Documentation

Snippets

Snippets are shortcuts that allow you to insert certain text based on certain triggers. The structure of a snippet is as follows:

{
  trigger: string | RegExp,
  replacement: string,
  options: string,
  priority?: number,
  description?: string,
  flags?: string,
}

trigger : The text that triggers this snippet.
- Triggers can also be regular expressions. See regex snippets.
replacement : The text to replace the trigger with.
- Replacements can also be JavaScript functions. See function snippets.
options : See below.
priority (optional): This snippet's priority. Snippets with higher priority are run first. Can be negative. Defaults to 0.
description (optional): A description for this snippet.
flags (optional): Flags for regex snippets.
- Not applicable to non-regex snippets.
- The following flags are permitted: i, m, s, u, v.

Options

t : Text mode. Only run this snippet outside math
m : Math mode. Only run this snippet inside math. Shorthand for both M and n
M : Block math mode. Only run this snippet inside a $$ ... $$ block
n : Inline math mode. Only run this snippet inside a $ ... $ block
A : Auto. Expand this snippet as soon as the trigger is typed. If omitted, the Tab key must be pressed to expand the snippet
r : Regex. The trigger will be treated as a regular expression
v : Visual. Only run this snippet on a selection. The trigger should be a single character
w : Word boundary. Only run this snippet when the trigger is preceded (and followed by) a word delimiter, such as ., ,, or -.
c : Code mode. Only run this snippet inside a ``` ... ``` block
- Languages using $ as part of their syntax won't trigger math mode while in their codeblock
- The math language from https://github.com/ocapraro/obsidian-math-plus doesn't trigger code mode, but block math mode instead

Multiple options can be used at once. As an exception, regex and visual are mutually exclusive.

No mode specified means that this snippet can be triggered at all times. Multiple modes specified mean that a snippet can be triggered in the given modes, independent of each other.

Tabstops

Insert tabstops for the cursor to jump to using $X, where X is a number starting from 0.
Pressing Tab will move the cursor to the next tabstop.
Tabstops can have placeholders. Use the format ${X:text}, where text is the text that will be selected by the cursor on moving to this tabstop.
Tabstops with the same number, X, will all be selected at the same time.

Examples

{trigger: "//", replacement: "\\frac{$0}{$1}$2", options: "mA"}

{trigger: "dint", replacement: "\\int_{${0:0}}^{${1:\\infty}} $2 d${3:x}", options: "mA"}

{trigger: "outp", replacement: "\\ket{${0:\\psi}} \\bra{${0:\\psi}} $1", options: "mA"}

Regex snippets

Regular expressions are sequences of characters that specify a match pattern. (If you're unfamiliar with regex, here's a tutorial you might like to check out.)

In Latex Suite, you can use regular expressions to write more general snippets that expand according to some match pattern that you specify.

To create a regex snippet, you can

use the r option, or
make the trigger a RegExp literal (such as /regex-goes-here/).

When creating a regex snippet,

In the trigger, surround an expression with brackets () to create a capturing group.
Inside a replacement string, strings of the form [[X]] will be replaced by matches in increasing order of X, starting from 0.
You can also make the replacement a JavaScript function. See function snippets for more details.

Example

The snippet

{trigger: "([A-Za-z])(\\d)", replacement: "[[0]]_{[[1]]}", options: "rA"}

will expand x2 to x_{2}, a1 to a_{1} and so on.

Using a RegExp literal, the same snippet can be written as

{trigger: /([A-Za-z])(\d)/, replacement: "[[0]]_{[[1]]}", options: "A"}

Important

Some characters, such as \, +, and ., are special characters in regex. If you want to use these literally, remember to escape them by inserting two backslashes (\\) before them!
- (One backslash to escape the special character, and another to escape that backslash)
Lookbehind regex is not supported on iOS. Using lookbehind regex will cause snippets to break on iOS.

Snippet variables

Snippet variables are used as shortcuts when writing snippets. In the trigger of a snippet, strings with the format "${VARIABLE}" will be replaced with the contents of the matching variable if it's defined, and left unchanged otherwise.

