Lexxy

The Lexxy field renders Lexxy, Basecamp's modern rich text editor for Action Text, built on Meta's Lexical framework. It produces clean HTML semantics, supports Markdown shortcuts, code syntax highlighting, and rich attachment previews.

# app/avo/resources/post.rb
class Avo::Resources::Post < Avo::BaseResource
  def fields
    field :body, as: :lexxy
  end
end

By default, the field is hidden on the Index view and collapsed to a preview on the Show view. Attachments are enabled for Action Text attributes and disabled for plain columns; editor settings otherwise follow Lexxy's default preset.

It supports Action Text attributes and plain string/text columns storing HTML, with file attachments uploaded through Active Storage direct uploads.

Install the editor

• Rails >= 8.0.2 (required by the lexxy gem)

Add this field to the Gemfile

# Gemfile
gem "avo-lexxy_field"

Lexxy takes over Action Text

The lexxy gem replaces Trix as the default form.rich_text_area editor across your whole app. If you only want Lexxy inside Avo, opt out in the host app:

# config/application.rb (Rails 8.0/8.1)
config.lexxy.override_action_text_defaults = false

Store content with Action Text

Lexxy is built for Action Text and works with it out of the box, including file attachments.

# app/models/post.rb
class Post < ApplicationRecord
  has_rich_text :body
end

# app/avo/resources/post.rb
field :body, as: :lexxy

If you want to prevent uploads, set attachments_disabled to true.

Attachments on plain columns

Lexxy relies on Action Text to attach uploaded blobs to the record on save. Setting attachments_disabled: false on a plain column enables uploads, but those blobs can remain orphaned.

Display the full content

Set always_show to true to display the full content on the Show view instead of an expandable preview.

# app/avo/resources/post.rb
field :body, as: :lexxy, always_show: true

Insert assets from the Media Library

When the Media Library is enabled, the editor's toolbar gets a button that opens the library in a modal. Picking an asset inserts it into the content: images as Action Text attachments, other files as links.

The button is hidden when the field has attachments disabled (which is the default on plain string/text columns), since there is nothing to attach the blob to.

Customize the editor

Pass editor settings directly as field options. For example, use markdown to disable Markdown shortcuts and headings to limit the heading menu:

# app/avo/resources/post.rb
field :body, as: :lexxy, markdown: false, headings: ["h2", "h3"]

For shared settings, configure presets globally through Lexxy.configure in your JavaScript and select one with preset.

Lexxy's element attributes (markdown, rich-text, headings, permitted-attachment-types, etc.) are documented in the Lexxy docs. Avo exposes the supported editor settings as snake_case field options, such as rich_text and permitted_attachment_types.

For placeholder text, CSS classes, data attributes, and other shared settings, see Common field options. The html option customizes input classes, data, and style; use the dedicated editor options for Lexxy configuration.