“V1” (Default) Command Line Interface
Tectonic is distributed as a single executable, tectonic, that is meant to be
invoked from the command line. We’re starting to refer to this program’s
command-line interface as the “V1” interface, because a new “V2”
interface is currently under development.
The V1 interface is “rustc-like”, offering a single primary workflow with lots of options controlling its behavior. In comparison, the V2 interface is “cargo-like”, with a variety of subcommands anchored around a Tectonic.toml file defining a document to build.
Current status
The V1 interface is the default. If you want to use the V2 interface, you need to take special steps, as described in its documentation.
Basic usage
The V1 interface takes an input TeX file and compiles it. Basic usage is often as simple as:
tectonic myfile.tex
This will compile the file and create myfile.pdf if nothing went wrong. You
can use an input filename of - to have Tectonic process standard input. (In
this case, the output file will be named texput.pdf.)
Options
In the V1 interface there are a variety of options that control the engine’s
behavior. If you have Tectonic installed, you can view them with tectonic --help.
The following are the available flags.
| Short | Full | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
-b | --bundle <file_path> | Use this directory or Zip-format bundle file to find resource files instead of the default |
-c | --chatter <level> | How much chatter to print when running [default: default] [possible values: default, minimal] |
--color <when> | Enable/disable colorful log output [default: auto] [possible values: always, auto, never] | |
-f | --format <path> | The name of the “format” file used to initialize the TeX engine [default: latex] |
-h | --help | Prints help information |
--hide <hide_path>... | Tell the engine that no file at <hide_path> exists, if it tries to read it | |
-k | --keep-intermediates | Keep the intermediate files generated during processing |
--keep-logs | Keep the log files generated during processing | |
--makefile-rules <dest_path> | Write Makefile-format rules expressing the dependencies of this run to <dest_path> | |
-C | --only-cached | Use only resource files cached locally |
-o | --outdir <outdir> | The directory in which to place output files [default: the directory containing <input>] |
--outfmt <format> | The kind of output to generate [default: pdf] [possible values: pdf, html, xdv, aux, fmt] | |
--pass <pass> | Which engines to run [default: default] [possible values: default, tex, bibtex_first] | |
-p | --print | Print the engine’s chatter during processing |
-r | --reruns <count> | Rerun the TeX engine exactly this many times after the first |
--synctex | Generate SyncTeX data | |
--untrusted | Input is untrusted — disable all known-insecure features | |
-V | --version | Prints version information |
-w | --web-bundle <url> | Use this URL to find resource files instead of the default |
-Z | -Z <option>... | Unstable options. Pass -Zhelp to show a list |