🌊 WaveEditor

A self-hosted, white-labeled rich-text editor for modern web apps. No external CDN, no surprise bills.

🔑 WaveEditor uses a license-key model. Local development is exempt and mounts without a key. Production domains need a key — request one at waveeditor.co.in. See Licensing below.

What WaveEditor is

WaveEditor gives web developers a rich-text editor that is owned by the people who use it:

• ✅ Self-hosted — single JS + CSS pair, no external CDN, works offline and behind firewalls
• ✅ Legacy migration aid — accepts the config-string shape used by older WYSIWYG editors, so existing init() calls parse without changes
• ✅ MIT-licensed — no GPL contagion, no recurring fees
• ✅ Brandable — full white-label support via CSS variables; ship it under your own product name

Package

Published on npm as @waveeditor/core.

The unscoped waveeditor name is blocked by npm's anti-typosquatting policy (similarity to the unrelated wangeditor package), so we use the @waveeditor org scope — same convention as TipTap (@tiptap/core), Lexical (@lexical/core), CKEditor 5 (@ckeditor/*). Brand identity stays "WaveEditor" everywhere except the install command.

Licensing

WaveEditor uses a license-key model so we can identify legitimate installs and revoke individual keys if needed.

WaveEditor.init({
  selector: '#editor',
  license: 'YOUR-LICENSE-KEY', // request a key at https://waveeditor.co.in
  plugins: 'bold italic | link image',
  toolbar: 'bold italic | link image',
});

Exempt hosts — local development is never blocked. The following hostnames mount without a license:

localhost · 127.0.0.1 · 0.0.0.0 · *.local · *.test · *.localhost

That covers Laragon, Valet, mDNS, and the typical dev stack. Production domains require a key.

Failure mode is strict. Without a valid key on a non-exempt host, WaveEditor.init() returns null and the target element is replaced by an inline error panel — no silent fallback. This is by design.

Need a key for your own domain? Visit waveeditor.co.in.

Quick start

Via npm

npm install @waveeditor/core

import { WaveEditor } from '@waveeditor/core';
import '@waveeditor/core/dist/waveeditor.min.css';

WaveEditor.init({
  selector: '#editor',
  license: 'YOUR-LICENSE-KEY',
  plugins:
    'undo redo bold italic underline strikethrough subscript superscript ' +
    'heading blockquote bullet-list ordered-list indent outdent ' +
    'align-left align-center align-right align-justify ' +
    'link unlink image clear-formatting horizontal-rule ' +
    'source-view fullscreen word-count clipboard',
  toolbar:
    'undo redo | bold italic underline strikethrough | ' +
    'heading blockquote | bullet-list ordered-list indent outdent | ' +
    'align-left align-center align-right align-justify | ' +
    'link unlink image | source-view fullscreen',
});

Via CDN (drop-in, no build step)

<link rel="stylesheet" href="https://unpkg.com/@waveeditor/core/dist/waveeditor.min.css">
<script src="https://unpkg.com/@waveeditor/core/dist/waveeditor.min.js"></script>

For a more compact, cool-blue look (smaller buttons, lighter toolbar), swap the stylesheet — JS is unchanged:

<link rel="stylesheet" href="https://unpkg.com/@waveeditor/core/dist/waveeditor.classic.min.css">

<div id="editor"></div>
<script>
  WaveEditor.init({
    selector: '#editor',
    license: 'YOUR-LICENSE-KEY',
    plugins: 'bold italic link image bullet-list',
    toolbar: 'bold italic | link image | bullet-list',
  });
</script>

The config-string shape is shared with older WYSIWYG editors, so migrating an existing init() block is usually a find-and-replace.

Toolbar placement & overflow

The toolbar can be docked at the bottom of the editor, and wide toolbars get a configurable overflow strategy. Both options are opt-in — pass neither and you get the default top toolbar with wrapping rows.

