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md2typst

A robust Markdown to Typst converter in Python with support for multiple Markdown parsers.

Features

  • Multiple parser backends: Choose from markdown-it-py, mistune, or marko at runtime
  • GFM support: Tables, strikethrough, footnotes, and other GitHub Flavored Markdown extensions
  • Math support: $...$ and $$...$$ rendered via mitex, enabled by default
  • Mermaid diagrams: ```mermaid code blocks rendered via mmdr
  • Auto-imports: Required Typst packages are automatically imported based on content
  • Direct PDF output: md2pdf command converts Markdown to PDF in one step (requires typst CLI)
  • Document classes: article, report, and book presets (like LaTeX), selectable via front matter, CLI, or config
  • Title blocks: Automatic title page/block from front matter (title, author, date, version, publisher)
  • [TOC] support: Table of contents via [TOC] marker
  • Diagram blocks: ```diagram keeps ASCII-art diagrams from breaking across pages
  • Configurable: User config, project config, YAML front matter, and CLI options with clear cascade
  • Extensible: Plugin support for parser-specific extensions
  • Well-tested: Comprehensive test suite with TCK validation against CommonMark

Installation

# Using pip
pip install md2typst

# Using uv
uv add md2typst

Quick Start

Command Line

# Convert a file (writes input.typ by default)
md2typst input.md

# Explicit output path
md2typst input.md -o output.typ

# Output to stdout
md2typst input.md -o -

# Convert from stdin (outputs to stdout)
echo "# Hello **World**" | md2typst

# Use a specific parser
md2typst --parser mistune input.md

# Convert multiple files at once
md2typst *.md
md2pdf *.md

# Convert directly to PDF (requires typst CLI)
md2pdf input.md
md2pdf input.md -o custom-output.pdf

# Use a document class
md2pdf --class report input.md

# List available parsers
md2typst --list-parsers

Python API

from md2typst import convert

# Simple conversion
typst = convert("# Hello **World**")
print(typst)
# Output: = Hello *World*

# With specific parser
typst = convert("~~deleted~~", parser="mistune")
print(typst)
# Output: #strike[deleted]

# With configuration
from md2typst import convert_with_config
from md2typst.config import Config

config = Config(parser="marko", plugins=["gfm"])
typst = convert_with_config("| A | B |\n|---|---|\n| 1 | 2 |", config)

Supported Parsers

Parser CLI Name Description
markdown-it-py markdown-it Default. CommonMark compliant, extensible
mistune mistune Fast, pure Python
marko marko CommonMark compliant, extensible

All parsers have GFM extensions (tables, strikethrough, footnotes) enabled by default.

Markdown to Typst Mapping

Markdown Typst
# Heading = Heading
## Heading 2 == Heading 2
*italic* _italic_
**bold** *bold*
~~strike~~ #strike[strike]
`code` `code`
[text](url) #link("url")[text]
![alt](url) #image("url", alt: "alt")
> quote #block(...)[quote]
$E=mc^2$ #mi("E=mc^2")
$$...\int...$$ #mitex(\...`)`
--- #line(length: 100%)
GFM tables #table(...)
text[^1] / [^1]: note text#footnote[note]
```mermaid #mermaid("...")
```diagram #block(breakable: false)[...]
[TOC] #outline(indent: auto, depth: 4)

Configuration

Configuration is loaded from multiple sources (highest priority first):

  1. CLI arguments (--parser, --plugin, ...)
  2. Front matter in the document
  3. Explicit config file (--config path/to/config.toml)
  4. md2typst.toml in the current or parent directories
  5. [tool.md2typst] section in pyproject.toml
  6. User config at ~/.config/md2typst/config.toml (platform-specific via platformdirs)
  7. Built-in defaults

Styling with [style]

The [style] section customizes Typst's default output. Set your preferred font, language, and page layout once in your user config — applied to every document you convert.

~/.config/md2typst/config.toml:

[style]
# Font as single string or a fallback list
font = ["Libertinus Serif", "New Computer Modern", "Times New Roman"]
font_size = "11pt"
language = "en"
paper = "a4"
margin = "2.5cm"

# Raw Typst code appended after structured fields
preamble = """
#set par(justify: true, first-line-indent: 1em)
#show heading.where(level: 1): it => { it; v(0.5em) }
"""

This generates at the top of every converted document:

#set text(font: ("Libertinus Serif", "New Computer Modern", "Times New Roman"), size: 11pt, lang: "en")
#set page(paper: "a4", margin: 2.5cm)

#set par(justify: true, first-line-indent: 1em)
#show heading.where(level: 1): it => { it; v(0.5em) }

Example Configuration

md2typst.toml (project-level, overrides user config):

parser = "mistune"
plugins = ["strikethrough", "table"]

[parser_options]
html = true

[style]
language = "fr"

pyproject.toml:

[tool.md2typst]
parser = "markdown-it"
plugins = ["gfm"]

Front Matter

Markdown files can include YAML front matter. Any field is exposed as a #let doc-<key> variable in Typst, except reserved keys with special handling:

