Snippets

A snippet is a macro that automatically fills in text based on a trigger. For instance, you can type dint and Texpile will automatically fill in \int_{0}^{1} \, \mathrm{d}x, or however it is defined. Snippets work in the source editor, and only in the equations in the visual editor.

Folder snippets are stored in the .texpile folder and are shared with collaborators through Git and real-time collaboration. Global snippets store your own snippets, which are not shared with anyone. If there are conflicts, Texpile follows the order of folder > global > built-in snippets. If you are a guest, you can turn off snippets via Preferences › Snippets.

An example of a snippet file

{
	"v": 1,
	"snippets": {
		"name of the snippet": {
			"prefix": "dint",
			"context": "math",
			"auto": true,
			"body": {
				"latex": "\\int_{${1:0}}^{${2:1}} $3 \\, \\mathrm{d}${4:x}$0",
				"typst": "integral_(${1:0})^(${2:1}) $3 dif ${4:x}$0"
			}
		}
	}
}

Texpile extends upon VS Code's snippet system and is compatible with VS Code's snippets.

The file

Field	Type	Default	Description
v	1	1	The file version.
snippets	{ "snippet name": snippet }	none	Required. Every snippet, under its name. The popup and the math search show each snippet by its name.
variables	{ "NAME": string }, or one string per language as { "latex", "typst", "markdown" }	none	Lists for ${NAME} in regex triggers, written as alternatives such as "a|b". See Regex triggers.

A file from VS Code, with its snippets at the top level and no snippets field, works as it is. Comments and trailing commas are allowed.

A snippet

One item in snippets.

Field	Type	Default	Description
prefix	string or string[]	none	The trigger. Required, unless the entry has a key.
body	string, or { "latex", "typst", "markdown" }	none	The text inserted, one for every language or one per language. With a math context, Markdown uses the latex body when markdown is missing.
description	string	none	Shown beside the popup.
scope	"latex", "typst", "markdown", or several joined with commas	all three	The languages the snippet works in.
context	"math", "inline-math", "display-math", "text", "code", "any"	"any"	Where the trigger fires. code is Typst only, inside #{ }.
auto	boolean	false	true expands as soon as you type the trigger. false waits in the popup for Enter.
word	boolean	false, true for Typst auto	Fires only at the start of a word.
regex	boolean	false	Reads the prefix as a regular expression. See Regex triggers.
flags	string of i, u	""	Regular expression flags.
priority	number	0	When several snippets match, the higher one wins.
key	string, such as "Mod-Shift-o"	none	A keyboard shortcut that runs the snippet in the source editor. Mod is Ctrl, or Cmd on macOS.
disabled	boolean	false	true turns off the global or built-in snippet of the same name.

Syntax and variables

Every rule and variable Texpile reads. All of them go in a snippet's body, except the one marked for a regex prefix.

