Styling

Both @rtecn/editor and @rtecn/block-editor are styled using CSS custom properties (design tokens) defined by your shadcn/ui theme. This means they automatically adapt to your existing design system — light mode, dark mode, brand colors, border radius, and fonts.

How it works

The editors don't hardcode colors, spacing, or fonts. Instead, they reference CSS variables like var(--primary), var(--background), var(--border), and var(--radius).

These variables are defined in your shadcn globals:

/* globals.css */
:root {
  --background: oklch(1 0 0);
  --foreground: oklch(0.2686 0 0);
  --primary: oklch(0.7686 0.1647 70.0804);
  --border: oklch(0.9276 0.0058 264.5313);
  --radius: 0.375rem;
  --font-mono: JetBrains Mono, monospace;
  /* ... */
}

.dark {
  --background: oklch(0.2046 0 0);
  --foreground: oklch(0.9219 0 0);
  --border: oklch(0.3715 0 0);
  /* ... */
}

Tailwind v4 maps these to utility classes via @theme inline, and the editor CSS consumes them directly via var().

Dark mode

Both editors fully support dark mode. To enable it:

Set up next-themes with attribute="class":

import { ThemeProvider } from "next-themes";

function Providers({ children }) {
  return (
    <ThemeProvider attribute="class" defaultTheme="system" enableSystem>
      {children}
    </ThemeProvider>
  );
}

The .dark class on <html> automatically switches the editor's colors.

No editor-specific configuration is needed — it just works.

Customizing the theme globally

Override any CSS variable in your own stylesheet to change the editors' appearance:

@import "@rtecn/editor/style.css";
@import "@rtecn/block-editor/style.css";

:root {
  --primary: oklch(0.6 0.2 250);
  --radius: 0.5rem;
  --font-mono: "Fira Code", monospace;
}

.dark {
  --background: oklch(0.15 0 0);
  --border: oklch(0.3 0 0);
}

Available variables

Variable	Affects
`--background`	Editor background, toolbar background
`--foreground`	Text color
`--primary`	Links, active controls, checkboxes, syntax highlights
`--border`	Editor border, toolbar separator, blockquote line, code block border, HR
`--muted`	Code background, secondary backgrounds
`--muted-foreground`	Placeholder text, blockquote text, muted labels
`--destructive`	Danger items in dropdowns, syntax error highlights
`--accent-foreground`	Syntax keyword/function highlights
`--radius`	Editor border radius, code block radius, checkbox radius
`--font-mono`	Code blocks, inline code
`--font-sans`	Default editor text

Scoping overrides to a single editor

Wrap an editor in a container with a CSS class and scope your overrides:

.my-custom-editor {
  --primary: oklch(0.7 0.25 150);
  --radius: 0.25rem;
}

<div className="my-custom-editor">
  <RichTextEditor editor={editor}>
    <RichTextEditor.Toolbar>
      <RichTextEditor.Bold />
    </RichTextEditor.Toolbar>
    <RichTextEditor.Content />
  </RichTextEditor>
</div>

This keeps your global theme intact while giving a single editor a different look.

Per-instance className

Every component accepts a className prop that merges with the default classes using tailwind-merge.

RichTextEditor

<RichTextEditor editor={editor} className="rounded-lg shadow-md">
  <RichTextEditor.Toolbar className="bg-muted/50">
    <RichTextEditor.Content className="min-h-[300px]" />
  </RichTextEditor.Toolbar>
</RichTextEditor>

BlockEditor

<BlockEditor editor={editor} className="max-w-3xl mx-auto" />

CSS class reference

Override not applying? Editor styles are loaded from JS imports, which can affect CSS cascade order. If a simple class override doesn't work, add !important:

.rte-editor-icon { width: 1.25rem !important; height: 1.25rem !important; }

Icons are inline SVGs — override .rte-editor-icon directly or via [data-variant="compact"] .rte-editor-icon for variant-specific sizing.

Every editor element has a scoped CSS class. Override any of these in your stylesheet to customize specific parts.