  • preamble — raw Typst code, concatenated with config style.preamble
  • stylesheet / stylesheets — additional Typst modules to import
  • font, font_size, language, paper, margin — override the corresponding [style] fields at document level
---
title: My Document
author: Jane Doe
language: fr          # overrides config style.language
font: EB Garamond     # overrides config style.font
stylesheet: my-style
preamble: |
  #set par(justify: true)
  #show heading.where(level: 1): it => { it; v(0.5em) }
---

# Hello World

This generates:

#let doc-title = "My Document"
#let doc-author = "Jane Doe"

#import "my-style.typ": *

#set text(font: "EB Garamond", lang: "fr")

#set par(justify: true)
#show heading.where(level: 1): it => { it; v(0.5em) }

= Hello World

The output ordering is: variables, stylesheet imports, package imports, #set directives from [style], preamble, then content.

Math

Dollar-sign math syntax is enabled by default (markdown-it and mistune parsers). The mitex package import is added automatically when math is detected.

Inline: $E = mc^2$

Display:
$$
\int_0^\infty e^{-x^2} dx = \frac{\sqrt{\pi}}{2}
$$

Mermaid Diagrams

Fenced code blocks with language mermaid are converted to native Typst diagrams using the mmdr package. The import is added automatically.

```mermaid
graph LR
    A[Start] --> B{Decision}
    B -->|Yes| C[OK]
    B -->|No| D[End]
```

Diagram Blocks

Use ```diagram for ASCII-art or box-drawing diagrams that must not break across pages:

```diagram
┌──────────┐       ┌──────────┐
│  Client  │──────▶│  Server  │
└──────────┘       └──────────┘
```

The content is wrapped in #block(breakable: false) in the Typst output.

Document Classes

md2typst supports named document classes inspired by LaTeX (article, report, book). Each class provides a complete set of Typst styling rules.

Select a class via front matter, CLI, or config:

---
class: report
title: My Report
---
md2pdf --class book input.md
# In md2typst.toml or ~/.config/md2typst/config.toml
default_class = "article"
Class Title Sections Page breaks TOC
article Inline on first page Numbered, no breaks None Inline
report Centered with rule Numbered (skip h1), breaks before ## Before sections Own page
book Full title page "Chapter N" for h1, numbered Chapters on odd pages Odd page

Classes are defined in [classes.<name>] config sections. The class preamble replaces the base [style] preamble; scalar fields (font, paper, etc.) are inherited unless overridden.

Title Block

When title metadata is present in front matter, a title block is automatically generated. Each document class formats it differently.

---
title: My Document
subtitle: A Technical Overview
author: Jane Doe
date: April 2026
version: "1.0"
publisher: Acme Corp
---

Supported fields: title, subtitle, author, authors, date, version, publisher. Classes define a doc-make-title() function in their preamble to customize the title formatting.

Table of Contents

Place [TOC] on its own line to generate a table of contents:

[TOC]

## Introduction
...

CLI Options

md2typst --help

Options:
  -o, --output FILE      Output file (default: <input>.typ, or stdout for stdin)
  -p, --parser NAME      Parser to use (markdown-it, mistune, marko)
  --class NAME           Document class (article, report, book)
  --plugin NAME          Load parser plugin (can be repeated)
  --stylesheet NAME      Import Typst stylesheet (can be repeated)
  --config FILE          Path to configuration file
  --list-parsers         List available parsers
  --show-config          Show effective configuration
  --debug                Show debug info (config sources, generated Typst)

Development

Setup

git clone https://github.com/user/md2typst.git
cd md2typst
uv sync

Running Tests

# Run all tests (benchmarks skipped by default)
uv run pytest

# Run by category
uv run pytest -m unit          # Unit tests (fast)
uv run pytest -m integration   # Integration tests
uv run pytest -m e2e          # End-to-end tests
uv run pytest -m benchmark    # Benchmark tests

Test Structure

tests/
├── a_unit/           # Unit tests (AST, generator)
├── b_integration/    # Integration tests (parsers, config, TCK)
├── c_e2e/           # End-to-end tests
├── d_benchmark/     # Performance benchmarks
└── fixtures/        # Test fixtures (CommonMark, GFM)

Sample Documents

The samples/ directory contains example documents for each class with a local config and Makefile:

cd samples
make all    # Build article.pdf, report.pdf, book.pdf
make clean  # Remove generated files

Code Quality

# Type checking
uv run mypy src/

# Linting
uv run ruff check src/

# Formatting
uv run ruff format src/

Architecture

Markdown Input → Parser → AST → Generator → Typst Output

The converter uses a parser-agnostic AST (Abstract Syntax Tree) that decouples parsing from code generation. This allows:

  • Swapping parsers without changing the generator
  • Consistent output regardless of parser choice
  • Easy extension with new parsers

License

MIT

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please:

  1. Fork the repository
  2. Create a feature branch
  3. Add tests for new functionality
  4. Ensure all tests pass
  5. Submit a pull request

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