Syntax	Result
$1, $2	Places Tab moves through, in order. The same number twice is one place: it starts with the first default given for it, and what you type goes into every copy.
${1:text}	A place that starts with text selected.
$0	Where the cursor ends. The end of the body by default.
${1|one,two|}	A place with a list to pick from.
${1:outer ${2:inner}}	A place inside a place. Tab visits the outer one, then the inner one. Typing over the outer one removes the inner one.
${1/regex/format/flags}	A copy of place 1, changed when Tab leaves the place: regex is matched against it and replaced with format. flags are regular expression flags, such as g.
$1, ${1} in a format	What group 1 of regex matched.
${1:/upcase} in a format	Group 1 changed. /upcase, /downcase, /capitalize, /camelcase, /pascalcase, /snakecase and /kebabcase.
${1:+yes} in a format	yes when group 1 matched.
${1:-no} in a format	no when group 1 matched nothing.
${1:?yes:no} in a format	yes when group 1 matched, no otherwise.
$NAME, ${NAME}	The value of the variable NAME, from the list below.
${NAME:text}	The value of NAME, or text when it is empty.
${NAME/regex/format/flags}	The value of NAME, changed as for a place.
$other	Any name that is not a variable becomes a place holding the name.
TM_SELECTED_TEXT, SELECTION	The selected text when the snippet runs from its key, with its own indentation. With several selections, each one gets its own copy.
TM_CURRENT_LINE	The text of the line the cursor is on.
TM_CURRENT_WORD	The word at the cursor.
TM_LINE_INDEX	The line number, counted from 0.
TM_LINE_NUMBER	The line number, counted from 1.
CURSOR_INDEX	With several cursors, which one this is, counted from 0.
CURSOR_NUMBER	With several cursors, which one this is, counted from 1.
TM_FILENAME	The file name, such as main.tex.
TM_FILENAME_BASE	The file name without its extension, such as main.
TM_FILEPATH	The full path of the file.
RELATIVE_FILEPATH	The path of the file inside the folder.
TM_DIRECTORY	The full path of the file's folder.
TM_DIRECTORY_BASE	The name of the file's folder.
WORKSPACE_NAME	The name of the open folder.
WORKSPACE_FOLDER	The full path of the open folder.
CLIPBOARD	Always empty.
CURRENT_YEAR	2026
CURRENT_YEAR_SHORT	26
CURRENT_MONTH	01 to 12
CURRENT_MONTH_NAME	January
CURRENT_MONTH_NAME_SHORT	Jan
CURRENT_DATE	The day of the month, 01 to 31.
CURRENT_DAY_NAME	Monday
CURRENT_DAY_NAME_SHORT	Mon
CURRENT_HOUR	00 to 23
CURRENT_MINUTE	00 to 59
CURRENT_SECOND	00 to 59
CURRENT_MILLISECOND	000 to 999
CURRENT_SECONDS_UNIX	Seconds since 1 January 1970.
CURRENT_MILLISECONDS_UNIX	Milliseconds since 1 January 1970.
CURRENT_TIMEZONE_OFFSET	Such as +02:00.
CURRENT_TIMEZONE_NAME	Such as Europe/Paris.
RANDOM	Six random digits.
RANDOM_HEX	Six random hexadecimal digits.
UUID	A random UUID.
LINE_COMMENT	% in LaTeX, // in Typst. Empty in Markdown.
BLOCK_COMMENT_START	/* in Typst, <!-- in Markdown. Empty in LaTeX.
BLOCK_COMMENT_END	*/ in Typst, --> in Markdown. Empty in LaTeX.
[[0]], [[1]]	What the groups of a regex prefix matched. See Regex triggers.
${NAME} in a regex prefix	Any name from "variables", as alternatives. ${GREEK} (Greek letter names) and ${SYMBOL} (symbol names such as infty and nabla) are built in.
\$, \}, \\	A plain $, } or \. LaTeX and Typst use $ for math, so a body that inserts $…$ needs \$.
A new line in body	Takes the indentation of the line the snippet starts on. A tab at the start of a body line adds one indentation step.

Regex triggers

With "regex": true, the prefix is a regular expression matched against the text you just typed, up to the cursor. [[0]], [[1]] in the body insert what its groups matched. Regex triggers require "auto": true.

"Subscript": {
	"prefix": "([A-Za-z])(\\d)",
	"regex": true,
	"auto": true,
	"context": "math",
	"body": { "latex": "[[0]]_{[[1]]}", "typst": "[[0]]_[[1]]" }
}

Regex patterns are run per keystroke. As such, a horribly written one can freeze the editor.

Visual editor math equations

Auto snippets will trigger in visual editor math. Pressing Ctrl Space will open up the math search menu, in which you can search for your snippets.

Built-in snippets

Texpile has some built-in snippets:

