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What is Shiki?
Shiki is a syntax highlighter: a tool that turns source code into colorized HTML or tokens so code samples look readable and accurate on a website, in documentation, or in a blog post. Its distinguishing trait is that it uses TextMate grammars — the same grammar engine that powers VS Code — so highlighting tends to match what developers already see in their editor. The project describes itself with four ideas: accurate and beautiful, zero runtime, customizable, and ESM and universal.
What that means in practice
- Accuracy from editor grammars. Because it reuses VS Code's grammar engine, languages with complex syntax — TypeScript generics, JSX, template literals, shell scripts — are highlighted the way an editor would render them, not with a simplified tokenizer.
- "Zero runtime" for the reader. Shiki is typically run at build time or on the server, so the page ships pre-highlighted markup rather than a heavy client-side highlighting library. That matters for static site generators, documentation platforms and content-heavy pages where you don't want highlighting JavaScript blocking the main thread.
- Customizable themes and output. You can choose themes and control how the output is emitted, so it can fit a design system rather than forcing one default palette.
- ESM and universal. It is distributed as an ES module and is designed to run in different environments — Node during a build, or in the browser — which is why it has been adopted by many documentation and static-site tooling projects.
Who it's for
A documentation maintainer, a developer writing a technical blog, or a team building a component library or docs site. If you are hand-coloring code with spans, or using a client-side highlighter and noticing a flash of unstyled code on load, Shiki is the natural upgrade path.
A quick comparison
| Approach | Where highlighting runs | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| Shiki | Build time or server | Accurate, no client cost, but you need a build step |
| Client-side highlighters | In the reader's browser | Easy to drop in, but adds runtime weight and can flash |
| Hand-written CSS classes | Wherever you author | Full control, but tedious and easy to get wrong |
Next step
If you publish code on a site built with a static site generator, check whether your framework already integrates Shiki before adding anything yourself — many do. Otherwise, start by highlighting one representative file (say, a TypeScript component with JSX) and compare it against your editor; that is the fastest way to judge whether the grammar coverage fits your content.
How does Shiki compare to other syntax highlighters like Prism or Highlight.js?
Shiki is best understood as a VS Code-grade highlighter rather than a drop-in replacement for Prism or Highlight.js. Its page_evidence emphasizes TextMate grammars, the same engine as VS Code, and "Zero Runtime" — meaning highlighting happens at build time, not in the browser. Prism and Highlight.js instead typically run in the browser (or in Node) at render time and ship their own hand-written grammar sets.
H3 Where the difference actually bites
- Fidelity: Shiki inherits VS Code themes and grammar behavior, so edge cases in languages like TSX, Vue, or Markdown nested in HTML tend to look familiar to editor users. Prism and Highlight.js are lighter and simpler, but their grammars are maintained separately and can drift from editor behavior.
- Runtime cost: Shiki's zero-runtime approach means no highlighter JavaScript is sent to the client for static content. Prism and Highlight.js add a script and often a language bundle; that is fine for small sites but noticeable when you highlight many languages.
- Dynamic content: If you highlight user-submitted code in the browser, Shiki's build-time model is awkward unless you run it server-side or use its fine-grained bundle. Prism and Highlight.js are more natural for client-side, on-the-fly highlighting.
- Ecosystem fit: Shiki integrates well with static site generators and Markdown pipelines; Prism and Highlight.js have broader plugin ecosystems and older integration guides.
H3 A practical decision rule
Choose Shiki when your code samples are known at build time and visual accuracy matters — documentation sites, blogs, component libraries. Choose Prism or Highlight.js when you need in-browser highlighting of arbitrary snippets, minimal setup, or a plugin that only exists for those tools.
For a concrete scenario: a docs site with 500 code blocks in 12 languages will get more consistent colors and no client-side highlighter payload from Shiki; a playground where users paste code and see it highlighted instantly is usually easier with Prism or Highlight.js.
Next step: take one representative snippet from your site, render it with both approaches, and compare the token colors against your editor. If the Shiki output matches what you see in VS Code and your content is static, the build-time trade-off is usually worth it. You can read more at Shiki.
How do I integrate Shiki into my project or build pipeline?
Shiki is a syntax highlighter that uses TextMate grammars and the same engine as VS Code, so it can produce highlighting that closely matches what you see in the editor. The main integration decision is whether you want highlighting at build time (static HTML) or at runtime (in the browser), because Shiki is designed to work well as a build-time or server-side tool.
Common integration paths
- Static site generators and build tools: If your site is generated by Astro, Vite, Eleventy, Nuxt, or similar, look for an existing Shiki integration or plugin. These typically run Shiki during the build and emit
<pre>/<code>blocks with inline styles or classes, so no highlighter JavaScript ships to the browser. - Node scripts / custom pipeline: Call Shiki's
codeToHtml()(or the equivalent API) in a Node script, pass the code string and a language ID, and write the returned HTML into your page or markdown output. This fits CI steps, documentation generators, and custom static builds. - Markdown processing: If you render markdown, configure your markdown pipeline to hand fenced code blocks to Shiki instead of a lighter highlighter. This usually means replacing or wrapping the existing highlight function.
- Runtime in the browser: Shiki can run in the browser, but that means shipping grammars and themes. It is workable for small language sets; for many languages, build-time highlighting is usually the better trade-off.
