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https://github.com/micromark/micromark-extension-math

micromark extension to support math (`$C_L$`)
https://github.com/micromark/micromark-extension-math

katex latex math micromark micromark-extension tex

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micromark extension to support math (`$C_L$`)

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# micromark-extension-math



[![Build][build-badge]][build]

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[micromark][] extensions to support math (`$C_L$`).



## Contents



* [What is this?](#what-is-this)

* [When to use this](#when-to-use-this)

* [Install](#install)

* [Use](#use)

* [API](#api)

  * [`math(options?)`](#mathoptions)

  * [`mathHtml(options?)`](#mathhtmloptions)

  * [`HtmlOptions`](#htmloptions)

  * [`Options`](#options)

* [Authoring](#authoring)

* [HTML](#html)

* [CSS](#css)

* [Syntax](#syntax)

* [Types](#types)

* [Compatibility](#compatibility)

* [Security](#security)

* [Related](#related)

* [Contribute](#contribute)

* [License](#license)



## What is this?



This package contains two extensions that add support for math syntax

in markdown to [`micromark`][micromark].



As there is no spec for math in markdown, this extension follows how code

(fenced and text) works in Commonmark, but uses dollars.



## When to use this



This project is useful when you want to support math in markdown.

Extending markdown with a syntax extension makes the markdown less portable.

LaTeX equations are also quite hard.

But this mechanism works well when you want authors, that have some LaTeX

experience, to be able to embed rich diagrams of math in scientific text.



You can use these extensions when you are working with [`micromark`][micromark]

already.



When you need a syntax tree, you can combine this package with

[`mdast-util-math`][mdast-util-math].



All these packages are used [`remark-math`][remark-math], which focusses on

making it easier to transform content by abstracting these internals away.



## Install



This package is [ESM only][esm].

In Node.js (version 16+), install with [npm][]:



[npm][]:



```sh

npm install micromark-extension-math

```



In Deno with [`esm.sh`][esmsh]:



```js

import {math, mathHtml} from 'https://esm.sh/micromark-extension-math@3'

```



In browsers with [`esm.sh`][esmsh]:



```html



  import {math, mathHtml} from 'https://esm.sh/micromark-extension-math@3?bundle'



```



## Use



Say our document `example.md` contains:



```markdown

Lift($L$) can be determined by Lift Coefficient ($C_L$) like the following equation.



$$

L = \frac{1}{2} \rho v^2 S C_L

$$

```



…and our module `example.js` looks as follows:



```js

import fs from 'node:fs/promises'

import {micromark} from 'micromark'

import {math, mathHtml} from 'micromark-extension-math'



const output = micromark(await fs.readFile('example.md'), {

  extensions: [math()],

  htmlExtensions: [mathHtml()]

})



console.log(output)

```



…now running `node example.js` yields (abbreviated):



```html

Lift(…) can be determined by Lift Coefficient (…) like the following equation.


…


```



## API



This package exports the identifiers [`math`][api-math] and

[`mathHtml`][api-math-html].

There is no default export.



The export map supports the [`development` condition][development].

Run `node --conditions development module.js` to get instrumented dev code.

Without this condition, production code is loaded.



### `math(options?)`



Create an extension for `micromark` to enable math syntax.



###### Parameters



* `options` ([`Options`][api-options], default: `{}`)

  — configuration



###### Returns



Extension for `micromark` that can be passed in `extensions`, to enable math

syntax ([`Extension`][micromark-extension]).



### `mathHtml(options?)`



Create an extension for `micromark` to support math when serializing to HTML.



> 👉 **Note**: this uses KaTeX to render math.



###### Parameters



* `options` ([`HtmlOptions`][api-html-options], default: `{}`)

  — configuration



###### Returns



Extension for `micromark` that can be passed in `htmlExtensions`, to support

math when serializing to HTML ([`HtmlExtension`][micromark-html-extension]).



### `HtmlOptions`



Configuration for HTML output (optional).



> 👉 **Note**: passed to [`katex.renderToString`][katex-options].

> `displayMode` is overwritten by this plugin, to `false` for math in text

> (inline), and `true` for math in flow (block).



###### Type



```ts

type Options = Omit

```



### `Options`



Configuration (TypeScript type).



###### Fields



* `singleDollarTextMath` (`boolean`, default: `true`)

  — whether to support math (text, inline) with a single dollar.

  Single dollars work in Pandoc and many other places, but often interfere

  with “normal” dollars in text.

  If you turn this off, you use two or more dollars for text math.



## Authoring



When authoring markdown with math, keep in mind that math doesn’t work in most

places.

Notably, GitHub currently has a really weird crappy client-side regex-based

thing.

But on your own (math-heavy?) site it can be great!

You can use code (fenced) with an info string of `math` to improve this, as

that works in many places.



## HTML



Math (flow) does not relate to HTML elements.

`MathML`, which is sort of like SVG but for math, exists but it doesn’t work

well and isn’t widely supported.

Instead, this uses [KaTeX][], which generates MathML as a fallback but also

generates a bunch of divs and spans so math look pretty.

The KaTeX result is wrapped in `
` (for flow, block) and `` (for text,

inline) elements, with two classes: `math` and either `math-display` or

`math-inline`.



When turning markdown into HTML, each line ending in math (text) is turned

into a space.



## CSS



The HTML produced by KaTeX requires CSS to render correctly.

You should use `katex.css` somewhere on the page where the math is shown to

style it properly.

