@bendyline/squisq-cli

Command-line tool for converting Squisq documents to multiple formats and rendering them to video. Reads Markdown files, ZIP/DBK containers, or folders as input.

Part of the Squisq monorepo.

Install

npm install -g @bendyline/squisq-cli

Commands

squisq convert

Convert a Squisq document to DOCX, PPTX, PDF, HTML, EPUB, or DBK (container ZIP):

squisq convert input.md --formats docx,pptx,pdf
squisq convert project.dbk --output-dir ./out --formats html,docx
squisq convert ./my-folder --formats pdf --theme documentary
squisq convert input.md --theme cinematic --transform magazine --formats pptx

| Option | Description | Default | | -------------- | ------------------------------------------------------ | ----------- | | --output-dir | Output directory | current dir | | --formats | Comma-separated list: docx, pptx, pdf, html, epub, dbk | all | | --theme | Squisq theme ID (e.g., documentary, cinematic) | none | | --transform | Transform style (e.g., documentary, magazine) | none |

squisq video

Render a Squisq document to MP4 video using Playwright for frame capture and native ffmpeg for encoding:

squisq video input.md output.mp4
squisq video project.dbk --quality high --fps 30
squisq video ./my-folder --orientation portrait --captions social

| Option | Description | Default | | --------------- | ------------------------- | --------- | | --fps | Frames per second (1–120) | 30 | | --quality | draft, normal, or high | normal | | --orientation | landscape or portrait | landscape | | --captions | off, standard, or social | off | | --width | Override width in pixels | auto | | --height | Override height in pixels | auto |

Requires: ffmpeg installed and available on your PATH.

Programmatic API

Use the CLI as a library from Node.js — no shell-out required:

import { renderDocToMp4, MemoryContentContainer, readInput } from '@bendyline/squisq-cli/api';

// Load a document from disk
const { doc, container } = await readInput('./my-article.md');

// Render to MP4
const result = await renderDocToMp4(doc, container, {
  outputPath: './output.mp4',
  fps: 30,
  quality: 'high',
  orientation: 'landscape',
  captionStyle: 'social',
  onProgress: (phase, pct) => console.log(`${phase}: ${pct}%`),
});

console.log(`Rendered ${result.frameCount} frames (${result.duration}s)`);

extractThumbnails

Extract JPEG thumbnails from the first frame of a rendered video:

import { extractThumbnails } from '@bendyline/squisq-cli/api';

await extractThumbnails({
  videoPath: './output.mp4',
  outputDir: './thumbs',
  slug: 'my-article',
  sizes: [
    { name: 'og', width: 1200, height: 630, filter: 'scale=1200:630' },
    { name: 'thumb', width: 480, height: 270, filter: 'scale=480:270' },
  ],
});

See the full API Reference for all types and options.

Input Formats

The CLI accepts three types of input:

| Input | Description | | ------------- | --------------------------------------------------------- | | .md file | Plain Markdown file | | .zip/.dbk | Container archive with document + embedded media | | Folder | Directory with a Markdown file and associated media files |

Related Packages

| Package | Description | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ----------------------------------------------- | | @bendyline/squisq | Headless core — schemas, templates, markdown | | @bendyline/squisq-formats | DOCX, PDF, HTML import/export (used by convert) | | @bendyline/squisq-video | Headless video rendering (used by video) | | @bendyline/squisq-react | React components for rendering docs |

License

MIT