CKEditor 5 Framework overview

CKEditor 5 is both a set of ready-to-use editor type presets that you can quickly and easily initialize in your application, and a framework for building custom-tailored rich-text editing solutions. As a framework, it provides a flexible set of components for creating any kind of editor, along with tools for building and customizing features. Use it when the editor type presets and the CKEditor 5 Builder cannot meet your requirements.

Please note that the CKEditor 5 Framework documentation is constantly updated and expanded, but it may still be lacking some things. Feel free to suggest documentation enhancements and share your feedback about the framework.

If the documentation is insufficient, do not be afraid to look into the source code of CKEditor 5 packages. For example, if you plan to create a new feature, check if a similar one already exists and try to take inspiration from its source code.

The CKEditor 5 Builder provides an easy way to create a custom-tailored installation, but certain types of customizations require using the framework.

• Writing your own features. New features are implemented using the framework.
• Customizing existing features. Changing the behavior or look of existing features can be done thanks to the framework’s capabilities.
• Creating new types of editors. You can create new editor types using the framework.

To sum up: you need to start using the framework as soon as existing builds do not meet your requirements or cannot be customized to the extent you need.

This section of CKEditor 5 documentation provides the following resources accessible from the left-hand menu (or main menu button in the upper-left corner on mobile systems):

• Tutorials – A crash course, a basic tutorial and advanced guides for any developers keep on writing their own CKEditor 5 plugins.
• Development tools – A set of useful tooling and resources for anyone wanting to develop their editor.
• Architecture – Intro-duction to the main pillars of CKEditor 5’s architecture.
• Deep dive – Further Framework information for advanced developers.
• How-tos – If you just need to know how to set the height of CKEditor 5 or learn how to focus the editor, this is the right section!