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

Error	Cause	Fix
"unknown variable"	Undefined identifier	Check spelling, ensure #let before use
"expected X, found Y"	Type mismatch	Check function signature in docs
"file not found"	Bad import path	Paths resolve relative to the current file
"unknown font"	Font not installed	Use system fonts or web-safe alternatives
"maximum function call depth exceeded"	Deep recursion	Limit recursion, use iteration instead

Minimal Document

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

= Title

Content goes here.

Quick Reference

Task	Reference
Language basics (types, functions, operators)	basics.md
State, context, query, XML parsing	advanced.md
Templates, styling, set/show rules	template.md
Package development, publishing	package.md
Converting from Markdown/LaTeX	conversion.md
Debugging techniques (pdftotext, repr, measure)	debug.md
Performance profiling (timings, hotspots)	perf.md

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

Package	Purpose
@preview/codly	Code block formatting with syntax highlighting
@preview/ctheorems	Theorem environments
@preview/mitex	LaTeX math rendering
@preview/cuti	CJK typography utilities
@preview/citegeist	BibTeX parsing

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

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

Examples

The examples/ directory contains runnable examples:

Example	Description
basic-document.typ	Complete beginner document with all common elements
template-report.typ	Reusable template with headers, counters, note boxes
package-example/	Minimal publishable package with submodules

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