latex-forge 0.8.0

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Write your document. Save. Your PDF appears. That's it.

Quick start • Templates • Profile • Build • Help • Commands • VS Code extension

What is LaTeX Forge?

You need to hand in a report, a CV, or a paper in LaTeX, and you'd rather spend your time writing than fighting with packages, compilers, and configuration.

LaTeX Forge is a small tool you install once. One command then creates a complete, ready-to-write document project: the folder structure, the styles, the bibliography setup, and a pre-configured VS Code workspace. Open it, type, save: the PDF rebuilds automatically in a side panel.

No LaTeX knowledge required to get started. And if you already live in a terminal, everything is scriptable.

Quick start

# 1. install latex-forge and LaTeX (one time — no admin rights, no Python needed)
curl -LsSf https://raw.githubusercontent.com/thmsgo18/latex-forge/main/install.sh | sh

# 2. create your first project
latex-forge create --name my-report --template project-report-en

# 3. open it and start writing
code my-report

On Windows, step 1 is (in PowerShell):

powershell -ExecutionPolicy ByPass -c "irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/thmsgo18/latex-forge/main/install.ps1 | iex"

Using VS Code? Install the LaTeX Forge extension instead: it sets everything up in one click.

The installer gets uv (which brings its own Python), installs the latex-forge command with it, then asks which LaTeX distribution you want and checks that a test document compiles.

uv tool install latex-forge      # or: pipx install latex-forge  (Python 3.10+)
latex-forge setup                # installs LaTeX (asks which one) and checks it works

Features

• One-command projects: complete folder structure, embedded styles, zero external dependencies
• Live PDF preview: generated projects are pre-wired for LaTeX Workshop: save in VS Code, see the PDF
• Terminal compilation: latex-forge build and latex-forge watch work without any editor, and missing LaTeX packages, fonts and bibliography styles are installed automatically
• 80+ templates: CVs, theses, papers, posters, slides… installable from the gallery in one command, plus your own with --engine
• Your profile, auto-filled: set your name, email, and university once; every new project starts personalized
• Git-ready: latex-forge create --repo create initializes git and creates the GitHub repository for you
• Submission-ready exports: latex-forge export bundles your sources and PDF into a clean ZIP
• One-step setup, no admin rights: latex-forge setup installs LaTeX in your home folder and proves it works with a test compile; latex-forge diagnose tells you what's wrong
• AI-friendly: every project ships an AGENTS.md briefing so any AI assistant can contribute immediately
• Cross-platform: macOS, Linux, Windows

How it feels

Write on one side. See your document on the other. Every save refreshes the result.

Templates

Six templates are built in:

latex-forge list-templates

The gallery (80+ more)

Browse the template gallery with previews, then install any template in one command:

# install a template from the gallery
latex-forge template install https://github.com/thmsgo18/latex-forge-gallery/tree/main/templates/thesis/clean-thesis

# create a project from it
latex-forge create --template clean-thesis --name my-thesis

# manage installed templates
latex-forge template list
latex-forge template update          # pull new versions from the gallery
latex-forge template remove clean-thesis

You can also install your own templates from any GitHub repo, ZIP file, or local folder. The only requirement is a main.tex at the root:

latex-forge template install https://github.com/someone/their-template
latex-forge template install ~/my-templates/lab-notes --name lab-notes

# declare the LaTeX engine if the template doesn't already (pdflatex/xelatex/lualatex)
latex-forge template install https://github.com/someone/their-template --engine xelatex

See TEMPLATE_COMPATIBILITY.md for how to get profile auto-fill (name, email, university…) working with your own templates too.

Prefer clicking to typing? The VS Code extension has a built-in gallery browser with previews and one-click install.

Your profile

Tell LaTeX Forge who you are once, and every new project is pre-filled with your name, email, university, and more:

latex-forge profile set      # interactive: name, email, phone, university…
latex-forge profile show
latex-forge profile clear

Works with the built-in templates and the gallery ones (CVs get your contact details, reports get your university and supervisor).

Compile from the terminal

No VS Code? No problem.

latex-forge build            # compile once → build/<name>.pdf
latex-forge build --clean    # wipe build artifacts first
latex-forge watch            # recompile on every save (Ctrl+C to stop)

The right LaTeX engine is detected from the project itself: nothing to configure.

Usage

Interactive mode

$ latex-forge create

Project name: my-report
Available templates:
  1. blank
  2. cv-en
  3. cv-fr
  4. project-report-en
  5. project-report-fr
  6. research
Choose a template [1-6]: 4
Create project in [/Users/alice/Desktop]:

Project created: /Users/alice/Desktop/my-report
Open project in VS Code? [y/N]

With flags

latex-forge create --name my-report --template project-report-en
latex-forge create --name my-paper --template research --output ~/Desktop

Rename a project

latex-forge rename old-name new-name   # from the parent directory
latex-forge rename new-name            # from inside the project

Configuration

# ~/.latex-forge.toml
default_template = "project-report-en"
default_output_dir = "~/Documents/projects"

Shell completion

Tab completion for commands, flags, and template names for bash (~/.bashrc) or zsh (~/.zshrc):

eval "$(latex-forge completion)"

Filling in your project

Open frontmatter/metadata.tex to set the title, authors, and course:

\newcommand{\reporttitle}{Audio Fingerprinting Study}
\newcommand{\coursename}{Machine Learning}

\resetauthors
\addauthor{Alice Martin}{}
\addauthor{Bob Durand}{}

Save the main .tex file: the PDF rebuilds instantly in VS Code (or run latex-forge build).

Generated project structure

my-project/
├── my-project.tex            ← main file (named after the project)
├── frontmatter/
│   ├── metadata.tex          ← title, authors, course (start here)
│   └── toc.tex
├── sections/                 ← one .tex file per section
├── backmatter/               ← acknowledgements, appendices
├── bibliography/
│   └── references.bib
├── figures/  images/  assets/logos/
├── styles/packages/          ← embedded styles, no external dependency
├── .vscode/                  ← pre-configured for live PDF preview
├── GETTING_STARTED.md        ← guide for you
├── AGENTS.md                 ← briefing for AI assistants
└── .gitignore

The project is fully self-contained: it compiles, shares, and versions independently, with no dependency on this repository. Every project also ships AGENTS.md, a briefing that lets any AI assistant open the project cold and contribute correctly.

Need help?

Start with the doctor, which checks everything and tells you what to fix:

latex-forge diagnose

Command reference

Versioning your documents

Each project is self-contained, so you can version it independently:

cd my-project
git init && git add . && git commit -m "Initial report"

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md. The demo GIFs are generated with vhs: ./docs/demo/record.sh.

Related projects

• latex-forge-vscode: do everything from VS Code: create projects, browse the gallery with previews, one-click template install (no terminal needed)
• latex-forge-gallery: the curated template gallery (80+ templates) and its browsable website
• latex-forge-skill: a Claude skill that drives the whole workflow from a conversation: scaffold, write, build and export documents

Author

Made by thmsgo18