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strip or extract YAML / TOML front matter

Strip Markdown front matter

Remove the YAML or TOML front-matter block from a Markdown document — or do the inverse and keep just the front matter. One pass, zero install.

Front-Matter Stripper
Input
170 B
12 lines
Output
99 B
5 lines
Status
ready
live
Ratio
0.58×
out/in
input · markdown + front matter
output · body only
# Body

Article content begins here.

It can include **markdown** and [links](https://example.com).
Quick Start

How to strip front matter

Detects --- (YAML) or +++ (TOML) delimiters on the first line and finds the matching closing delimiter. Removes (or keeps) that block based on the selected mode.

  1. 01

    Paste Markdown

    With YAML or TOML front matter at the top.

    Parsing runs through marked with GFM extensions enabled — tables, task lists, strikethrough, and fenced code blocks all match GitHub’s rendering.

    inputGFMmarkedCommonMarklive
    input · markdownmd · GFM
    ---
title: P
---
    loaded · GFMGFM · ready
  2. 02

    Pick mode

    Strip body-only, or extract front matter alone.

    Soft-break behaviour is configurable: by default a single newline becomes a space (CommonMark), toggle on for chat-style <br> insertion.

    modesoft-breaksoptionsconfiglive
    mode · optionsstrip · live
    strip|extract
    options applied · livelive
  3. 03

    Apply

    The matching delimiter block is removed (or isolated).

    The preview is scoped under a .mde class so its CSS doesn’t bleed into the rest of the page. Output HTML is whitespace-controlled for clean diffs.

    applypreviewscoped CSSrenderstable
    out · renderedmd · ready
    # Body
    rendered · liverendered
  4. 04

    Copy or save

    Drop the body into a CMS or pipe front matter to a validator.

    Export covers both raw Markdown and rendered HTML; downloads stream as text/markdown or text/html via Blob + object URL.

    exportclipboard.md.htmlblob
    ✓ · exportedmd · done
    ✓ shipped
    shipped · ready to shipsuccess
Pro tips

Author Markdown that renders everywhere

GFM is the safe default

GitHub-Flavored Markdown is the de-facto baseline (tables, task lists, strikethrough). CommonMark is stricter but ubiquitous as a fallback.

Soft-break behaviour varies

A single newline is a space in CommonMark, a <br> in GFM. Toggle soft breaks when source matters.

Escape inside code fences

Backticks inside fenced blocks need a longer fence — three becomes four. Use ~~~ if your content has many backticks.

Anchors are slugified

GitHub lowercases, strips punctuation, and joins with hyphens. Duplicate headings get -1, -2 suffixes.

Tables need a header row

The dash row sets alignment (:---, :-:, ---:). Use Table Aligner for diff-friendly columns.

Front matter is YAML

Triple-dash blocks at the top of files are parsed by static-site generators. Use the Front-Matter Validator to catch syntax errors.

Related toolsFM ValidatorFM EditorMD to YAMLMD to JSONHTML StripperEditor
Use Cases

When to strip front matter

Useful any time a renderer doesn't understand front matter.

Plain renderers

Feed cleaned body to a non-Hugo Markdown parser. Render path uses marked with GFM extensions enabled (tables, task lists, strikethrough, autolinks), so what you preview matches what GitHub publishes bit-for-bit. Soft-break behaviour is configurable for chat-style vs prose Markdown.

GFM-compliant

CMS imports

Strip before pasting into WordPress / Ghost. Pairs cleanly with the Markdown Cheatsheet for syntax you can't quite remember — callout blocks, footnotes, definition lists. Output stays diff-friendly so style-only changes don't drown out real edits in PRs.

GitHub-perfect

Email previews

Get body-only text for snippets and digests. Cross-platform safe: anchors, code fences, and tables behave identically on GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, and Gitea. Heading-anchor slugs follow GitHub's lowercase-and-hyphenate rules so deep links survive a docs migration.

diff-friendly

Audits

Compare body content without metadata noise. No server roundtrip — perfect for proprietary content you can't paste into a public tool. The full marked + GFM bundle ships with the page, so it works offline once loaded.

render-stable

Front-matter QA

Extract mode feeds a YAML/TOML validator. Front matter (YAML / TOML / JSON) passes through unchanged so static-site pipelines (Jekyll, Hugo, Astro, Eleventy) read it correctly. Pair with the Front-Matter Validator to catch syntax errors before deploy.

cross-platform

Doc migration

Move between Hugo / Jekyll / Astro front matter. Output is reproducible: identical input always produces identical Markdown, so doc-generation scripts can rely on it for snapshot tests and embedded into release workflows.

SEO-friendly
FAQ

Frequently asked questions

YAML (---) and TOML (+++) blocks at line 1. JSON front matter ({...}) is not currently detected.
Strip mode returns the original document unchanged; extract mode shows an error.
No — the block is removed or returned verbatim. Pair with the Front-Matter Validator if you need parsing.
Only line-start --- / +++ are recognised; indented variants are ignored.
No. Stripping runs locally in your browser.
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