Enhancing grammar checking for proofing written content in Grav
Published on 18th February 2026
Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutes
For text proofing, I have used LanguageTool in my browser for a while now. It has always performed flawlessly in WordPress and Textpattern, catching errors as I type. When I began to use Grav as a CMS, I expected the same experience in its content editor. However, the project chose CodeMirror, causing me to undertake a search for a better alternative because the LanguageTool extension does not work with that at all.
Why CodeMirror Needed Replacing
Browser extensions such as LanguageTool and Grammarly rely on standard editable elements: <textarea> or elements with contenteditable="true". Both expose text directly in the Document Object Model (DOM), where extensions can access and analyse it.
In contrast, CodeMirror takes a different approach. Built for code editing rather than the writing of prose, it renders text through a JavaScript-managed DOM structure whilst hiding the actual textarea. While I can see how Markdown editing might fit this mode for some, and it claims to facilitate collaborative editing which also has its appeal, the match with content production is uneasy when you lose the functionality of browser spell-check and grammar extensions.
Returning to the Familiar with TinyMCE
Thankfully, there is a way to replace CodeMirror with something that works better for content writing. Moving to the TinyMCE Editor Integration plugin brings a traditional WYSIWYG editor that browser extensions can access. That restores LanguageTool functionality whilst remaining within the Admin interface.
It helps that installation is simple via the Admin plugin interface. For command line installation, make your way to the Grav folder on your web server and issue the following command:
bin/gpm install tinymce-editorTo make TinyMCE treat your Markdown content as plain text, add these parameters in the plugin settings. You will find that by going to Admin → Plugins → TinyMCE Editor Integration → Parameters. Once there, proceed to the Parameters section of the screen, and you can specify these using the Add Item button to create places for the information to go:
| Name | Value |
|---|---|
| forced_root_block | false |
| verify_html | false |
| clean-up | false |
| entity_encoding | raw |
These settings should prevent forced paragraph tags and automatic HTML clean-up that can change your Markdown files in ways that are not desirable. If this still remains a concern, there is another option.
Using VSCode for Editing
The great thing about having access to files is that they can be edited directly, not something that is possible with a database-focussed system like WordPress. Thus, you can use VSCode to create and update any content. This approach may seem unconventional for a code editor, but the availability of the LanguageTool extension makes it viable for this kind of task. In a nutshell, this offers a distraction-free writing and real-time grammar checking, with Git integration that eliminates the need for separate SFTP or rsync uploads, which suits authors who prefer working directly with source files rather than relying on visual editors.
Rounding Things Off
From my experience, it appears that the incompatibility between CodeMirror and browser extensions stems from a fundamental mismatch between code editing and content writing. When CodeMirror abstracts text into a JavaScript model to enable features like syntax highlighting and multiple cursors, browser extensions lose direct DOM access to text fields. These approaches cannot coexist.
For configuration or theme files involving Twig logic or complex modular structures, using the nano editor in an SSH session on a web server remains sufficient. It is difficult to see how CodeMirror would help with this activity and retains direct control with little overhead.
Usefully, we can replace CodeMirror with TinyMCE using the TinyMCE Editor Integration plugin. This restores browser extension compatibility, enables real-time grammar checking and provides a familiar editing interface. The advantages are gained by a quick installation, a little configuration and no workflow changes. If more control is needed, mixing VSCode and Git will facilitate that way of working. It is not as if we do not have options.
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