Unist Utility to Remove Position Information

5.0.0 · active · verified Sun Apr 19

unist-util-remove-position is a specialized utility within the unified ecosystem, designed to strip the 'position' field from nodes within a unist Abstract Syntax Tree (AST). This is particularly useful when comparing trees, merging them, or when positional information is no longer relevant, such as after processing or when the AST is being used for structural analysis where source location is a distraction. The package is currently at stable version 5.0.0 and is actively maintained by the unified collective, aligning with their standard release cadence that typically drops support for unmaintained Node.js versions with new major releases. It differentiates itself by offering a focused solution for position removal, contrasting with related utilities that extract or stringify position data.

Common errors

```
Error [ERR_REQUIRE_ESM]: require() of ES Module /path/to/node_modules/unist-util-remove-position/index.js not supported.
```
cause Attempting to import an ESM-only package using CommonJS `require()` in a non-ESM context.

fix Update your import statement to `import { removePosition } from 'unist-util-remove-position'` and ensure your Node.js project or file is configured for ES Modules (e.g., `"type": "module"` in `package.json`).
```
TypeError: removePosition is not a function
```
cause Incorrect import syntax for an ESM module, or attempting to access a named export as a default export, or a CommonJS `require()` failure.

fix Use `import { removePosition } from 'unist-util-remove-position'` for ESM. Double-check your environment is correctly configured for ESM if you're getting `ERR_REQUIRE_ESM`.
```
TypeError: Argument of type 'boolean' is not assignable to parameter of type 'Options | undefined'.
```
cause Using the old `force: true` shortcut with `removePosition(node, true)` after upgrading to v5.0.0.

fix Update the call to `removePosition(node, { force: true })` to use the new options object syntax.
```
Node.js version X is not supported by 'unist-util-remove-position@5.0.0'.
```
cause Running the package with an unsupported Node.js version (specifically, older than 16.0).

fix Upgrade your Node.js environment to version 16 or newer. Alternatively, if forced to use an older Node.js, downgrade to `unist-util-remove-position@^4`.

Warnings

breaking Version 5.0.0 changes to require Node.js 16 or higher. Older Node.js versions are no longer supported.
Fix: Upgrade your Node.js environment to version 16 or newer, or stick to `unist-util-remove-position@^4` for older Node.js versions.
breaking Version 5.0.0 removed the `force` shortcut. Previously, `removePosition(tree, true)` would work. Now, the `force` option must be passed as an object: `{ force: true }`.
Fix: Change calls from `removePosition(node, true)` to `removePosition(node, { force: true })`.
breaking Version 5.0.0 changed the return value of `removePosition` to `undefined`. Previously, it might have returned the `node` itself.
Fix: Adjust any code that expects a return value from `removePosition`. The function now mutates the tree in-place and explicitly yields `undefined`.
breaking Version 4.0.0 switched to being an ESM-only package. It no longer supports CommonJS `require()` syntax.
Fix: Migrate your project to use ES modules (`import`/`export`) or use a tool like Rollup/Webpack to bundle for CJS environments. For Node.js, ensure your `package.json` specifies `"type": "module"` or use `.mjs` files.
breaking Version 3.0.0 introduced TypeScript types. While generally beneficial, it could cause compilation errors if your TypeScript configuration or dependent types are incompatible.
Fix: Ensure `@types/unist` is updated to a compatible version and check your `tsconfig.json` for strictness settings that might expose new type issues.

Install

npm install unist-util-remove-position npm
yarn add unist-util-remove-position yarn
pnpm add unist-util-remove-position pnpm

Imports

removePosition

wrong:

const removePosition = require('unist-util-remove-position')

correct:

import { removePosition } from 'unist-util-remove-position'

This package is ESM-only since v4.0.0. CommonJS `require()` is not supported.

Options
```
import type { Options } from 'unist-util-remove-position'
```
This is a TypeScript type import for configuring the `removePosition` function. It's not a runtime value.

Quickstart

Demonstrates how to parse Markdown into a unist AST using `mdast-util-from-markdown` and then remove all `position` fields from its nodes using `unist-util-remove-position`.

import {fromMarkdown} from 'mdast-util-from-markdown'
import {removePosition} from 'unist-util-remove-position'

// Create a sample Markdown AST with positional information
const markdown = 'Some _emphasis_, **importance**, and `code`.'
const tree = fromMarkdown(markdown)

console.log('Tree with positions:')
console.dir(tree, {depth: null})

// Remove positional information from the tree, forcing deletion of fields
removePosition(tree, {force: true})

console.log('\nTree without positions:')
console.dir(tree, {depth: null})

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