A minimal build-time example
The typical shape of a Node integration is:
- Import Shiki and create a highlighter with the themes and languages you need.
- For each code block, call the highlight function with the code and language.
- Insert the returned HTML into your template.
- Optionally add a CSS class strategy instead of inline styles if you want to theme via stylesheets.
Exact function names and options vary by version, so check the current docs at Shiki before wiring it in.
Choosing between build-time and runtime
| Approach | Best for | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| Build-time | Docs, blogs, static sites | No client JS, but rebuild needed for new code |
| Server-side | Dynamic pages, APIs | Server cost, but fresh output per request |
| Browser runtime | Playgrounds, editors, user-pasted code | Larger bundle, but highlights unknown input live |
Practical next step
Pick one representative page or component with a code block and convert just that one to Shiki first. Measure the output HTML size and confirm the theme matches your site. If it looks right, roll the same pattern out across the pipeline rather than rewriting everything at once.
What does 'zero runtime' mean for Shiki and how does it affect performance?
"Zero runtime" means Shiki does the heavy work of turning source code into highlighted HTML ahead of time, then ships plain markup. There is no highlighting engine parsing your code in the browser at page load.
What that changes in practice
- The visitor's browser receives pre-colored
<span>elements, so highlighting costs nothing on the client beyond normal CSS rendering. - No large grammar or theme files need to be downloaded and executed just to color a code block.
- First paint of a code-heavy page is less likely to be blocked by a JavaScript highlighter, which matters for documentation sites, blogs and tutorials where many snippets appear above the fold.
The trade-off
Because highlighting is fixed at build time, dynamically generated or user-edited code cannot be re-highlighted on the fly without a build or server step. If your page shows live code that changes as the user types, a runtime highlighter is the more natural fit; if your snippets are static content, pre-highlighting is usually the faster choice.
Where Shiki fits
Shiki's page evidence describes it as TextMate-grammar powered, using the same engine as VS Code, and ESM and universal in packaging. That combination is aimed at developers who want VS Code-accurate colors in static site generators, Markdown pipelines and documentation frameworks, and who are willing to highlight at build time to keep the browser light.
A practical decision test: if your code blocks are known when the page is built, choose a build-time approach like Shiki; if they are typed by users at runtime, keep a client-side highlighter. For a docs site with hundreds of snippets, the build-time route typically produces the better perceived load performance.
For comparison, see Visual Studio Code (the grammar source Shiki mirrors) and GitHub for how highlighted code is commonly presented.
Can I customize Shiki's themes, languages, and grammars?
Yes. Shiki is built around customization: you can change themes, choose which languages are loaded, and even supply your own TextMate grammars. The page evidence highlights "Customizable" alongside "Accurate & Beautiful," "Zero Runtime," and "ESM & Universal," which tells you the design intent is to let you shape the output while keeping the highlighting engine aligned with VS Code.
H3 What you can customize
- Themes: Apply a single theme or pair a light and dark theme so the same highlighted code adapts to color-scheme changes. You can also define or import custom theme JSON.
- Languages: Load only the languages your site actually displays, or register additional ones. This matters for bundle size, since each grammar adds weight.
- Grammars: Because Shiki uses TextMate grammars, you can register custom grammars for domain-specific languages, internal DSLs, or file formats that aren't in the default set.
H3 Practical trade-offs
| Choice | Benefit | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer languages | Smaller bundles, faster builds | Missing highlighting for rare snippets |
| Custom grammar | Accurate highlighting for your own syntax | You maintain and test the grammar |
| Dual themes | Good light/dark experience | Slightly more markup or CSS handling |
| Custom theme | Matches your brand exactly | More design work and testing |
H3 A concrete scenario
Suppose you run a documentation site for a configuration language your team invented. You register a custom grammar so code blocks highlight keywords and strings correctly, load only that grammar plus JavaScript and Bash, and set a light/dark theme pair. Visitors get accurate, on-brand highlighting without shipping dozens of unused language definitions.
H3 Next step
Start with the languages and themes you need today, then add a custom grammar only when a real snippet renders poorly. If you want the broader context of syntax highlighting tools, compare with Prism or highlight.js, but note that Shiki's TextMate approach is the main reason its output matches VS Code.
Does Shiki support ESM and work in different environments like Node.js or the browser?
Yes. Shiki is built and distributed as an ESM package and is designed to run in multiple JavaScript environments, including Node.js and the browser, as well as in bundlers and server-side rendering setups.
What this means in practice
- ESM first: You import it with standard ES module syntax rather than
require(). This fits modern toolchains and frameworks, but older CommonJS-only projects may need a bundler or dynamicimport(). - Node.js: Useful for build-time highlighting, static site generation, or CLI tooling where you render code blocks ahead of time.
- Browser: You can highlight code client-side, though the more common pattern is to pre-highlight at build time to avoid shipping grammars and themes to visitors.
- Universal usage: The same API works across environments, so code written for one can often be reused in another.
A concrete scenario
If you maintain a documentation site, you might highlight all code blocks in Node during the build, then serve plain HTML. That keeps the browser bundle small. If you instead have user-submitted code that changes at runtime, you might run Shiki in the browser.
Decision criterion
Choose build-time highlighting when your code is static and performance matters. Choose browser-side highlighting when content is dynamic and you accept the extra bundle cost.
A useful next step is to check the official documentation for environment-specific setup and bundler configuration: Shiki.
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