TeXDown.jl

TeXDown converts Markdown files into nicely formatted PDFs via LaTeX. It solves two problems:

1. Human-readable LaTeX output. Unlike Pandoc, TeXDown produces LaTeX that looks like something you'd write yourself—easy to edit or share.
2. Direct Markdown-to-PDF. Go from a todo list in Markdown to a printable PDF without touching LaTeX.

TeXDown is a lightweight wrapper around CommonMark.jl that cleans up LaTeX artifacts and adds preamble templates for common use cases: research notes, todo lists, and recipes.

See the examples folder for sample output.

Installation

1. Install Julia

Download from julialang.org.

2. Install TeXDown

using Pkg
Pkg.add(url="https://github.com/johngolden/TeXDown.jl")

3. Install LaTeX

Via Homebrew:

brew install --cask mactex-no-gui

4. Add CLI to PATH (optional)

ln -s /path/to/TeXDown.jl/bin/texdown /usr/local/bin/texdown

Usage

Command Line

texdown "My Todo.md"                    # PDF with todo_list template (default)
texdown pdf "Notes.md" research_note    # PDF with specific template
texdown tex "Notes.md"                  # LaTeX only

Templates: todo_list (default), research_note, recipe

In todo lists, any bullet marker (*, -, +) renders as an empty checkbox, and GitHub-style task syntax is supported: - [x] renders as a checked box. Links, images, tables, and code blocks compile out of the box.

Apple Shortcuts

Right-click a Markdown file → Quick Actions → select a TeXDown shortcut. First-time use requires granting permissions.

Tip: Assign a keyboard shortcut (e.g., Option-Shift-P) via Shortcuts app → open shortcut → click "ℹ︎" → set "Run with:".

Markdown to PDF: Todo list · Research note · Recipe

Markdown to LaTeX: Todo list · Research note · Recipe · No Preamble

Recipe utilities: Combine recipe PDFs — combines 8.5"×5.5" recipe PDFs for printing on letter paper.

VSCode

Add to .vscode/tasks.json:

{
  "version": "2.0.0",
  "tasks": [{
    "label": "TeXDown: Generate PDF",
    "type": "shell",
    "command": "texdown",
    "args": ["pdf", "${file}"],
    "group": "build",
    "problemMatcher": []
  }]
}

Add keybinding in ~/Library/Application Support/Code/User/keybindings.json:

{
  "key": "cmd+shift+t",
  "command": "workbench.action.tasks.runTask",
  "args": "TeXDown: Generate PDF",
  "when": "editorLangId == markdown"
}

Obsidian

Install Shell commands plugin, then add:

texdown pdf "{{file_path:absolute}}"

Assign a hotkey in plugin settings.

Julia API

make_tex(md_content)              # Markdown string or file → LaTeX (no preamble)
make_tex(md_content, template)    # With preamble template
make_pdf(md_file, template)       # Compile to PDF, clean up aux files, open