TeXlyre BusyTeX

Run LaTeX compilation directly in your browser using WebAssembly. Supports XeLaTeX, PdfLaTeX, and LuaLaTeX with BibTeX integration.

Live Demo | GitHub

Features

• XeLaTeX: Compile with XeTeX engine + bibtex8 + dvipdfmx
• PdfLaTeX: Compile with PdfTeX engine + bibtex8
• LuaLaTeX: Compile with LuaHBTeX engine + bibtex8
• Multi-file Support: Handle complex projects with multiple .tex and .bib files
• SyncTeX: Generate SyncTeX files for editor synchronization
• Browser-based: All compilation runs entirely in the browser with no server required
• Web Worker Support: Non-blocking compilation using Web Workers

Installation

npm install texlyre-busytex

Download Assets

BusyTeX requires WASM files (~175MB) that are hosted on GitHub Releases:

# Download to default location (./public/core)
npx texlyre-busytex download-assets

# Or specify custom location
npx texlyre-busytex download-assets ./static/wasm
npx texlyre-busytex download-assets ./public/assets

Assets will be downloaded to <destination>/busytex/ directory.

Usage

Basic Example

import { BusyTexRunner, XeLatex } from 'texlyre-busytex';

const runner = new BusyTexRunner({
  busytexBasePath: '/core/busytex'
});

await runner.initialize();

const xelatex = new XeLatex(runner);
const result = await xelatex.compile({
  input: `\\documentclass{article}
\\usepackage{amsmath}

\\begin{document}
\\section{Introduction}
Hello, LaTeX!

\\begin{equation}
E = mc^2
\\end{equation}
\\end{document}`
});

if (result.success && result.pdf) {
  const blob = new Blob([result.pdf], { type: 'application/pdf' });
  const url = URL.createObjectURL(blob);
  window.open(url);
}

With BibTeX

const result = await xelatex.compile({
  input: `\\documentclass{article}
\\begin{document}
\\cite{sample2023}
\\bibliographystyle{plain}
\\bibliography{references}
\\end{document}`,
  bibtex: true,
  additionalFiles: [
    {
      path: 'references.bib',
      content: `@article{sample2023,
  title={Sample Article},
  author={Author, John},
  year={2023}
}`
    }
  ]
});

Multi-file Projects

const result = await xelatex.compile({
  input: `\\documentclass{article}
\\begin{document}
\\input{chapter1.tex}
\\input{chapter2.tex}
\\end{document}`,
  additionalFiles: [
    {
      path: 'chapter1.tex',
      content: '\\section{Chapter 1}\nContent...'
    },
    {
      path: 'chapter2.tex',
      content: '\\section{Chapter 2}\nContent...'
    }
  ]
});

Using PdfLaTeX or LuaLaTeX

import { PdfLatex, LuaLatex } from 'texlyre-busytex';

const pdflatex = new PdfLatex(runner);
const result = await pdflatex.compile({ input: '...' });

const lualatex = new LuaLatex(runner);
const result2 = await lualatex.compile({ input: '...' });

With Web Worker

const runner = new BusyTexRunner({
  busytexBasePath: '/core/busytex',
  verbose: true
});

await runner.initialize(true); // true = use Web Worker

SyncTeX Support

const result = await xelatex.compile({ input: '...' });

if (result.synctex) {
  const blob = new Blob([result.synctex], { type: 'application/gzip' });
  const url = URL.createObjectURL(blob);
  
  const link = document.createElement('a');
  link.href = url;
  link.download = 'main.synctex.gz';
  link.click();
}

API Reference

BusyTexRunner

constructor(config?: BusyTexConfig)

Config Options:

• busytexBasePath: Path to BusyTeX assets (default: '/core/busytex')
• verbose: Enable verbose logging (default: false)

Methods:

• initialize(useWorker?: boolean): Promise<void> - Initialize the runner
• isInitialized(): boolean - Check if initialized
• terminate(): void - Clean up resources

XeLatex, PdfLatex, LuaLatex

constructor(runner: BusyTexRunner, verbose?: boolean)
compile(options: CompileOptions): Promise<CompileResult>

CompileOptions:

• input: Main LaTeX document content
• bibtex?: Enable BibTeX compilation (default: false)
• verbose?: Verbosity level - 'silent', 'info', or 'debug' (default: 'silent')
• additionalFiles?: Array of { path: string, content: string }

CompileResult:

• success: Compilation succeeded
• pdf?: PDF output as Uint8Array
• synctex?: SyncTeX output as Uint8Array
• log: Compilation log
• exitCode: Process exit code
• logs: Detailed log entries

Development

Clone and Setup

git clone https://github.com/TeXlyre/texlyre-busytex.git
cd texlyre-busytex
npm install
npm run download-assets
npm run build

Run Example

npm run example

Then open http://localhost:3000

Upload Assets (Maintainers)

# Create archive and upload to GitHub Releases
npm run upload-assets

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

Development Workflow

1. Fork the repository
2. Create your feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
3. Download assets: npm run download-assets
4. Make your changes
5. Build: npm run build
6. Test with example: npm run example
7. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add amazing feature')
8. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
9. Open a Pull Request

Limitations

This is an experimental build of TeXLive 2025 with the intent of integration into TeXlyre. Sustained work on this package is not guaranteed and major changes may be introduced at any time.

Besides bibtex8, pdftex, luatex, xetex, dvipdf, other packages are not included. Additionally, some fonts, as well as external scripts called through shell-escape are not available.

License

MIT License © Fares Abawi

This project uses BusyTeX WASM, which is also licensed under the MIT license.

Acknowledgments

Built with BusyTeX - A WebAssembly port of TeX Live.