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javascriptunicodeunicode-escapes

Regex to match emojis that can be validly combined with skin tone modifiers?

The JS code to detect emojis (in the usual sense of the term "emoji") is simply:

let str = "...";
if(/\p{Extended_Pictographic}/u.test(str)) {
  // do something
}

Is there some equivalently simple way to detect emojis that can have skin tone modifiers validly added to them?

A key requirement is that I don't have to update the regex over the years as more emojis are added, or existing emojis become skin-tone-able. Basically I'm wondering if there's something like a Skin Unicode property escape, or some other elegant and future-proof solution.

Notes:

  • It must work without DOM access (i.e. server-side, workers, etc.).
  • Note that the goal is not to detect skin tone modifiers, but to detect emojis that can validly have a skin tone modifier added to it - e.g. the regex/function should match 👶 (doesn't have skin tone modifier, but it is valid to add one to it).
  • I want to emphasise that a big-old-bunch-of-unicode-ranges regex that's not future-proof does not fit the requirements of my particular use case. But note that a bunch of Unicode ranges does fit the requirements if it's future proof.
  • This question appears to be similar when considering the title, but upon reading the body of the question, it's asking a different question.
Solution

  • The relevant Unicode character property is called Emoji_Modifier_Base. /\p{Emoji_Modifier_Base}/u.test() will return true for every emoji character that can take a skin tone modifier.