Renderers#

A renderer is the step between what a generator returns and the FileNodes the engine writes. A generator produces output two ways: it builds FileNodes directly with the ast.factory node builders, or it returns elements and lets a renderer walk them into FileNodes. The renderer is the second path.

Why rendering is a separate step#

Building files by hand with ast.factory is precise, but it gets verbose once a file has imports, several declarations, and JSDoc. JSX reads better for that, letting a generator describe output as components and nesting instead of a flat list of create* calls. Keeping the renderer separate means the generator does not care which style produced the file, since the engine gets FileNodes either way.

Kubb ships kubb/jsx for the JSX path, turned on per generator through its renderer field. See jsxRenderer for why it runs without React.

When you write your own#

Most plugins never need a custom renderer. Reach for createRenderer only when a generator emits through some other templating format and needs it walked into FileNodes. If you are building files directly or through JSX, the shipped tools already cover you.