[salvatorecorsi]

Allow wp.shortcode.replace() callbacks to return an empty string to remove a matched shortcode and its enclosed content. The current truthiness check ignores that result and leaves the original shortcode unchanged.

wp.shortcode.replace( 'foo', 'before [foo]remove me[/foo] after', function() {
    return '';
} );
// Expected: 'before  after'.

The condition now accepts '' while preserving the existing fallback for false, null, undefined, numeric zero and NaN. Escaped shortcodes and unmatched extra brackets retain their existing behavior. This keeps the change focused on the reported case and matches the empty-string handling in Gutenberg's shortcode package.

Trac ticket: https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/35216

Validation

• The new QUnit coverage fails seven assertions before the fix; the shortcode module passes afterward.
• Full build, JSHint, scoped JSDoc and JavaScript typecheck pass.
• Both complete QUnit pages pass in Chromium: 719 assertions in compiled.html and 719 in index.html, using the unchanged upstream Playwright driver.
• On Windows, the default Grunt QUnit launcher fails with spawn npm EINVAL, independently reproduced without loading this patch. The browser run uses a coordinator-only Playwright config that changes just executablePath to the installed Chromium. No assertions or repository configuration were changed for that adapter.

No PHP code changes are included.

Use of AI Tools

Codex investigated the ticket, authored the change and regression tests, ran the recorded checks and performed a separate automated source review. No separate human review by the account owner has taken place.

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