The selected item is highlighted with the --blokhaus-accent color and auto-scrolls into view when navigating with arrow keys.

Category grouping

When no search query is active, items are displayed in categorized sections with uppercase headers:

• AI -- AI-powered features
• Headings -- Heading levels
• Blocks -- Structural block types (quotes, code, tables, callouts, toggles, dividers)
• Lists -- List types (bullet, numbered, checklist)
• Media -- Images, emoji, video
• Format -- Font families, text direction
• Other -- Any items that do not fit the above categories

When the user is filtering with a search query, category headers are hidden to maximize space.

Each category has a distinct icon color scheme for visual differentiation.

Opening the slash menu programmatically

You can open the slash menu from your own code by dispatching the command:

import { OPEN_SLASH_MENU_COMMAND } from "@blokhaus/core";

editor.dispatchCommand(OPEN_SLASH_MENU_COMMAND, undefined);

The menu positions itself at the current DOM selection's caret position.

Markdown shortcut hints

Several items display a markdown shortcut hint on the right side of the row. These hints show the equivalent markdown shortcut that can be typed directly (via InputRulePlugin) without opening the slash menu:

Styling

The slash menu renders in a React Portal attached to document.body. It uses inline styles with CSS custom properties from the Blokhaus theme:

• --blokhaus-popover-bg -- Background color
• --blokhaus-popover-border -- Border color
• --blokhaus-popover-shadow -- Box shadow
• --blokhaus-accent -- Selected item background
• --blokhaus-accent-foreground -- Selected item text color
• --blokhaus-text-tertiary -- Category headers and shortcut hints
• --blokhaus-separator -- Divider between sections
• --blokhaus-muted -- Icon tile background

The menu has a frosted glass effect via backdrop-filter: blur(24px) saturate(190%) and a subtle entrance animation.

Props

Related

• Input Rules -- Markdown shortcuts that work without the slash menu
• AI Integration -- The /ai slash menu item
• API: SlashMenu -- Full API reference