Typst

Typst is a modern typesetting system designed as an alternative to LaTeX. It offers a simpler syntax, faster compilation, and programmatic document creation.

Agent Patterns

Detection

typst --version  # Check if installed

Verify Compilation

Agents cannot preview PDFs. Verify success via exit code:

typst compile document.typ && echo "Success" || echo "Failed"

For text-level verification, see debug.md (pdftotext workflow).

Common Errors

Minimal Document

#set page(paper: "a4", margin: 2cm)
#set text(size: 11pt)

= Title

Content goes here.

Quick Reference

When to Use Each Reference

basics.md

Read first for any Typst work. Complete language reference:

• Markup vs code mode switching
• Imports and path resolution (relative, root-relative, --root)
• All data types and their operations (string, array, dict)
• Regex pattern matching
• Functions, control flow, operators
• Common pitfalls (closure mutability, none returns)

advanced.md

For cross-document features and complex patterns:

• State management (state(), context)
• Query system (query(), metadata, labels)
• XML parsing
• Working around closure limitations
• Performance optimization

template.md

For document templates and styling:

• Set rules (defaults) and show rules (transformations)
• Page layout, headers, footers
• Counters and numbering
• Heading and figure customization

package.md

For creating reusable Typst packages:

• typst.toml manifest format
• Module organization and imports
• API design patterns
• Publishing to Typst Universe

conversion.md

For converting existing documents to Typst:

• Syntax mapping tables (Markdown/LaTeX → Typst)
• Math formula conversion
• Escaping rules
• Pandoc integration

debug.md

For debugging Typst documents (especially for agents):

• pdftotext for text content verification
• repr() for inspecting complex objects
• measure() + place() for layout debugging
• State and query debugging patterns

perf.md

For performance profiling and timing analysis:

• --timings JSON trace output
• Aggregating hotspots from trace events
• Viewing traces in Chrome/Perfetto

Compilation

# Compile once
typst compile document.typ

# Watch mode (recompile on changes)
typst watch document.typ

# Specify output file
typst compile document.typ output.pdf

# Set project root (for multi-file projects)
# Root controls where "/path" resolves and security boundary
typst compile src/main.typ --root .

When to use --root: If your document imports files using /-prefixed paths (e.g., #import "/lib/utils.typ"), set --root to the directory those paths should resolve from. See basics.md for path resolution rules.

Common Packages

Import packages (check https://typst.app/universe for latest versions):

#import "@preview/codly:1.3.0": *

Examples

The examples/ directory contains runnable examples:

Dependencies

• typst CLI: Install from https://typst.app or via package manager
  • macOS: brew install typst
  • Linux: cargo install typst-cli
  • Windows: winget install typst