DeltaKit Documentation

Recipe for rendering streaming assistant responses as formatted markdown with syntax highlighting and styling.

This recipe shows how to render streamed text as formatted markdown. You'll compare rendering options, integrate a markdown library, and style the output with Tailwind.

Problem

Assistant responses contain markdown formatting (headings, lists, code blocks, links) but render as plain text by default. You need to:

Parse markdown syntax during streaming
Prevent flickering and layout shifts
Style the output to match your UI
Choose between lightweight and full-featured renderers

Option 1: @deltakit/markdown (Streaming-Optimized)

@deltakit/markdown is built for AI streaming. It keeps settled blocks stable via React.memo and buffers incomplete syntax to prevent flicker.

pnpm add @deltakit/markdown

import { useStreamChat } from "@deltakit/react";
import { StreamingMarkdown } from "@deltakit/markdown";

function Chat() {
  const { messages, sendMessage } = useStreamChat({
    api: "/api/chat",
  });

  return (
    <div>
      {messages.map((msg) => (
        <div key={msg.id}>
          <strong>{msg.role}:</strong>
          {msg.parts
            .filter((p) => p.type === "text")
            .map((p, i) => (
              <div key={i} className="prose prose-sm max-w-none dark:prose-invert">
                <StreamingMarkdown content={p.text} />
              </div>
            ))}
        </div>
      ))}
    </div>
  );
}

See the full @deltakit/markdown documentation for details on custom components, buffering, and the headless hook.

Option 2: react-markdown (General-Purpose)

react-markdown is a mature, widely-adopted renderer with full CommonMark compliance and a rich plugin ecosystem. It works well for streaming — it handles partial markdown gracefully and re-renders as content grows.

pnpm add react-markdown

import { useStreamChat } from "@deltakit/react";
import Markdown from "react-markdown";

function Chat() {
  const { messages, sendMessage } = useStreamChat({
    api: "/api/chat",
  });

  return (
    <div>
      {messages.map((msg) => (
        <div key={msg.id}>
          <strong>{msg.role}:</strong>
          {msg.parts
            .filter((p) => p.type === "text")
            .map((p, i) => (
              <Markdown key={i}>{p.text}</Markdown>
            ))}
        </div>
      ))}
    </div>
  );
}

Styling with Tailwind Typography

For well-styled prose output with either renderer, use the @tailwindcss/typography plugin:

pnpm add @tailwindcss/typography

Import it in your CSS:

@import "tailwindcss";
@plugin "@tailwindcss/typography";

Then wrap markdown output in a prose container:

<div className="prose prose-sm max-w-none dark:prose-invert">
  <StreamingMarkdown content={p.text} />
  {/* or: <Markdown>{p.text}</Markdown> */}
</div>

Integrating with the Part Component

If you're using a <Part> switch component (see Tool Call Rendering), add markdown rendering to the text case:

import type { ContentPart } from "@deltakit/react";
import { StreamingMarkdown } from "@deltakit/markdown";

function Part({ part }: { part: ContentPart }) {
  switch (part.type) {
    case "text":
      return (
        <div className="prose prose-sm max-w-none dark:prose-invert">
          <StreamingMarkdown content={part.text} />
        </div>
      );
    case "tool_call":
      return <ToolCall part={part} />;
    case "reasoning":
      return <em>{part.text}</em>;
  }
}

Choosing a Renderer

Concern	@deltakit/markdown	react-markdown
AI streaming	Optimized (block memoization, buffering)	Works, but re-renders everything
CommonMark compliance	Partial	Full
Plugin ecosystem	None	Rich (remark, rehype)
Bundle size	~3.8kb gzipped	~35.3kb gzipped
Dependencies	0	11

Use @deltakit/markdown when streaming performance and flicker-free rendering matter. Use react-markdown when you need full spec compliance or the plugin ecosystem.

Render Markdown