nixpkgs / doc / languages-frameworks / texlive.section.md

# TeX Live {#sec-language-texlive}

Since release 15.09 there is a new TeX Live packaging that lives entirely under attribute `texlive`.

## User's guide (experimental new interface) {#sec-language-texlive-user-guide-experimental}

Release 23.11 ships with a new interface that will eventually replace `texlive.combine`.

- For basic usage, use some of the prebuilt environments available at the top level, such as `texliveBasic`, `texliveSmall`. For the full list of prebuilt environments, inspect `texlive.schemes`.

- Packages cannot be used directly but must be assembled in an environment. To create or add packages to an environment, use
  ```nix
  texliveSmall.withPackages (ps: with ps; [ collection-langkorean algorithms cm-super ])
  ```
  The function `withPackages` can be called multiple times to add more packages.

  - **Note.** Within Nixpkgs, packages should only use prebuilt environments as inputs, such as `texliveSmall` or `texliveInfraOnly`, and should not depend directly on `texlive`. Further dependencies should be added by calling `withPackages`. This is to ensure that there is a consistent and simple way to override the inputs.

- `texlive.withPackages` uses the same logic as `buildEnv`. Only parts of a package are installed in an environment: its 'runtime' files (`tex` output), binaries (`out` output), and support files (`tlpkg` output). Moreover, man and info pages are assembled into separate `man` and `info` outputs. To add only the TeX files of a package, or its documentation (`texdoc` output), just specify the outputs:
  ```nix
  texlive.withPackages (ps: with ps; [
    texdoc # recommended package to navigate the documentation
    perlPackages.LaTeXML.tex # tex files of LaTeXML, omit binaries
    cm-super
    cm-super.texdoc # documentation of cm-super
  ])
  ```

- All packages distributed by TeX Live, which contains most of CTAN, are available and can be found under `texlive.pkgs`:
  ```ShellSession
  $ nix repl
  nix-repl> :l <nixpkgs>
  nix-repl> texlive.pkgs.[TAB]
  ```
  Note that the packages in `texlive.pkgs` are only provided for search purposes and must not be used directly.

- **Experimental and subject to change without notice:** to add the documentation for all packages in the environment, use
  ```nix
  texliveSmall.__overrideTeXConfig { withDocs = true; }
  ```
  This can be applied before or after calling `withPackages`.

  The function currently support the parameters `withDocs`, `withSources`, and `requireTeXPackages`.

## User's guide {#sec-language-texlive-user-guide}

- For basic usage just pull `texlive.combined.scheme-basic` for an environment with basic LaTeX support.

- It typically won't work to use separately installed packages together. Instead, you can build a custom set of packages like this. Most CTAN packages should be available:

  ```nix
  texlive.combine {
    inherit (texlive) scheme-small collection-langkorean algorithms cm-super;
  }
  ```

- There are all the schemes, collections and a few thousand packages, as defined upstream (perhaps with tiny differences).

- By default you only get executables and files needed during runtime, and a little documentation for the core packages. To change that, you need to add `pkgFilter` function to `combine`.

  ```nix
  texlive.combine {
    # inherit (texlive) whatever-you-want;
    pkgFilter = pkg:
      pkg.tlType == "run" || pkg.tlType == "bin" || pkg.hasManpages || pkg.pname == "cm-super";
    # elem tlType [ "run" "bin" "doc" "source" ]
    # there are also other attributes: version, name
  }
  ```

- You can list packages e.g. by `nix repl`.

  ```ShellSession
  $ nix repl
  nix-repl> :l <nixpkgs>
  nix-repl> texlive.collection-[TAB]
  ```

- Note that the wrapper assumes that the result has a chance to be useful. For example, the core executables should be present, as well as some core data files. The supported way of ensuring this is by including some scheme, for example `scheme-basic`, into the combination.

- TeX Live packages are also available under `texlive.pkgs` as derivations with outputs `out`, `tex`, `texdoc`, `texsource`, `tlpkg`, `man`, `info`. They cannot be installed outside of `texlive.combine` but are available for other uses. To repackage a font, for instance, use

  ```nix
  stdenvNoCC.mkDerivation rec {
    src = texlive.pkgs.iwona;
    dontUnpack = true;

    inherit (src) pname version;

    installPhase = ''
      runHook preInstall
      install -Dm644 $src/fonts/opentype/nowacki/iwona/*.otf -t $out/share/fonts/opentype
      runHook postInstall
    '';
  }
  ```

  See `biber`, `iwona` for complete examples.

