mdmath allows to use Visual Studio Code as a markdown editor capable of typesetting and rendering TeX math. In fact it now reuses the built in markdown viewer. KaTeX works inside as a fast math renderer.

You can install the extension directly from Visual Studio Code Marketplace.

Simplify the process of authoring and live previewing markdown documents containing math formulas. This extension is a comfortable tool for scientists, engineers and students with markdown as their first choice document format.

• Inline math
• Display math
• Formula numbering
• Inline math with tables
• Export resulting HTML code for web usage

• Integrated in native markdown viewer. So after installing the extension, TeX math is properly displayed in the markdown preview window.
• Based on markdown-it plugin markdown-it-texmath.
• Using vscode's Markdown Extension API.
• Editor view and Preview are synchronized while scrolling.
• Heavily reduced code size.
• Works offline.
• Due to markdown-it-texmath's support of different formula delimiters, these are also available and user configurable with mdmath:
  • dollars (default)
    • inline $...$
    • display $$...$$
  • brackets
    • inline \(...\)
    • display \[...\]
  • gitlab
    • inline $`...`$
    • display ```math ... ```

Press F1 key inside of Visual Studio Code and type extension. Choose Extensions: Install Extension and then select the Markdown+Math extension from the list.

cd $HOME/.vscode/extensions
git clone https://github.com/goessner/mdmath.git
cd mdmath
npm install

cd  %USERPROFILE%\.vscode\extensions
git clone https://github.com/goessner/mdmath.git
cd mdmath
npm install

• Launch VS Code, create or open a markdown file (.md).
• Open a preview window.
• Typeset in your markdown source window and see the preview window live updating.
• Press Ctrl+K . or run the command Clip Markdown+Math to HTML to copy the corresponding HTML source to the underlying systems clipboard.

  // Path to custom stylesheet file (css).
  "mdmath.delimiters": "dollars"

• markdown-it: The markdown renderer also used in VS Code.
• katex: This is where credits for fast rendering TeX math in HTML go to.
• clipboardy: Access the system clipboard (copy/paste).

• Formula highlighting is broken ?
  • Math formula highlighting is experimental.
  • It is implemented only for $ delimiters at present.
  • $ characters in markdown text are sometimes confused with math delimiters. Enclose them by backticks (`) then.
  • Formula highlighting is possible only for formulas on a single line. It breaks with every newline character.
  • Math highlighting is completely different from LaTeX math parsing.
• Which functions does KaTeX support ?
  • See them listed at KaTeX Reference.
• What if I need to use the currency symbol $ also in my markup ?
  • It should be safe to use it. If in doubt escape it.
• What are the restrictions with inline formulas ?
  • Whitespace after opening $ and before closing $ is not allowed.
  • Numeric character before opening $ and after closing $ is not allowed.
  • At least one character (whitespace ?) is required between two consecutive inline formulas.
  • Line break inside is not allowed.
• What are the restrictions with display formulas ?
  • Not allowed inline of text.
  • Blank lines before and behind required.
  • Restrictions for inline formulas do not apply.
• Can I use math markup in blockquotes ?
  • We can use inline and display formulas in blockquote sections. In order to avoid the blockquote symbol '>' being part of a multiline display formula, display formulas have to be written on a single line in blockquote sections.
  • Opening display formula in blockquote section and closing formula on a line behind the blockquote section resulted in a fatal error until VSCode 1.26.0. Now it is safe to do so.
• Can I use math markup in code blocks ?
  • No, math markup in code blocks is shown - as expected - as markup. This is consistent now, but in contrast to mdmath versions prior to 2.0.
• Can I access the HTML source of the markdown file ?
  • Yes. Use the Markdown: Clip Markdown+Math to Html command or the key binding ('ctrl+K .').
  • The markdown preview window has to be opened once for this in order to function properly.
  • You need to have the markdown source window activated here (not the preview window!).
  • Please note, that the resulting HTML source references 'CDN'-located remote css files. Change those references to local URL's if necessary.
• Is PDF output supported ?
  • Not directly. In order to create *.pdf output from your Markdown you can create a *.html document first and print it then using a PDF printer or use Pandoc.
  • See Compiling Markdown into HTML.
• Can I use custom CSS styles for the preview window ?
  • Yes. Set mdmath.style in user settings to the location of your custom CSS file. Its path must be relative to this extension root.
• Cannot copy to clipboard on Linux ?
  • This may be because the upstream clipboardy needs xsel on Linux. Run sudo apt-get install xsel to install.
• Can we store Latex macros with mdmath ?
  • Yes, there is a new section mdmath.globalMacros in package.json. Try to expand it with your own macros.

The following folks helped to make mdmath even better.

• colinfang: Implemented global Macros with mdmath 2.3.0.
• lincr: Helped with fixing problems with mdmath.clipToHtml under Ubuntu.
• TonySFU: Helped with fixing encoding problems with Chinese language under macOS when using mdmath.clipToHtml.
• floatdrop: Verifying that clipboardy is a better alternative to copy-paste by implementing.
• zhanglix: Helped with fixing the newline bug with gitlab delimiters.

See .github/CONTRIBUTING.md

See changelog.md

Markdown+Math for VS Code is licensed under the MIT License

© Stefan Gössner