@rtecn/editor

Class	What it styles
`.rte-root`	Editor container (border, background, border-radius)
`.rte-toolbar`	Toolbar bar (layout, sticky support)
`.rte-toolbar--subtle`	Toolbar in subtle variant
`.rte-toolbar--compact`	Toolbar in compact variant
`.rte-controls-group`	Group of controls in the toolbar
`button.rte-control-button`	Individual control buttons
`.rte-editor-icon`	Icons inside control buttons
`.rte-content .ProseMirror`	Content editing area
`.rte-content .ProseMirror p`	Paragraphs
`.rte-content .ProseMirror h1`–`h6`	Headings
`.rte-content .ProseMirror ul`	Unordered lists
`.rte-content .ProseMirror ol`	Ordered lists
`.rte-content .ProseMirror li`	List items
`.rte-content .ProseMirror blockquote`	Blockquotes
`.rte-content .ProseMirror code`	Inline code
`.rte-content .ProseMirror pre`	Code blocks
`.rte-content .ProseMirror hr`	Horizontal rules
`.rte-content .ProseMirror a`	Links
`.rte-content .ProseMirror pre .hljs-*`	Syntax highlighting tokens
`.rte-link-editor`	Link editor popover
`.rte-link-editor-input`	Link URL input field
`.rte-link-editor-save`	Link save button
`.rte-task-list`	Task list container
`.rte-task-list li`	Task list items
`.rte-task-list input[type="checkbox"]`	Task checkboxes

@rtecn/block-editor

Class	What it styles
`.block-editor`	Editor container
`.block-editor-content .ProseMirror`	Content editing area
`.block-editor-content .ProseMirror p`	Paragraphs
`.block-editor-content .ProseMirror h1`–`h3`	Headings
`.block-editor-content .ProseMirror ul`, `ol`	Lists
`.block-editor-content .ProseMirror li`	List items
`.block-editor-content .ProseMirror blockquote`	Blockquotes
`.block-editor-content .ProseMirror code`	Inline code
`.block-editor-content .ProseMirror pre`	Code blocks
`.block-editor-content .ProseMirror hr`	Horizontal rules
`.block-editor-content .ProseMirror img`	Images
`.block-editor-content .ProseMirror table`, `th`, `td`	Tables
`.block-editor-content .ProseMirror .tableWrapper`	Table horizontal scroll wrapper
`.block-editor-content .ProseMirror ul[data-type="taskList"]`	Task lists
`.drag-handle`	Block drag handle
`.block-editor-block-actions`	Block actions menu container
`.block-editor-block-actions-trigger`	Block actions trigger button (grip icon)
`.block-editor-block-actions-dropdown`	Block actions dropdown
`.block-editor-block-actions-item`	Block actions dropdown items
`.block-editor-bubble-menu`	Floating bubble menu
`.block-editor-bubble-group`	Bubble menu button group
`.block-editor-bubble-btn`	Bubble menu buttons
`.block-editor-bubble-btn-text`	Bubble menu button text label
`.block-editor-bubble-separator`	Bubble menu separator lines
`.block-editor-bubble-dropdown`	Bubble menu dropdown
`.block-editor-bubble-dropdown-item`	Dropdown items (heading select, align, etc.)
`.block-editor-slash-menu`	Slash command popup
`.block-editor-slash-menu-list`	Slash command list container
`.block-editor-slash-menu-item`	Slash command items
`.block-editor-slash-menu-item--selected`	Selected slash command item
`.block-editor-slash-menu-item-content`	Slash command item content wrapper
`.block-editor-slash-menu-item-label`	Slash command item title
`.block-editor-slash-menu-item-desc`	Slash command item description
`.block-editor-slash-menu-empty`	Slash command empty state
`.block-editor-link-form`	Link form inside bubble menu
`.block-editor-link-input`	Link URL input
`.block-editor-link-actions`	Link action buttons row
`.block-editor-btn`	Base button style (used in actions, alerts)
`.block-editor-btn--primary`, `--ghost`, `--outline`, `--danger`, `--secondary`	Button variants
`.block-editor-btn--sm`, `--md`, `--lg`, `--icon`	Button sizes
`.block-editor-label`	Form label
`.block-editor-textarea`	Textarea (used in code block source editing)
`.block-editor-scroll-area`	Scrollable container
`.block-editor-alert`	Alert box

Common customizations

Change icon size

Icons in the toolbar are rendered inside .rte-editor-icon. Override their size:

.rte-editor-icon {
  width: 1.25rem;
  height: 1.25rem;
}

Or for a specific variant:

/* Compact variant icons are already smaller */
.rte-root[data-variant="compact"] .rte-editor-icon {
  width: 0.875rem;
  height: 0.875rem;
}

