Split streaming markdown into memoized blocks for mobile perf (#260)

Instead of re-parsing the entire markdown string on every streaming
token, split at paragraph boundaries (double newlines) while keeping
code fences intact. Each block renders as its own React.memo'd
<Markdown> component so only the last active block re-renders.

packages/app/src/components/message.tsx

@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import {
   ViewStyle,
   Platform,
 } from "react-native";
+import * as React from "react";
 import {
   useState,
   useEffect,
@@ -23,7 +24,7 @@ import {
   cloneElement,
 } from "react";
 import type { ReactNode, ComponentType } from "react";
-import Markdown, { MarkdownIt } from "react-native-markdown-display";
+import Markdown, { MarkdownIt, type RenderRules } from "react-native-markdown-display";
 import MaskedView from "@react-native-masked-view/masked-view";
 import {
   Circle,
@@ -72,6 +73,7 @@ import {
 import { getMarkdownListMarker } from "@/utils/markdown-list";
 import { openExternalUrl } from "@/utils/open-external-url";
 import { markScrollInvestigationEvent } from "@/utils/scroll-jank-investigation";
+import { splitMarkdownBlocks } from "@/utils/split-markdown-blocks";
 export type { InlinePathTarget } from "@/utils/inline-path";
 import { PlanCard } from "./plan-card";
 import { useToolCallSheet } from "./tool-call-sheet";
@@ -712,6 +714,28 @@ const expandableBadgeStylesheet = StyleSheet.create((theme) => ({
   },
 }));
 
+interface MemoizedMarkdownBlockProps {
+  text: string;
+  styles: ReturnType<typeof createMarkdownStyles>;
+  rules: RenderRules;
+  parser: MarkdownIt;
+  onLinkPress: (url: string) => boolean;
+}
+
+const MemoizedMarkdownBlock = React.memo(function MemoizedMarkdownBlock({
+  text,
+  styles,
+  rules,
+  parser,
+  onLinkPress,
+}: MemoizedMarkdownBlockProps) {
+  return (
+    <Markdown style={styles} rules={rules} markdownit={parser} onLinkPress={onLinkPress}>
+      {text}
+    </Markdown>
+  );
+});
+
 export const AssistantMessage = memo(function AssistantMessage({
   message,
   timestamp,
@@ -895,6 +919,8 @@ export const AssistantMessage = memo(function AssistantMessage({
     };
   }, [handleLinkPress, markdownParser, onInlinePathPress]);
 
+  const blocks = useMemo(() => splitMarkdownBlocks(message), [message]);
+
   return (
     <View
       testID="assistant-message"
@@ -903,14 +929,20 @@ export const AssistantMessage = memo(function AssistantMessage({
         !resolvedDisableOuterSpacing && assistantMessageStylesheet.containerSpacing,
       ]}
     >
-      <Markdown
+      {blocks.map((block, index) => (
-        style={markdownStyles}
+        <View
-        rules={markdownRules}
+          key={index}
-        markdownit={markdownParser}
+          style={index < blocks.length - 1 ? { marginBottom: theme.spacing[3] } : undefined}
-        onLinkPress={handleLinkPress}
+        >
-      >
+          <MemoizedMarkdownBlock
-        {message}
+            text={block}
-      </Markdown>
+            styles={markdownStyles}
+            rules={markdownRules}
+            parser={markdownParser}
+            onLinkPress={handleLinkPress}
+          />
+        </View>
+      ))}
     </View>
   );
 });

