webkit-line-clamp

A JavaScript polyfill for the CSS -webkit-line-clamp property.

• Works with nested DOM nodes (not just plain text).
• Uses the native browser implementation when available; falls back to a pure-JS algorithm otherwise.
• Zero dependencies, ~1 KB minified.

Browser support

Native -webkit-line-clamp support: Can I use: css-line-clamp

The polyfill (JS fallback) works in any browser that supports window.getComputedStyle.

Installation

npm install webkit-line-clamp
# or
yarn add webkit-line-clamp

Usage

ES module

import webkitLineClamp from 'webkit-line-clamp';
// or named import
import { webkitLineClamp } from 'webkit-line-clamp';

webkitLineClamp(document.getElementById('text'), 3);

CommonJS

const webkitLineClamp = require('webkit-line-clamp');

webkitLineClamp(document.getElementById('text'), 3);

Browser (script tag)

<script src="https://unpkg.com/webkit-line-clamp/index.js"></script>
<script>
  webkitLineClamp(document.getElementById('text'), 3);
</script>

API

webkitLineClamp(element, lineCount)

| Parameter | Type | Description | |-------------|---------------|-------------------------------------------------| | element | HTMLElement | The DOM element whose text should be clamped. | | lineCount | number | Maximum number of lines to show. Must be > 0. |

Returns void. Throws TypeError if element is not a DOM Element.

How it works

1. If the browser supports -webkit-line-clamp natively, the function applies the required CSS properties directly (display: -webkit-box, -webkit-box-orient: vertical, overflow: hidden).
2. Otherwise, it calculates the maximum container height (lineHeight × lineCount), then removes words and characters from the end of the text until the element fits, appending an ellipsis (…).

Example

<p id="text" style="width: 200px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5;">
  Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit.
  Sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.
</p>

<script>
  webkitLineClamp(document.getElementById('text'), 2);
</script>

Changelog

See CHANGELOG.md for a full history of changes.

License

MIT