By default, the following variables are available for use in a trigger:

${GREEK} : Shorthand for the following by default:

alpha|beta|gamma|Gamma|delta|Delta|epsilon|varepsilon|zeta|eta|theta|vartheta|Theta|iota|kappa|lambda|Lambda|mu|nu|xi|omicron|pi|rho|varrho|sigma|Sigma|tau|upsilon|Upsilon|phi|varphi|Phi|chi|psi|omega|Omega

Recommended for use with the regex option "r".

${SYMBOL} : Shorthand for the following by default:

parallel|perp|partial|nabla|hbar|ell|infty|oplus|ominus|otimes|oslash|square|star|dagger|vee|wedge|subseteq|subset|supseteq|supset|emptyset|exists|nexists|forall|implies|impliedby|iff|setminus|neg|lor|land|bigcup|bigcap|cdot|times|simeq|approx

Recommended for use with the regex option "r".

${MORE_SYMBOLS} : Shorthand for the following by default:

leq|geq|neq|gg|ll|equiv|sim|propto|rightarrow|leftarrow|Rightarrow|Leftarrow|leftrightarrow|to|mapsto|cap|cup|in|sum|prod|exp|ln|log|det|dots|vdots|ddots|pm|mp|int|iint|iiint|oint

Recommended for use with the regex option "r".

Snippet variables can be changed in the settings, under Advanced editor settings > Snippet variables. You can also choose to load your snippet variables from files.

Visual snippets

Sometimes you want to annotate math, or cancel or cross out terms. Visual snippets can be used to surround your current selection with other text.

For example, the snippet

{trigger: "U", replacement: "\\underbrace{ ${VISUAL} }_{ $0 }", options: "mA"},

will surround your selection with an \underbrace when "U" is typed.

$visual snippets$

To create a visual snippet, you can

make the replacement a string containing the special string ${VISUAL}, or
use the v option, and make the replacement a function.

When a visual snippet is expanded, the special string ${VISUAL} in its replacement is replaced with the current selection.

To create a visual snippet, you can alternatively use the v option and make the replacement a function that takes the selection as an argument. For example, the previous snippet can be written as

{trigger: "U", replacement: (sel) => ("\\underbrace{" + sel + "}_{ $0 }"), options: "mv"},

.

Visual snippets will not expand unless text is selected.

Function snippets

Replacements can also be functions, written in JavaScript. For example, the snippet

{trigger: "date", replacement: () => (new Date().toDateString()), options: "t"},

will expand "dateTab" to the current date, such as "Mon Jan 15 2023".

Function snippets work with regex and visual snippets as well.

Regex function snippets

For regex snippets, Latex Suite will pass in the RegExpExecArray returned by the matching regular expression to your replacement function. This lets you access the value of capture groups inside your function. For example, the regex snippet

{trigger: /iden(\d)/, replacement: (match) => {
    const n = match[1];

    let arr = [];
    for (let j = 0; j < n; j++) {
        arr[j] = [];
        for (let i = 0; i < n; i++) {
            arr[j][i] = (i === j) ? 1 : 0;
        }
    }

    let output = arr.map(el => el.join(" & ")).join(" \\\\\n");
    output = `\\begin{pmatrix}\n${output}\n\\end{pmatrix}`;
    return output;
}, options: "mA"},

will expand "iden4" to a 4×4 identity matrix:

\begin{pmatrix}
1 & 0 & 0 & 0 \\
0 & 1 & 0 & 0 \\
0 & 0 & 1 & 0 \\
0 & 0 & 0 & 1
\end{pmatrix}

. More generally, it will expand "idenN" to an N×N identity matrix.

Visual function snippets

Function replacements can also be used for visual snippets. To do this, use the v option, and make the replacement a function that takes the selection as an argument. Latex Suite will pass in the selection to your replacement function.

For example, the snippet

{trigger: "K", replacement: (sel) => ("\\cancelto{ $0 }{" + sel + "}"), options: "mv"},

will surround your selection with a \cancelto when "K" is typed.