packages/app/src/utils/__tests__/split-markdown-blocks.test.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,77 @@
+import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+import { splitMarkdownBlocks } from "../split-markdown-blocks";
+
+describe("splitMarkdownBlocks", () => {
+  it("returns a single block for a single paragraph", () => {
+    expect(splitMarkdownBlocks("Hello world")).toEqual(["Hello world"]);
+  });
+
+  it("splits two paragraphs separated by a double newline", () => {
+    expect(splitMarkdownBlocks("First paragraph\n\nSecond paragraph")).toEqual([
+      "First paragraph",
+      "Second paragraph",
+    ]);
+  });
+
+  it("keeps a fenced code block with internal double newlines as one block", () => {
+    expect(splitMarkdownBlocks("```ts\nconst a = 1;\n\nconst b = 2;\n```")).toEqual([
+      "```ts\nconst a = 1;\n\nconst b = 2;\n```",
+    ]);
+  });
+
+  it("does not treat 4-space-indented backticks as a fence", () => {
+    expect(splitMarkdownBlocks("Before\n\n    ```\n    code\n    ```\n\nAfter")).toEqual([
+      "Before",
+      "    ```\n    code\n    ```",
+      "After",
+    ]);
+  });
+
+  it("handles tilde fences", () => {
+    expect(splitMarkdownBlocks("Before\n\n~~~\ncode\n~~~\n\nAfter")).toEqual([
+      "Before",
+      "~~~\ncode\n~~~",
+      "After",
+    ]);
+  });
+
+  it("splits mixed paragraph, code fence, and paragraph content into three blocks", () => {
+    expect(
+      splitMarkdownBlocks("Intro paragraph\n\n```ts\nconst a = 1;\n\nconst b = 2;\n```\n\nOutro paragraph"),
+    ).toEqual([
+      "Intro paragraph",
+      "```ts\nconst a = 1;\n\nconst b = 2;\n```",
+      "Outro paragraph",
+    ]);
+  });
+
+  it("keeps everything from an unclosed fence start as one block for streaming content", () => {
+    expect(
+      splitMarkdownBlocks("Before fence\n\n```ts\nconst a = 1;\n\nconst b = 2;"),
+    ).toEqual(["Before fence", "```ts\nconst a = 1;\n\nconst b = 2;"]);
+  });
+
+  it("returns an empty array for empty input", () => {
+    expect(splitMarkdownBlocks("")).toEqual([]);
+  });
+
+  it("splits a heading followed by a paragraph into two blocks", () => {
+    expect(splitMarkdownBlocks("# Heading\n\nParagraph text")).toEqual([
+      "# Heading",
+      "Paragraph text",
+    ]);
+  });
+
+  it("keeps consecutive list items together when there is no double newline", () => {
+    expect(splitMarkdownBlocks("- First item\n- Second item\n- Third item")).toEqual([
+      "- First item\n- Second item\n- Third item",
+    ]);
+  });
+
+  it("treats triple newlines as a split point and filters empty blocks", () => {
+    expect(splitMarkdownBlocks("First paragraph\n\n\nSecond paragraph")).toEqual([
+      "First paragraph",
+      "Second paragraph",
+    ]);
+  });
+});

packages/app/src/utils/split-markdown-blocks.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+function getFenceDelimiter(line: string) {
+  const match = /^( {0,3})(`{3,}|~{3,})/.exec(line);
+  return match?.[2] ?? null;
+}
+
+export function splitMarkdownBlocks(text: string): string[] {
+  if (text.length === 0) {
+    return [];
+  }
+
+  const blocks: string[] = [];
+  let currentLines: string[] = [];
+  let activeFenceCharacter: "`" | "~" | null = null;
+  let activeFenceLength = 0;
+  let sawBlockSeparator = false;
+
+  for (const line of text.split("\n")) {
+    const isBlankLine = line.trim().length === 0;
+
+    if (!activeFenceCharacter && isBlankLine) {
+      if (currentLines.length > 0) {
+        sawBlockSeparator = true;
+      }
+      continue;
+    }
+
+    if (!activeFenceCharacter && sawBlockSeparator) {
+      blocks.push(currentLines.join("\n"));
+      currentLines = [];
+      sawBlockSeparator = false;
+    }
+
+    currentLines.push(line);
+
+    const fenceDelimiter = getFenceDelimiter(line);
+    if (!fenceDelimiter) {
+      continue;
+    }
+
+    if (!activeFenceCharacter) {
+      activeFenceCharacter = fenceDelimiter[0] as "`" | "~";
+      activeFenceLength = fenceDelimiter.length;
+      continue;
+    }
+
+    if (
+      fenceDelimiter[0] === activeFenceCharacter &&
+      fenceDelimiter.length >= activeFenceLength
+    ) {
+      activeFenceCharacter = null;
+      activeFenceLength = 0;
+    }
+  }
+
+  if (currentLines.length > 0) {
+    blocks.push(currentLines.join("\n"));
+  }
+
+  return blocks.filter((block) => block.length > 0);
+}