typst-py

Python binding to typst, a new markup-based typesetting system that is powerful and easy to learn.

Installation

Requires Python 3.9 or newer.

pip install typst

Usage

import datetime
import typst


# Compile `hello.typ` to PDF and save as `hello.pdf`
typst.compile("hello.typ", output="hello.pdf")

# Compile `hello.typ` to PNG and save as `hello.png`
typst.compile("hello.typ", output="hello.png", format="png", ppi=144.0)

# Or pass `hello.typ` content as bytes
with open("hello.typ", "rb") as f:
    typst.compile(f.read(), output="hello.pdf")

# Or return PDF content as bytes
pdf_bytes = typst.compile("hello.typ")

# Use a fixed creation timestamp for reproducible PDFs
timestamp = datetime.datetime.fromtimestamp(0, datetime.timezone.utc)
pdf_bytes = typst.compile("hello.typ", timestamp=timestamp)

# Also for svg
svg_bytes = typst.compile("hello.typ", format="svg")

# Typst 0.15 minifies PDF, SVG, and HTML by default; pass pretty=True for
# human-readable export output.
svg_bytes = typst.compile("hello.typ", format="svg", pretty=True)

# Multiple compatible PDF standards can be requested at once.
pdf_bytes = typst.compile("hello.typ", pdf_standards=["a-2a", "ua-1"])

# Skip PDF accessibility tags for smaller files, like the CLI's --no-pdf-tags.
# Tags cannot be disabled for PDF/A-1a, PDF/A-2a, PDF/A-3a, and PDF/UA-1.
pdf_bytes = typst.compile("hello.typ", pdf_tags=False)

# For multi-page export (the template is the same as the typst cli)
images = typst.compile("hello.typ", output="hello{n}.png", format="png")

# Or use Compiler class to avoid reinitialization
compiler = typst.Compiler()
compiler.compile(input="hello.typ", format="png", ppi=144.0)

# Query something
import json

values = json.loads(typst.query("hello.typ", "<note>", field="value", one=True))

# Or use Typst's newer eval-style query expression
values = json.loads(typst.eval("hello.typ", "query(<note>).first().value"))

Watch mode

Compiler.watch recompiles whenever the input or any file it depends on (imports, images, data files) changes, like typst watch. Keep the output open in a viewer next to your editor:

import typst

# Blocks until Ctrl-C. Compilation errors are printed and do not stop watching.
typst.Compiler("hello.typ").watch("hello.pdf")

It accepts the same output options as Compiler.compile.

Multi-file projects

You can compile multi-file Typst projects by passing a dictionary mapping filenames to their content as bytes. The entry point must be keyed as "main" or "main.typ" (if there is only one file, any key works):

import typst

files = {
    "main.typ": b'#import "lib.typ": greet\n= Hello\n#greet("World")',
    "lib.typ": b'#let greet(name) = [Hello, #name!]',
}

pdf = typst.compile(files, format="pdf")

This is useful when Typst sources are bundled as Python package resources:

import typst
import importlib.resources

files = {}
for filename in ["main.typ", "lib.typ", "utils.typ"]:
    files[filename] = importlib.resources.read_binary("mypackage.typst_files", filename)

pdf = typst.compile(files, format="pdf")

Dictionary values can also be file paths (as strings or Path objects), which will be read from disk.

Packages

Use package_path to point Typst at a local package directory and package_cache_path to control where downloaded @preview packages are cached:

import typst

pdf = typst.compile(
    "main.typ",
    package_path="vendor",
    package_cache_path="vendor",
)

Passing values

You can pass values to the compiled Typst file with the sys_inputs argument. For example:

import json
import typst

persons = [{"name": "John", "age": 35}, {"name": "Xoliswa", "age": 45}]
sys_inputs = {"persons": json.dumps(persons)}

typst.compile(input="main.typ", output="ages.pdf", sys_inputs=sys_inputs)

The following example shows how the passed data can be used in a Typst file.

#let persons = json(bytes(sys.inputs.persons))

#for person in persons [
  #person.name is #person.age years old. \
]

License

This work is released under the Apache-2.0 license. A copy of the license is provided in the LICENSE file.