Trigger	LaTeX	Typst
@.	\cdot	dot.op
@*	\times	times
@/	\frac{}{}	()/()
@8	\infty	oo
@0	^\circ	degree
@6	\partial	partial
@-	\bigcap	inter.big
@=	\equiv	equiv
@<	\leq	lt.eq
@>	\geq	gt.eq
@a	\alpha	alpha
@b	\beta	beta
@g	\gamma	gamma
@d	\delta	delta
@e	\epsilon	epsilon.alt
@l	\lambda	lambda
@s	\sigma	sigma
@p	\pi	pi
@o	\omega	omega
@^	\hat{}	hat()
@_	\bar{}	macron()
@%	\frac{}{}	()/()
@@	\circ	compose
@;	\dot{}	dot()
@:	\ddot{}	dot.double()
@2	\sqrt{}	sqrt()
@I	\int_{}^{}	integral_()^()
@|	\Big|
@+	\bigcup	union.big
@,	\nonumber
@c	\chi	chi
@ve	\varepsilon	epsilon
@f	\phi	phi.alt
@vf	\varphi	phi
@h	\eta	eta
@i	\iota	iota
@k	\kappa	kappa
@m	\mu	mu
@n	\nu	nu
@vp	\varpi	pi.alt
@q	\theta	theta
@vq	\vartheta	theta.alt
@r	\rho	rho
@vr	\varrho	rho.alt
@vs	\varsigma	sigma.alt
@t	\tau	tau
@u	\upsilon	upsilon
@&	\wedge	and
@x	\xi	xi
@y	\psi	psi
@z	\zeta	zeta
@D	\Delta	Delta
@F	\Phi	Phi
@G	\Gamma	Gamma
@Q	\Theta	Theta
@L	\Lambda	Lambda
@P	\Pi	Pi
@X	\Xi	Xi
@Y	\Psi	Psi
@S	\Sigma	Sigma
@U	\Upsilon	Upsilon
@W	\Omega	Omega
@(	\left( \right)	lr(( ))
@{	\left\{ \right\}	lr({ })
@[	\left[ \right]	lr([ ])

You can turn them off by adding "disabled": true:

{
	"v": 1,
	"snippets": {
		"@a": { "disabled": true }
	}
}

Errors

Texpile skips broken entries and loads the rest of the file.

Message	Fix
The file is not valid JSON: line 5, column 24 (…)	Fix the JSON near that line and column, usually a missing comma or quotation mark. Until then, Texpile keeps using the last version that loaded.
The file needs to start with { and end with }.	Put the entries inside one pair of braces.
Unsupported file version ("v": 2).	A newer Texpile wrote the file. Update Texpile, or set "v": 1.
Each entry needs to be in { }, like "Name": { "prefix": "ff", "body": "text" }.	Write the entry as a name followed by its fields in braces.
Has no "body", the text it inserts.	Add a body.
"body" needs to be text in quotes, or one text each for "latex", "typst" and "markdown".	Write body as a string, or as an object of strings.
"body" has "…", which is not a language. Use "latex", "typst" or "markdown".	Use latex, typst or markdown as the names inside body.
The … "body" needs to be text in quotes.	Write that language's body as a string.
Has no "prefix", the text you type to use it.	Add a prefix or a key.
"prefix" needs to be text in quotes, or a list of them in [ ].	Write prefix as a string or a string[].
"scope" needs to be text naming languages, like "latex,typst".	Write scope as a string.
"context" needs to be one of "math", "inline-math", "display-math", "text", "code", "any".	Use one of the listed values.
"…" needs to be true or false, without quotes.	Write auto, word, regex or disabled as true or false.
"flags" can only hold i (ignore case) and u (Unicode).	Remove the other letters.
"priority" needs to be a number, without quotes.	Remove the quotes.
"key" needs to be text, like "Mod-Shift-o".	Write key as a string.
"description" needs to be text in quotes.	Write description as a string.
The "prefix" pattern is not a valid regular expression (…).	Fix the pattern. The text in brackets says what is wrong.
A "regex" pattern needs "auto": true as well, because patterns only expand as you type.	Add "auto": true.
The pattern uses ${NAME}, but "variables" has no NAME for latex. Add it there, or take it out of the pattern.	Add the list under variables, or take it out of the pattern.
Needs to be in { }, with a named list in each entry.	Write variables as an object of named lists.
Needs to be text, or one text per language.	Write the variable as a string, or as an object of strings.

Warnings

A snippet with a warning still loads and works, but most likely will not work right.

Message	Fix
"dif" is already a word in Typst math, so with this snippet a plain dif can no longer be typed in an equation. Pick another trigger.	Pick another trigger, or limit the snippet to LaTeX with "scope": "latex".