At the time of writing, the last version is:



```html



```



## Syntax



Math forms with the following BNF:



```abnf

; Restriction: the number of markers in the closing sequence must be equal

; to the number of markers in the opening sequence.

mathText ::= sequenceText 1*byte sequenceText

mathFlow ::= fenceOpen *( eol *line ) [ eol fenceClose ]



; Restriction: not preceded or followed by the marker.

sequenceText ::= 1*"$"



fenceOpen ::= sequenceFlow meta

; Restriction: the number of markers in the closing fence sequence must be

; equal to or greater than the number of markers in the opening fence

; sequence.

fenceClose ::= sequenceFlow *spaceOrTab

sequenceFlow ::= 2*"$"

; Restriction: the marker cannot occur in `meta`

meta ::= 1*line



; Character groups for informational purposes.

byte ::= %x00-FFFF

eol ::= "\n" | "\r" | "\r\n"

line ::= byte - eol

```



The above grammar shows that it is not possible to create empty math (text).

It is possible to include the sequence marker (dollar) in math (text), by

wrapping it in bigger or smaller sequences:



```markdown

Include more: $a$$b$ or include less: $$a$b$$.

```



It is also possible to include just one marker:



```markdown

Include just one: $$ $ $$.

```



Sequences are “gready”, in that they cannot be preceded or followed by more

markers.

To illustrate:



```markdown

Not math: $$x$.



Not math: $x$$.



Escapes work, this is math: \$$x$.



Escapes work, this is math: $x$\$.

```



Yields:



```html

Not math: $$x$.


Not math: $x$$.


Escapes work, this is math: $….


Escapes work, this is math: …$.


```



That is because, when turning markdown into HTML, the first and last space,

if both exist and there is also a non-space in the math, are removed.

Line endings, at that stage, are considered as spaces.



As the math (flow) construct occurs in flow, like all flow constructs, it must

be followed by an eol (line ending) or eof (end of file).



The above grammar does not show how indentation of each line is handled.

To parse math (flow), let `x` be the number of `space_or_tab` characters

before the opening fence sequence, after interpreting tabs based on how many

virtual spaces they represent.

Each line of text is then allowed (not required) to be indented with up

to `x` spaces or tabs, which are then ignored as an indent instead of being

considered as part of the content.

This indent does not affect the closing fence.

It can be indented up to a separate 3 real or virtual spaces.

A bigger indent makes it part of the content instead of a fence.



The `meta` part is interpreted as the [string][micromark-content-types] content

type.

That means that character escapes and character references are allowed.



The optional `meta` part is ignored: it is not used when parsing or

rendering.



## Types



This package is fully typed with [TypeScript][].

It exports the additional types [`HtmlOptions`][api-html-options]

and [`Options`][api-options].



## Compatibility



Projects maintained by the unified collective are compatible with maintained

versions of Node.js.



When we cut a new major release, we drop support for unmaintained versions of

Node.

This means we try to keep the current release line,

`micromark-extension-math@^3`, compatible with Node.js 16.



This package works with `micromark` version `3` and later.



## Security



This package is safe assuming that you trust KaTeX.

Any vulnerability in it could open you to a [cross-site scripting (XSS)][xss]

attack.



## Related



* [`remark-math`][remark-math]

  — remark (and rehype) plugins to support math

* [`mdast-util-math`][mdast-util-math]

  — mdast utility to support math



## Contribute



See [`contributing.md` in `micromark/.github`][contributing] for ways to get

started.

See [`support.md`][support] for ways to get help.



This project has a [code of conduct][coc].

By interacting with this repository, organization, or community you agree to

abide by its terms.



## License



[MIT][license] © [Titus Wormer][author]



[build-badge]: https://github.com/micromark/micromark-extension-math/workflows/main/badge.svg



[build]: https://github.com/micromark/micromark-extension-math/actions



[coverage-badge]: https://img.shields.io/codecov/c/github/micromark/micromark-extension-math.svg



[coverage]: https://codecov.io/github/micromark/micromark-extension-math



[downloads-badge]: https://img.shields.io/npm/dm/micromark-extension-math.svg



[downloads]: https://www.npmjs.com/package/micromark-extension-math



[size-badge]: https://img.shields.io/badge/dynamic/json?label=minzipped%20size&query=$.size.compressedSize&url=https://deno.bundlejs.com/?q=micromark-extension-math



[size]: https://bundlejs.com/?q=micromark-extension-math



[sponsors-badge]: https://opencollective.com/unified/sponsors/badge.svg



[backers-badge]: https://opencollective.com/unified/backers/badge.svg



[collective]: https://opencollective.com/unified



[chat-badge]: https://img.shields.io/badge/chat-discussions-success.svg



[chat]: https://github.com/micromark/micromark/discussions



[npm]: https://docs.npmjs.com/cli/install



[esmsh]: https://esm.sh



[license]: license



[author]: https://wooorm.com



[contributing]: https://github.com/micromark/.github/blob/main/contributing.md



[support]: https://github.com/micromark/.github/blob/main/support.md



[coc]: https://github.com/micromark/.github/blob/main/code-of-conduct.md



[esm]: https://gist.github.com/sindresorhus/a39789f98801d908bbc7ff3ecc99d99c



[typescript]: https://www.typescriptlang.org



[development]: https://nodejs.org/api/packages.html#packages_resolving_user_conditions



[micromark]: https://github.com/micromark/micromark



[micromark-content-types]: https://github.com/micromark/micromark#content-types



[micromark-html-extension]: https://github.com/micromark/micromark#htmlextension



[micromark-extension]: https://github.com/micromark/micromark#syntaxextension



[mdast-util-math]: https://github.com/syntax-tree/mdast-util-math



[remark-math]: https://github.com/remarkjs/remark-math



[katex]: https://katex.org



[katex-options]: https://katex.org/docs/options.html



[xss]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross-site_scripting



[api-math]: #mathoptions



[api-math-html]: #mathhtmloptions



[api-options]: #options



[api-html-options]: #htmloptions