The snippet

{trigger: "-", replacement: sel => { if (!sel.includes(" ")) { return false } return sel.replaceAll(/\s+/g, "-")}, options: "vA"},

will convert all spaces in your selection to hypens (for example, hello world will expand to hello-world) when "-" is typed.

In general, function snippets take the form

{
  replacement:
    | ((str: string) => string)
    | ((match: RegExpExecArray) => string) // Regex snippets
    | ((selection: string) => (string | false)) // Visual snippets
}

based on which type of snippet the replacement applies to.

If a snippet replacement function returns a non-string value, the snippet is ignored and will not expand.

Snippet files

You can choose to load snippets from a file or from all files within a folder. To do this, toggle the setting Snippets > Load snippets from file or folder. The file or folder must be within your vault, and not in a hidden folder (such as .obsidian/).

Snippet files can be saved with any extension. However, to obtain syntax highlighting in external editors, you may wish to save your snippet files with an extension of .js.

A snippets file is a JavaScript array of snippets, or a JavaScript module with a default export of an array of snippets.

Note: an array is a list of items. In JavaScript, this is represented with the bracket symbols [ ], with the items between them and separated by commas, e.g. [ item1, item2 ].

Example

A snippet file containing an array of snippets:

[
	{trigger: "mk", replacement: "$$0$", options: "tA"},
	{trigger: "dm", replacement: "$$\n$0\n$$", options: "tAw"},
	{trigger: /([A-Za-z])(\d)/, replacement: "[[0]]_{[[1]]}", options: "mA"}
]

Snippet variable files

You can choose to load snippet variables from a file or from all files within a folder. To do this, toggle the setting Advanced editor settings > Snippet variables > Load snippet variables from file or folder. The file or folder must be within your vault, and not in a hidden folder (such as .obsidian/).

Snippet variable files can be saved with any extension. However, to obtain syntax highlighting in external editors, you may wish to save your snippet variable files with an extension of .js.

A snippet variable file is a JavaScript object, or a JavaScript module with a default export of an object.

The ${} around the variable may be ommited, i.e. "${VARIABLE}": "..." and "VARIABLE": "..." are both accepted.

Note: an object is a mapping of names to values. In JavaScript, this is represented with the braces symbols {}, with a : between the name and value, and a comma between name-value pairs, e.g. { name: "value1", "name2": "value2" }. In most cases, the key may be written with or without quotes. Specifically, VARIABLE: "..." is also acceptable

Example

A snippet variables file containing an object of variables, with the 3 acceptable formats:

{
  	"${GREEK}": "alpha|beta|gamma|Gamma|delta|Delta|epsilon|varepsilon|zeta|eta|theta|vartheta|Theta|iota|kappa|lambda|Lambda|mu|nu|xi|omicron|pi|rho|varrho|sigma|Sigma|tau|upsilon|Upsilon|phi|varphi|Phi|chi|psi|omega|Omega",
  	"SYMBOL": "parallel|perp|partial|nabla|hbar|ell|infty|oplus|ominus|otimes|oslash|square|star|dagger|vee|wedge|subseteq|subset|supseteq|supset|emptyset|exists|nexists|forall|implies|impliedby|iff|setminus|neg|lor|land|bigcup|bigcap|cdot|times|simeq|approx",
  	MORE_SYMBOLS: "leq|geq|neq|gg|ll|equiv|sim|propto|rightarrow|leftarrow|Rightarrow|Leftarrow|leftrightarrow|to|mapsto|cap|cup|in|sum|prod|exp|ln|log|det|dots|vdots|ddots|pm|mp|int|iint|iiint|oint"
}

Sharing snippets

You can view snippets written by others and share your own snippets here.

Warning

Snippet files are interpreted as JavaScript and can execute arbitrary code. Always be careful with snippets shared from others to avoid running malicious code.

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Documentation

Snippets

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Documentation

Snippets

Options

Tabstops

Examples

Regex snippets

Example

Snippet variables

Visual snippets

Function snippets

Regex function snippets

Visual function snippets

Snippet files

Example

Snippet variable files

Example

Sharing snippets