Plugin Reference¶

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Complete reference of Vexy SVGO optimization plugins

Table of contents¶

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TOC

Overview¶

Plugins are the core of Vexy SVGO's optimization capabilities. Each plugin performs a specific transformation on the SVG's Abstract Syntax Tree (AST) to reduce file size and improve rendering efficiency.

Vexy SVGO maintains full compatibility with SVGO's plugin system while delivering significant performance improvements through native Rust implementation.

Plugin Categories¶

Basic Optimization Plugins¶

These plugins handle fundamental SVG cleanup tasks:

`removeComments`¶

Description: Removes comments from SVG (preserves legal comments starting with !) Default: ✅ Enabled Parameters: None

# Disable in CLI
vexy-svgo --disable removeComments input.svg

`removeDoctype`¶

Description: Removes doctype declarations Default: ✅ Enabled Parameters: None

`removeXMLProcInst`¶

Description: Removes XML processing instructions Default: ✅ Enabled Parameters: None

`removeMetadata`¶

Description: Removes <metadata> elements Default: ✅ Enabled Parameters: None

`removeTitle`¶

Description: Removes <title> elements Default: ❌ Disabled (accessibility) Parameters: None

`removeDesc`¶

Description: Removes <desc> elements
Default: ✅ Enabled Parameters: None

Attribute Optimization¶

`cleanupAttrs`¶

Description: Cleans up attributes from newlines, trailing, and repeating spaces Default: ✅ Enabled Parameters: - newlines (boolean) - Remove newlines - trim (boolean) - Trim whitespace
- spaces (boolean) - Collapse spaces

`removeEmptyAttrs`¶

Description: Removes empty attributes Default: ✅ Enabled Parameters: None

`removeUnknownsAndDefaults`¶

Description: Removes unknown elements and default values Default: ✅ Enabled Parameters: - unknownContent (boolean) - unknownAttrs (boolean) - defaultAttrs (boolean) - keepDataAttrs (boolean) - keepAriaAttrs (boolean)

`sortAttrs`¶

Description: Sorts element attributes for better compression Default: ✅ Enabled Parameters: - order (string[]) - Custom attribute order - xmlnsOrder (string) - XML namespace order

Style and Color Optimization¶

`convertColors`¶

Description: Converts colors to optimal format (rgb→hex, names→hex) Default: ✅ Enabled Parameters: - currentColor (boolean) - Convert to currentColor - names2hex (boolean) - Named colors to hex - rgb2hex (boolean) - RGB to hex - shorthex (boolean) - #rrggbb to #rgb - shortname (boolean) - Hex to named colors

// Example configuration
{
  name: 'convertColors',
  params: {
    currentColor: true,
    names2hex: true,
    rgb2hex: true,
    shorthex: true
  }
}

`mergeStyles`¶

Description: Merges multiple <style> elements into one Default: ✅ Enabled Parameters: None

`minifyStyles`¶

Description: Basic CSS minification Default: ✅ Enabled Parameters: - restructure (boolean) - comments (string|boolean)

`convertStyleToAttrs`¶

Description: Converts styles to presentation attributes Default: ✅ Enabled Parameters: None

Numeric Value Optimization¶

`cleanupNumericValues`¶

Description: Rounds numeric values to fixed precision, removes default units Default: ✅ Enabled Parameters: - floatPrecision (number) - Decimal precision (default: 3) - leadingZero (boolean) - Keep leading zeros - defaultPx (boolean) - Remove default px units

{
  name: 'cleanupNumericValues',
  params: {
    floatPrecision: 2,
    leadingZero: false,
    defaultPx: true
  }
}

Structure Optimization¶

`removeEmptyContainers`¶

Description: Removes empty container elements Default: ✅ Enabled Parameters: None

`removeEmptyText`¶

Description: Removes empty text elements Default: ✅ Enabled Parameters: None

`collapseGroups`¶

Description: Collapses useless groups (<g>) Default: ✅ Enabled Parameters: None

`removeUselessDefs`¶

Description: Removes <defs> elements without IDs Default: ✅ Enabled Parameters: None

`removeHiddenElems`¶

Description: Removes hidden elements (display:none, visibility:hidden) Default: ✅ Enabled Parameters: None

Shape Conversion¶

`convertShapeToPath`¶

Description: Converts basic shapes to <path> elements Default: ✅ Enabled Parameters: - convertArcs (boolean) - Convert arcs - floatPrecision (number) - Coordinate precision

`convertEllipseToCircle`¶

Description: Converts <ellipse> to <circle> when possible Default: ✅ Enabled Parameters: None

Path Optimization¶

`convertPathData` ⭐¶

Description: Comprehensive path optimization - converts coordinates, removes redundant commands Default: ✅ Enabled Parameters: - applyTransforms (boolean) - Apply transform matrices - makeArcs (boolean) - Convert to arcs where possible - straightCurves (boolean) - Convert curves to lines - lineShorthands (boolean) - Use H/V commands - floatPrecision (number) - Coordinate precision - removeUseless (boolean) - Remove redundant commands - collapseRepeated (boolean) - Collapse repeated commands

{
  name: 'convertPathData',
  params: {
    floatPrecision: 3,
    applyTransforms: true,
    makeArcs: true,
    straightCurves: true,
    lineShorthands: true,
    removeUseless: true
  }
}

