Typst Studio

typst-studio

_{TYPST INSIDE YOUR VAULT}
Edit and preview .typ files in Obsidian, and export Markdown notes to PDF through a Typst template.

A .typ file opens in a split editor: source on the left, the compiled PDF on the right, re-rendered on Compile or Cmd/Ctrl+S. A Markdown note is converted by pandoc, wrapped in a Typst template and compiled to PDF, with wiki links, callouts, task lists and mermaid diagrams carried across. Without a template of your own, a small bundled one is used.

The plugin shells out to local binaries, which is why it is desktop only:

Binary	Needed for
typst	everything
pandoc	Markdown → PDF
mmdc	```mermaid fences; optional, they stay code blocks without it

Each must be on your PATH or set in the plugin settings.

Install

In Obsidian, Settings → Community plugins → Browse, search for Typst Studio and enable it. Or download main.js, manifest.json and styles.css from the latest release into <vault>/.obsidian/plugins/typst-studio/.

Export

Run Typst Studio: Export current file to PDF from the command palette, the ribbon icon, or a file's context menu. A .typ file is compiled as-is, with --root set to the common ancestor of the file and the configured template so it can #import the template from anywhere on disk. A .md note goes through:

strip frontmatter → pandoc --to typst → #import "<template>": * → #show: <fn>.with(<args>) → typst compile

The wrapper .typ and any diagram SVGs are written beside the note (they must sit under the compile root) and deleted afterwards. On the way through, four Obsidian constructs are translated so they survive into the PDF:

In the note	In the PDF
[[note#heading|alias]]	a clickable obsidian://open link back into the vault
> [!warning] Title	#admonition("warning", title: [Title]), body still Markdown
- [ ] / - [x]	#task-list[...], a checkbox instead of a bullet
```mermaid	an SVG figure rendered by mmdc; wider than 1.9:1 pads into the margins

A fence that fails to render stays a code block and is reported in a notice; a broken diagram never fails the export.

Frontmatter becomes template arguments. The Template arguments setting is appended after these and wins on conflict:

Frontmatter	Argument
title	title: [...]
subtitle	subtitle: "..."
eyebrow / category	eyebrow: "..."
author (else Default author)	meta: (("Author", ...),)
date	meta: (("Date", ...),)
version	meta: (("Version", ...),)

Settings

Setting	Default
Typst / Pandoc binary	typst / pandoc	executable path, or the name on PATH
Mermaid CLI binary	mmdc	empty leaves mermaid fences as code
Browser for Mermaid	—	Chrome/Chromium for mmdc; empty uses puppeteer's own download
Mermaid config	—	JSON merged over the neutral theme; htmlLabels is always forced off
Template path	—	a .typ file or a directory holding one; empty uses the bundled template
Template function	—	your template's show-rule function; ignored for the bundled one
Template arguments	—	extra Typst args for .with(...)
Default author	—	used when frontmatter has no author:
Output directory	—	empty writes the PDF beside the source; relative paths resolve against the vault
Open PDF after compile	on	opens in the system viewer
Open .typ files in the Typst editor	on	the split view; needs a restart

Templates

The Markdown export emits calls to four names, so a template must define all of them. src/template.typ is the bundled version:

Name	Called for
the show-rule function	the document; takes title, subtitle, eyebrow, meta, body
admonition(kind, title: none, body)	callouts
task-list(body)	task lists
styled-enum-numbering(pattern)	lettered and roman lists

Development

mise run setup    # toolchain, deps, git hooks, verify
mise run dev      # watch-build main.js
mise run check    # what CI runs: format, lint, typecheck, build

Symlink this directory to <vault>/.obsidian/plugins/typst-studio/ and enable the plugin. An empty .hotreload file plus the Hot-Reload plugin reloads it on every rebuild.

Release

npm version 0.2.0         # bumps package.json, manifest.json, versions.json; tags without a v
git push --follow-tags    # the tag builds a draft GitHub release with the plugin files

Publish the draft from the Releases page once reviewed.

License

MIT