mdtex

Markdown → LaTeX → PDF live preview, powered by pandoc + latexmk

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Table of Contents

1. About The Project
2. Getting Started
   • Prerequisites
   • Installation
3. Usage
4. Templates
5. Configuration
6. Roadmap
7. Contributing
8. License

About The Project

Markdown change
    ↓  mdtex watches for changes
pandoc → paper.tex
    ↓
latexmk → paper.pdf
    ↓
Browser auto-reloads via SSE

mdtex watches your Markdown source, rebuilds through pandoc and latexmk on every save, and reloads the PDF in your browser automatically — no manual compiling, no viewer plugin required.

Why mdtex?

• Write in Markdown, publish in LaTeX-quality PDF
• Live preview in any browser — no software to install
• Built-in templates for IEEE, Eisvogel, NeurIPS (downloaded on first use)
• Structured error output from pandoc and LaTeX
• Reproducible environment via Nix flake

Built With

• 
• pandoc
• latexmk

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Getting Started

Prerequisites

• pandoc
• TeX Live (provides latexmk)

Installation

cargo install --path .

Or run directly without installing:

cargo run -- watch

Using Nix? A flake is included — nix develop gives you pandoc, latexmk, and the Rust toolchain without any host installs.

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Usage

Create a new file with frontmatter pre-filled:

mdtex new paper.md
mdtex new paper.md --template eisvogel --author "Jane Doe"

Watch a file and open browser preview:

mdtex watch paper.md

Starts a local server at http://localhost:8080 and opens it automatically. The PDF reloads in the browser on every save.

With a template:

mdtex watch paper.md --template eisvogel

With bibliography:

mdtex watch paper.md --template ieee --bib refs.bib

Japanese output:

# uplatex (traditional, no template required)
mdtex watch paper.md --engine uplatex

# lualatex with Eisvogel (add CJKmainfont to frontmatter)
mdtex watch paper.md --template eisvogel --engine lualatex

# xelatex with IEEE (add CJKmainfont to frontmatter)
mdtex watch paper.md --template ieee --engine xelatex

Build once (no watch):

mdtex build paper.md --template neurips

Use a native viewer instead of the browser:

mdtex watch paper.md --viewer skim

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Templates

Built-in templates are downloaded on first use and cached locally.

Template	Engine	Notes
eisvogel	pdflatex	Report / thesis style
eisvogel	lualatex	Japanese support (CJKmainfont)
ieee	pdflatex	IEEE conference format
ieee	xelatex	Japanese support (CJKmainfont)
neurips	pdflatex	NeurIPS paper format
(none)	uplatex	Japanese-native engine

See examples/ for sample Markdown files and rendered PDFs for each combination.

# List all available templates
mdtex templates list

# Show the cached file path for a template
mdtex templates which eisvogel

# Add your own template
mdtex templates add mythesis ./my-thesis.latex

# Remove a cached template
mdtex templates remove eisvogel

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Configuration

mdtex init

Creates mdtex.toml in the current directory. Command-line flags take precedence over the config file.

[build]
entry   = "main.md"
# template = "eisvogel"   # ieee | neurips | eisvogel | path/to/custom.latex
# engine   = "pdflatex"   # pdflatex | lualatex | xelatex | uplatex
# bib      = "refs.bib"
out_dir = ".mdtex-build"
extra_pandoc_args  = []
extra_latexmk_args = []

[watch]
extensions  = ["md", "bib", "tex", "sty", "cls", "png", "jpg", "pdf"]
debounce_ms = 300

[viewer]
program = "web"   # web | skim | auto

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Roadmap

• SyncTeX support (click PDF → jump to source line)
• Multi-file projects (\include{})
• Lua filter pass-through
• crates.io release

See the open issues for a full list of proposed features and known issues.

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Contributing

1. Fork the Project
2. Create your Feature Branch (git checkout -b feature/AmazingFeature)
3. Commit your Changes (git commit -m 'Add some AmazingFeature')
4. Push to the Branch (git push origin feature/AmazingFeature)
5. Open a Pull Request

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License

Distributed under the MIT License. See LICENSE for more information.

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