ID and Reference Management¶

`cleanupIds`¶

Description: Minifies and removes unused IDs Default: ✅ Enabled
Parameters: - remove (boolean) - Remove unused IDs - minify (boolean) - Minify used IDs - prefix (string) - Add prefix to IDs - preserve (string[]) - IDs to never remove

{
  name: 'cleanupIds',
  params: {
    remove: true,
    minify: true,
    prefix: 'icon-',
    preserve: ['logo', 'main-graphic']
  }
}

`removeUnusedNS`¶

Description: Removes unused namespace declarations Default: ✅ Enabled Parameters: None

Advanced Plugins¶

Transform Management¶

`removeUselessStrokeAndFill`¶

Description: Removes unnecessary stroke and fill attributes Default: ✅ Enabled Parameters: None

`cleanupEnableBackground`¶

Description: Removes or cleans up enable-background attribute Default: ✅ Enabled Parameters: None

`removeNonInheritableGroupAttrs`¶

Description: Removes non-inheritable group attributes Default: ✅ Enabled Parameters: None

Not Yet Implemented¶

These complex plugins require additional work:

`mergePaths`¶

Description: Merge multiple paths into one Status: ⏳ Coming soon Complexity: High - requires path geometry analysis

`moveElemsAttrsToGroup`¶

Description: Move common attributes to parent group Status: ⏳ Coming soon Complexity: Medium - requires attribute inheritance analysis

`moveGroupAttrsToElems`¶

Description: Move group attributes to child elements Status: ⏳ Coming soon Complexity: Medium - requires attribute distribution logic

`convertTransform`¶

Description: Optimizes transform attributes Status: ⏳ Coming soon Complexity: High - requires matrix operations

`applyTransforms`¶

Description: Applies transform matrices to coordinates Status: ⏳ Coming soon Complexity: Very High - requires geometric transformations

Configuration Examples¶

Web Development¶

{
  plugins: [
    'removeComments',
    'removeEmptyAttrs', 
    'convertColors',
    'cleanupIds',
    {
      name: 'cleanupNumericValues',
      params: { floatPrecision: 2 }
    },
    // Keep viewBox for responsive design
    { name: 'removeViewBox', enabled: false }
  ]
}

Maximum Compression¶

{
  multipass: true,
  plugins: [
    'removeComments',
    'removeTitle',
    'removeDesc',
    'removeEmptyAttrs',
    'cleanupAttrs',
    'convertColors',
    'convertPathData',
    'collapseGroups',
    {
      name: 'cleanupNumericValues', 
      params: { floatPrecision: 1 }
    }
  ]
}

Icon Library¶

{
  plugins: [
    'removeComments',
    'removeEmptyAttrs',
    'cleanupAttrs',
    'convertColors',
    {
      name: 'cleanupIds',
      params: { remove: false, minify: true }
    },
    // Preserve structure for icons
    { name: 'removeViewBox', enabled: false },
    { name: 'collapseGroups', enabled: false }
  ]
}

CLI Usage¶

List Available Plugins¶

vexy-svgo --show-plugins

Enable/Disable Plugins¶

# Disable specific plugins
vexy-svgo --disable removeComments --disable removeTitle input.svg

# Enable additional plugins  
vexy-svgo --enable cleanupIds --enable sortAttrs input.svg

Plugin-Specific Configuration¶

# Use config file for complex plugin settings
vexy-svgo --config plugins.config.js input.svg

Migration from SVGO¶

Plugin Compatibility¶

SVGO Plugin	Vexy SVGO	Status
removeComments	✅ removeComments	Identical
removeEmptyAttrs	✅ removeEmptyAttrs	Identical
convertColors	✅ convertColors	Compatible
cleanupIDs	✅ cleanupIds	Same functionality
convertPathData	✅ convertPathData	Enhanced
mergePaths	⏳ Coming soon	Not yet available

Breaking Changes¶

Plugin names: Some plugins use camelCase instead of kebab-case
Parameters: Some parameter names may differ slightly
Custom plugins: JavaScript plugins need to be rewritten in Rust

Performance Impact¶

High Impact (Major size reduction)¶

convertPathData - Path optimization
convertColors - Color optimization
cleanupNumericValues - Precision reduction
removeComments - Comment removal

Medium Impact¶

removeEmptyAttrs - Attribute cleanup
collapseGroups - Structure optimization
cleanupIds - ID optimization

Low Impact (Quality of life)¶

sortAttrs - Better compression
removeDoctype - Minimal size gain
cleanupEnableBackground - Edge case optimization

Next Steps¶

Configuration - Learn how to configure plugins
CLI Usage - Command-line plugin control
Interactive Demo - Test plugins in your browser

For the latest plugin status and implementation details, see our GitHub repository.

Plugin Reference¶

Table of contents¶

Overview¶

Plugin Categories¶

Basic Optimization Plugins¶

removeComments¶

removeDoctype¶

removeXMLProcInst¶

removeMetadata¶

removeTitle¶

removeDesc¶

Attribute Optimization¶

cleanupAttrs¶

removeEmptyAttrs¶

removeUnknownsAndDefaults¶

sortAttrs¶