Markdown Squeeze Paragraphs

Removes empty (whitespace-only) paragraphs in VSCode's markdown preview.

Overview

The squeeze-paragraphs plugin removes paragraphs that are empty or contain only whitespace. A paragraph counts as empty when it has no children, or when every child is whitespace-only text.

CommonMark never emits an empty paragraph on its own, so this plugin does nothing to ordinary hand-written Markdown. Its job is to run after other transforms that can leave an empty <p> behind — for example a comment stripper that removes a paragraph's only content, or a plugin that lifts an element out of its wrapping paragraph. Adding squeeze-paragraphs last tidies up that residue.

Before (a prior transform emptied the middle paragraph):

<p>Kept.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Also kept.</p>

After:

<p>Kept.</p>
<p>Also kept.</p>

Syntax

There is no syntax and no visible change for normal Markdown — paragraphs with real content are always preserved:

A paragraph with text.

A paragraph with _emphasis_ and an image ![icon](https://picsum.photos/16/16) is not empty either.

[!NOTE] Because empty paragraphs cannot be written directly in Markdown, the removal behaviour only shows up when another plugin produces one. Place squeeze-paragraphs last in your pipeline so it sees that residue.

About

Part of Markdown Preview Extended Syntax — a pack of Markdown preview syntax extensions you can install all at once.

Powered by @mirrordown/mdit-squeeze-paragraphs · Source on GitHub.