Change control button size

/* All variants */
button.rte-control-button {
  width: 2.25rem;
  height: 2.25rem;
}

/* Only default variant */
.rte-root[data-variant="default"] .rte-controls-group > button {
  min-width: 2rem;
  height: 2rem;
}

Change paragraph font size

.rte-content .ProseMirror p {
  font-size: 1.125rem;
  line-height: 1.8;
}

For the block editor:

.block-editor-content .ProseMirror p {
  font-size: 1.125rem;
  line-height: 1.8;
}

Change heading sizes

.rte-content .ProseMirror h1 {
  font-size: 2rem;
}
.rte-content .ProseMirror h2 {
  font-size: 1.5rem;
}
.rte-content .ProseMirror h3 {
  font-size: 1.25rem;
}

Change content area min-height

.rte-content .ProseMirror {
  min-height: 400px;
}

.rte-toolbar {
  gap: 0.5rem;
}

Customize code blocks

.rte-content .ProseMirror pre {
  background-color: #1e1e2e;
  color: #cdd6f4;
  border-radius: 0.5rem;
  padding: 1.25rem;
  font-size: 0.8125rem;
}

.rte-link-editor {
  gap: 0.5rem;
  padding: 0.5rem;
}

.rte-link-editor-input {
  min-width: 250px;
  padding: 0.375rem 0.5rem;
  border: 1px solid var(--border);
  border-radius: calc(var(--radius) - 2px);
}

Customize task checkboxes

.rte-task-list input[type="checkbox"] {
  width: 20px;
  height: 20px;
  border-radius: 4px;
}

.block-editor-bubble-menu {
  height: 2.5rem;
  padding: 0 0.5rem;
  box-shadow: 0 4px 20px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.15);
}

.block-editor-bubble-btn {
  height: 2rem;
  padding: 0 0.5rem;
  font-size: 0.875rem;
}

.block-editor-bubble-btn svg {
  width: 1rem;
  height: 1rem;
}

.block-editor-slash-menu {
  max-height: 400px;
  min-width: 240px;
}

.block-editor-slash-menu-item {
  padding: 0.625rem 0.75rem;
}

.block-editor-slash-menu-item-label {
  font-size: 0.875rem;
}

.block-editor-slash-menu-item-desc {
  font-size: 0.8125rem;
}

Change block editor heading sizes

.block-editor-content .ProseMirror h1 {
  font-size: 2rem;
}

.block-editor-content .ProseMirror h2 {
  font-size: 1.625rem;
}

.block-editor-content .ProseMirror h3 {
  font-size: 1.375rem;
}

Customize drag handle

.drag-handle {
  width: 1.5rem;
  height: 1.75rem;
  opacity: 1;
  color: var(--muted-foreground);
}

.drag-handle:hover {
  background: var(--accent);
  color: var(--accent-foreground);
}

Variant-specific overrides

The editor uses data-variant attribute on the root element. Use it to target specific variants:

/* Target subtle variant */
.rte-root[data-variant="subtle"] {
  box-shadow: 0 2px 6px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.08);
}

/* Target compact variant */
.rte-root[data-variant="compact"] .rte-controls-group > button {
  min-width: 1.5rem;
  height: 1.5rem;
}

Fonts

The editors use var(--font-sans) for body text and var(--font-mono) for code. Configure these in your globals.css:

:root {
  --font-sans: Inter, sans-serif;
  --font-mono: JetBrains Mono, monospace;
}

Or pass a custom className to the editor container:

<RichTextEditor editor={editor} className="font-serif">
  ...
</RichTextEditor>

Import order

Import the editor CSS after your shadcn globals so variables are defined:

@import "./globals.css";        /* your shadcn theme variables */
@import "@rtecn/editor/style.css";
@import "@rtecn/block-editor/style.css";

Styling

Styling

How it works

Dark mode

Customizing the theme globally

Available variables

Scoping overrides to a single editor

Per-instance className

RichTextEditor

BlockEditor

CSS class reference

@rtecn/editor

@rtecn/block-editor

Common customizations

Change icon size

Change control button size

Change paragraph font size

Change heading sizes

Change content area min-height

Customize code blocks

Customize link editor popover

Customize task checkboxes

Customize the bubble menu (block editor)

Customize the slash command menu

Change block editor heading sizes

Customize drag handle

Variant-specific overrides

Fonts

Import order

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