WaveEditor.init({
  selector: '#editor',
  license: 'YOUR-LICENSE-KEY',
  toolbar_position: 'bottom',  // 'top' (default) | 'bottom'
  toolbar_overflow: 'menu',    // 'wrap' (default) | 'menu' | 'two-rows' | 'scroll' | 'expand'
  plugins: 'bold italic | link image',
  toolbar: 'bold italic | link image',
});

• toolbar_position — 'top' (default) or 'bottom' (docks below the content, above the status bar).
• toolbar_overflow — how a toolbar wider than its container behaves:
  • 'wrap' (default) — wraps to additional rows.
  • 'menu' — a single row plus a ⋯ More button; tools that don't fit move into a popover.
  • 'two-rows' — splits the groups across two organized rows.
  • 'scroll' — a single horizontally-scrolling row with edge-fade affordances.
  • 'expand' — keeps the basic tools visible with a More panel toggle for the advanced ones.
  • On mobile (<640px) every style collapses to a single scrolling row.

The font-size control is a compact [ − 16px + ] stepper that walks a fixed ladder (10·12·14·16·18·20·24·28·32).

Features

| Category | Features | |---|---| | Marks | bold · italic · underline · strikethrough · subscript · superscript · code | | Typography | font-family · font-size · font-color · highlight · line-height | | Blocks | heading (paragraph / H1–H6 dropdown) · blockquote · preformatted · bullet-list · ordered-list · horizontal-rule | | Code blocks | code-block — Auto-detect + Plain + 12 languages (Bash / CSS / HTML / JS / JSON / Markdown / PHP / Python / SQL / TS / XML / YAML) via lowlight | | Tables | table · table-ops (row + col ops, merge / split, toggle header, delete) · column resize · table-cell-color · table-cell-border | | Alignment | align-left · align-center · align-right · align-justify (paragraphs + headings) | | Operations | undo · redo · indent · outdent (lists) · clear-formatting · page-break · date-time (5 formats) | | Editing aids | anchor (named jump target) · search-replace (decoration highlights + prev / next / replace / replace-all + case / whole-word) · charmap (~115 special characters with live search) · emoji (8 categories + search + recents) | | Workflow | templates (config-driven snippet popover) · markdown-shortcuts (StarterKit input rules) · visual-blocks (debug-overlay toggle) | | Dialogs | link (insert / edit / autoprefix https:// / new-tab / autolink on type) · unlink · image (Upload / URL, drag-drop + paste, server upload via images_upload_url / images_upload_handler; resize / align / caption / alt via a floating bubble) · media (YouTube / Vimeo auto-detect + configurable iframe allowlist) | | Editor modes | source-view (HTML edit) · fullscreen (ESC exits) · word-count (debounced status bar) · autosave (debounced localStorage save + restore prompt + "Saved · HH:MM" indicator) | | Security | clipboard (strips <script>, <iframe>, inline on*= handlers, javascript: URLs on paste) · paste-from-word (7-stage MSO scrub + pseudo-list recovery) · media_allowlist rejects clickjacking-prone iframe sources | | Drag & drop | image (file → upload pipeline) · drag-drop (text / html / .txt with drop-zone outline) | | Legacy aliases | numlist → ordered-list, bullist → bullet-list, alignleft → align-left, etc. — accept the config-string shape used by older WYSIWYG editors |

Examples

HTML demos in examples/ that you can open via npm run dev:

• examples/basic.html — minimal hello-world drop-in
• examples/full-toolbar.html — every shipped feature
• examples/tinymce-migration.html — reference side-by-side comparison with a legacy editor, identical config strings
• examples/docs.html — designed developer guide with live demo

Testing

npm test           # 861 unit tests
npm run e2e        # Playwright e2e — chromium / firefox / webkit
npm run build      # produces dist/ — waveeditor.min.{js,css}
                   #              + waveeditor.classic.min.css
                   #              + waveeditor.dark.min.css
npm run license:audit  # fails on GPL/AGPL/SSPL

Built on

• TipTap — editor engine (MIT)
• ProseMirror — underlying document model (MIT)
• Tabler Icons — icon set (MIT)
• Inter — chrome typeface (OFL)
• JetBrains Mono — monospace typeface (OFL)

Full third-party attributions: NOTICES.md.

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md for the contribution workflow.

Security

Found a vulnerability? See SECURITY.md for the responsible disclosure process.

License

MIT — © 2026 Manish Patolia.

WaveEditor is built on MIT-licensed open-source components and is itself MIT-licensed.