Portable Text Serialization

Render Portable Text content across frameworks using the @portabletext/* library family. Each library follows the same component-mapping pattern: you provide a components object that maps PT node types to framework-specific renderers.

Portable Text Structure (Quick Reference)

PT is an array of blocks. Each block has _type, optional style, children (spans), markDefs, listItem, and level.

Root array

├── block (_type: "block")

│   ├── style: "normal" | "h1" | "h2" | "blockquote" | ...

│   ├── children: [span, span, ...]

│   │   └── span: { _type: "span", text: "...", marks: ["strong", "<markDefKey>"] }

│   ├── markDefs: [{ _key, _type: "link", href: "..." }, ...]

│   ├── listItem: "bullet" | "number" (optional)

│   └── level: 1, 2, 3... (optional, for nested lists)

├── custom block (_type: "image" | "code" | any custom type)

└── ...more blocks

Marks come in two forms:

• Decorators: string values in marks[] like "strong", "em", "underline", "code"

• Annotations: keys in marks[] referencing entries in markDefs[] (e.g., links, internal references)

Component Mapping Pattern (All Frameworks)

Every @portabletext/* library accepts a components object with these keys:

Key

Renders

Props/Data

types

Custom block/inline types (image, code, CTA)

value (the block data)

marks

Decorators + annotations

children + value (mark data)

block

Block styles (h1, normal, blockquote)

children

list

List wrappers (ul, ol)

children

listItem

List items

children

hardBreak

Line breaks within a block

—

Framework-Specific Rules

Read the rule file matching your framework:

• React / Next.js: rules/react.md — @portabletext/react or next-sanity

• Svelte / SvelteKit: rules/svelte.md — @portabletext/svelte

• Vue / Nuxt: rules/vue.md — @portabletext/vue

• Astro: rules/astro.md — astro-portabletext

• HTML (server-side): rules/html.md — @portabletext/to-html

• Markdown: rules/markdown.md — @portabletext/markdown

• Plain text extraction: rules/plain-text.md — @portabletext/toolkit

Additional Community Serializers

These are listed on portabletext.org but don't have dedicated rule files:

Target

Package

React Native

@portabletext/react-native-portabletext

React PDF

@portabletext/react-pdf-portabletext

Solid

solid-portabletext

Qwik

portabletext-qwik

Shopify Liquid

portable-text-to-liquid

PHP

sanity-php (SanityBlockContent class)

Python

portabletext-html

C# / .NET

dotnet-portable-text

Dart / Flutter

flutter_sanity_portable_text

Common Patterns (All Frameworks)

Custom Types Need Explicit Components

PT renderers only handle standard blocks by default. Custom types (image, code, callToAction, etc.) require explicit component mappings — they won't render otherwise.

Keep Components Object Stable

In React/Vue, define components outside the render function or memoize it. Recreating on every render causes unnecessary re-renders.

Handle Missing Components Gracefully

All libraries accept onMissingComponent to control behavior when encountering unknown types:

• false — suppress warnings

• Custom function — log or report

Querying PT with GROQ

Always expand references inside custom blocks:

body[]{

  ...,

  _type == "image" => {

    ...,

    asset->

  },

  markDefs[]{

    ...,

    _type == "internalLink" => {

      ...,

      "slug": @.reference->slug.current

    }

  }

}