LinkedIn Format

LinkedIn posts use a lightweight formatting syntax that supports **bold**, *italic* / _italic_, bullet lists (• or - ), ordered lists, @[Name](urn:li:person:ID) structured mentions, bare @word mentions, and #hashtag tags. Paragraphs are separated by blank lines. RelationalText imports and exports this format using the com.linkedin.facet namespace.

Package: relational-text/linkedinNamespace: com.linkedin.facet

Functions

import { from, to } from 'relational-text/registry'

from('linkedin', input: string): Document

Parse a LinkedIn post string into a Document.

const doc = from('linkedin', 'Excited to share this update!\n\n**Key points:**\n• First insight\n• Second insight\n\n#innovation @[Jane Doe](urn:li:person:abc123)')

Handles:

• Inline marks: **bold**, *italic*, _italic_
• Structured mentions: @[Name](urn:li:...) — stored with personName and urn attributes
• Bare mentions: @word — stored with personName set to the word and empty urn
• Hashtags: #word — the # character is included in the text content; stored with tag attribute
• Block types: paragraphs separated by blank lines, • / - bullet lists, N. ordered lists

Consecutive non-blank lines that are not list items are accumulated and flushed as a single paragraph block (the lines are joined with \n). An empty input produces a single empty paragraph block.

to('linkedin', doc: Document): string

Render a Document to a LinkedIn post string.

const post = to('linkedin', doc)

Automatically applies any registered lenses targeting com.linkedin.facet via lensGraph.autoTransform(). A Document parsed from another format will have its features mapped to LinkedIn equivalents before rendering.

Block rendering behaviour:

• paragraph — rendered as a text line; consecutive paragraphs are separated by a blank line (\n)
• list-item-text — rendered with • for bullet lists or N. for ordered lists
• bullet-list-marker, ordered-list-marker, list-item-marker — structural separator blocks that produce no output

Inline rendering behaviour:

• bold — **text**
• italic — _text_
• mention — @[personName](urn) if urn is present, else @personName
• hashtag — #tag (using the tag attr)

ensureLinkedInLexicon(): void

Register the LinkedIn lexicon and the LinkedIn → RelationalText lens with autoApply: true. Called automatically by from('linkedin', ...) and to('linkedin', ...) on first use. Safe to call multiple times — subsequent calls are no-ops.

Feature Mapping

Inline Marks

LinkedIn syntax	Feature name	Type ID	Expand	RT equivalent
**text**	bold	com.linkedin.facet#bold	both	bold
*text* or _text_	italic	com.linkedin.facet#italic	both	italic

Entities

LinkedIn syntax	Feature name	Type ID	Attrs	RT equivalent
@[Name](urn)	mention	com.linkedin.facet#mention	personName, urn	mention (personName renamed to handle)
@word	mention	com.linkedin.facet#mention	personName, urn: ""	mention
#word	hashtag	com.linkedin.facet#hashtag	tag	hashtag

Block Elements

Feature name	Type ID	RT equivalent
paragraph	com.linkedin.facet#paragraph	paragraph
bullet-list-marker	com.linkedin.facet#bullet-list-marker	bullet-list-marker
ordered-list-marker	com.linkedin.facet#ordered-list-marker	ordered-list-marker
list-item-marker	com.linkedin.facet#list-item-marker	list-item-marker
list-item-text	com.linkedin.facet#list-item-text	list-item-text

Lens Integration

When ensureLinkedInLexicon() is called it registers a LinkedIn → RelationalText lens (com.linkedin.to.relationaltext.v1) with autoApply: true. The lens is marked invertible: false because mention renames the personName attr to handle.

Notable mappings:

• mention personName attr is renamed to handle in the RT hub
• hashtag maps to RT hashtag (identity name mapping)
• All structural block names map directly

import { from, to } from 'relational-text/registry'

// LinkedIn → Markdown
const doc = from('linkedin', '**Great news** for everyone!')
const md = to('markdown', doc)
// '**Great news** for everyone!\n\n'

// Markdown → LinkedIn
const mdDoc = from('markdown', '**Great news** for everyone!')
const li = to('linkedin', mdDoc)
// '**Great news** for everyone!'

Examples

Parse a post with structured mention and hashtag

import { from } from 'relational-text/registry'

const post = 'Congrats to @[Jane Doe](urn:li:person:abc123) on the launch! #innovation'
const doc = from('linkedin', post)
const json = doc.toJSON()
// text:   "Congrats to Jane Doe on the launch! #innovation"
// facets: [mention over "Jane Doe" with personName="Jane Doe", urn="urn:li:person:abc123",
//          hashtag over "#innovation" with tag="innovation"]

Parse a post with a bare mention

import { from } from 'relational-text/registry'

const doc = from('linkedin', 'Thanks @alice for the feedback!')
// mention feature over "alice" with personName="alice", urn=""

Parse a post with lists

import { from } from 'relational-text/registry'

const post = 'Key takeaways:\n• Insight one\n• Insight two\n1. Step one\n2. Step two'
const doc = from('linkedin', post)
// paragraph block ("Key takeaways:"), two bullet items, two ordered items

Multi-line paragraph

import { from } from 'relational-text/registry'

// Consecutive lines without blank separator are merged into one paragraph
const post = 'Line one\nLine two\n\nNew paragraph'
const doc = from('linkedin', post)
// paragraph("Line one\nLine two"), paragraph("New paragraph")

Export to LinkedIn format

import { from, to } from 'relational-text/registry'

const doc = from('markdown', '**Bold** statement.\n\n- Item A\n- Item B\n')
const li = to('linkedin', doc)
// '**Bold** statement.\n• Item A\n• Item B\n'
// bullet items use • prefix in LinkedIn output

Notes

• Structured mention format. LinkedIn's API encodes mentions as @[Display Name](urn:li:person:ID). The importer stores both personName and urn as top-level fields on the feature (not nested under attrs). The exporter emits @[personName](urn) when urn is present, or @personName for bare mentions.
• Hashtag text includes #. The # character is included in the stored text content. The tag attribute holds the word without the #.
• Paragraphs separated by blank lines. The exporter inserts a blank line (\n) between consecutive paragraph blocks. List items are not separated by blank lines.
• Bullet list prefix is • . The exporter uses the Unicode bullet character (•) for bullet list items regardless of the original input prefix (• or - are both accepted on import).
• mention attr rename. The LinkedIn mention feature uses personName for the display name. The RT hub mention uses handle. The lens renames personName → handle on the way to RT, making the lens non-invertible.
• No strikethrough or code marks. The LinkedIn lexicon does not define strikethrough or inline code features.
• Expand semantics. Bold and italic marks expand on both sides. Mention and hashtag are entities (non-expanding).
• Implicit block type. The LinkedIn lexicon declares implicitBlockType: "paragraph".