## Custom packages {#sec-language-texlive-custom-packages}

You may find that you need to use an external TeX package. A derivation for such package has to provide the contents of the "texmf" directory in its `"tex"` output, according to the [TeX Directory Structure](https://tug.ctan.org/tds/tds.html). Dependencies on other TeX packages can be listed in the attribute `tlDeps`.

The functions `texlive.combine` and `texlive.withPackages` recognise the following outputs:

- `"out"`: contents are linked in the TeX Live environment, and binaries in the `$out/bin` folder are wrapped;
- `"tex"`: linked in `$TEXMFDIST`; files should follow the TDS (for instance `$tex/tex/latex/foiltex/foiltex.cls`);
- `"texdoc"`, `"texsource"`: ignored by default, treated as `"tex"`;
- `"tlpkg"`: linked in `$TEXMFROOT/tlpkg`;
- `"man"`, `"info"`, ...: the other outputs are combined into separate outputs.

When using `pkgFilter`, `texlive.combine` will assign `tlType` respectively `"bin"`, `"run"`, `"doc"`, `"source"`, `"tlpkg"` to the above outputs.

Here is a (very verbose) example. See also the packages `auctex`, `eukleides`, `mftrace` for more examples.

```nix
with import <nixpkgs> {};

let
  foiltex = stdenvNoCC.mkDerivation {
    pname = "latex-foiltex";
    version = "2.1.4b";

    outputs = [ "tex" "texdoc" ];
    passthru.tlDeps = with texlive; [ latex ];

    srcs = [
      (fetchurl {
        url = "http://mirrors.ctan.org/macros/latex/contrib/foiltex/foiltex.dtx";
        hash = "sha256-/2I2xHXpZi0S988uFsGuPV6hhMw8e0U5m/P8myf42R0=";
      })
      (fetchurl {
        url = "http://mirrors.ctan.org/macros/latex/contrib/foiltex/foiltex.ins";
        hash = "sha256-KTm3pkd+Cpu0nSE2WfsNEa56PeXBaNfx/sOO2Vv0kyc=";
      })
    ];

    unpackPhase = ''
      runHook preUnpack

      for _src in $srcs; do
        cp "$_src" $(stripHash "$_src")
      done

      runHook postUnpack
    '';

    nativeBuildInputs = [
      (texliveSmall.withPackages (ps: with ps; [ cm-super hypdoc latexmk ]))
      # multiple-outputs.sh fails if $out is not defined
      (writeShellScript "force-tex-output.sh" ''
        out="''${tex-}"
      '')
    ];

    dontConfigure = true;

    buildPhase = ''
      runHook preBuild

      # Generate the style files
      latex foiltex.ins

      # Generate the documentation
      export HOME=.
      latexmk -pdf foiltex.dtx

      runHook postBuild
    '';

    installPhase = ''
      runHook preInstall

      path="$tex/tex/latex/foiltex"
      mkdir -p "$path"
      cp *.{cls,def,clo,sty} "$path/"

      path="$texdoc/doc/tex/latex/foiltex"
      mkdir -p "$path"
      cp *.pdf "$path/"

      runHook postInstall
    '';

    meta = {
      description = "LaTeX2e class for overhead transparencies";
      license = lib.licenses.unfreeRedistributable;
      maintainers = with lib.maintainers; [ veprbl ];
      platforms = lib.platforms.all;
    };
  };

  latex_with_foiltex = texliveSmall.withPackages (_: [ foiltex ]);
in
  runCommand "test.pdf" {
    nativeBuildInputs = [ latex_with_foiltex ];
  } ''
cat >test.tex <<EOF
\documentclass{foils}

\title{Presentation title}
\date{}

\begin{document}
\maketitle
\end{document}
EOF
  pdflatex test.tex
  cp test.pdf $out
''
```

## LuaLaTeX font cache {#sec-language-texlive-lualatex-font-cache}

The font cache for LuaLaTeX is written to `$HOME`.
Therefore, it is necessary to set `$HOME` to a writable path, e.g. [before using LuaLaTeX in nix derivations](https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/issues/180639):
```nix
runCommandNoCC "lualatex-hello-world" {
  buildInputs = [ texliveFull ];
} ''
  mkdir $out
  echo '\documentclass{article} \begin{document} Hello world \end{document}' > main.tex
  env HOME=$(mktemp -d) lualatex  -interaction=nonstopmode -output-format=pdf -output-directory=$out ./main.tex
''
```

Additionally, [the cache of a user can diverge from the nix store](https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/issues/278718).
To resolve font issues that might follow, the cache can be removed by the user:
```ShellSession
luaotfload-tool --cache=erase --flush-lookups --force
```