LaTeX Studio

Write LaTeX in VS Code. See a beautiful PDF the moment you save.

LaTeX Studio turns VS Code into a complete LaTeX authoring environment — no TeX install, no command line, no extra setup. Open a .tex file, press Ctrl+K V, and start writing. The real, compiled PDF appears next to your editor and refreshes automatically every time you save.

⚡ 60-second quick start

Install LaTeX Studio from the Marketplace.
Open any .tex file.
Press Ctrl+Alt+B (Build).
The first time only, you'll be prompted to download the LaTeX engine — click Download. ☕ (~30 MB, one-time)
Press Ctrl+K V to open the PDF preview to the side.
Save the file. The PDF updates automatically.

That's it. No texlive, no MiKTeX, no latexmk config.

📦 What gets installed (please read once)

LaTeX Studio is small on its own, but LaTeX itself is big. To keep the extension lightweight, the actual LaTeX engine and packages are downloaded on first use, not bundled with the extension.

When	What happens	Size	Where it lives
Install the extension	Nothing is downloaded.	~35 KB	VS Code extensions folder
First build (one-time prompt)	Downloads the Tectonic engine binary for your OS.	~30 MB	`<extension>/bin/tectonic[.exe]`
First time a document uses a package	Tectonic fetches it from CTAN automatically and caches it.	varies	Per-user cache (see below)
Subsequent builds	Fully offline. No further downloads.	0	—

Internet is required for the first build and whenever your document references a LaTeX package you haven't used before. After that, builds work fully offline. Nothing is uploaded — no telemetry, no accounts, no documents leave your machine.

Where the cache lives

OS	Tectonic package cache
Windows	`%LOCALAPPDATA%\TectonicProject`
macOS	`~/Library/Caches/Tectonic`
Linux	`~/.cache/Tectonic`

To wipe everything LaTeX Studio created — engine binary, package cache, extension state — run LaTeX Studio: Reset Everything (Before Uninstall) from the Command Palette.

Behind a corporate proxy or firewall?

If the first-run download fails, you have two options:

Set a system proxy so Node/HTTPS can reach github.com and ctan.org, then re-run LaTeX: Download/Update Tectonic Engine.
Use a LaTeX distribution you already have (TeX Live / MiKTeX). Set latexStudio.engine to xelatex, lualatex, or pdflatex — LaTeX Studio will use that instead, and nothing extra gets downloaded.

✨ Features

📄 Real, live PDF preview

A side-by-side webview shows the actual compiled PDF — rendered by PDF.js. Floats, page breaks, math, microtypography, and hyperlinks all look exactly like the final document. Scroll position is preserved between builds.

📂 Built-in PDF reader

Click any .pdf file in the Explorer to open it in the LaTeX Studio viewer — no more "binary file" warning. Works for any PDF, not just ones you compiled.

💾 Build on save

Auto-rebuild fires every time you save (toggle off with latexStudio.build.onSave). All output goes into a single .latex-build/ folder you can .gitignore.

❌ Errors in the right place

The build log is parsed into VS Code's Problems panel with file and line numbers, so failures click straight back to the offending line. Full log via LaTeX: Show Build Log.

📚 Multi-file projects

Drop a magic comment at the top of any sub-file and LaTeX Studio always compiles the right root:

% !TEX root = ../main.tex

📖 Bibliographies that just work

Tectonic detects biber / bibtex automatically and runs the right number of passes. No latexmk config to babysit.

⌨️ Snippets & completion

Snippets: doc-article, sec, ssec, fig, tab, eq, align, itemize, enumerate, env, texroot. Completion for \ref, \cite, and \includegraphics paths.

🌙 Dark mode

Toggle latexStudio.preview.invertColors for an inverted PDF — easy on the eyes for late-night writing.

🎮 Commands & keybindings

Open the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P / Cmd+Shift+P) and type "LaTeX":

Command	Keybinding (Win/Linux)	Keybinding (macOS)
LaTeX: Build PDF	`Ctrl+Alt+B`	`Cmd+Alt+B`
LaTeX: Open Preview to the Side	`Ctrl+K V`	`Cmd+K V`
LaTeX: Open Preview (active editor)	—	—
LaTeX: Jump to PDF (SyncTeX Forward Search)	`Ctrl+Alt+J`	`Cmd+Alt+J`
LaTeX: Show Build Log	—	—
LaTeX: Clean Build Artifacts	—	—
LaTeX: Download/Update Tectonic Engine	—	—
LaTeX Studio: Reset Everything (Before Uninstall)	—	—

⚙️ Settings

All settings live under latexStudio.* (open Settings → search "LaTeX Studio").

Setting	Default	What it does
`latexStudio.engine`	`tectonic`	Engine to compile with: `tectonic`, `xelatex`, `lualatex`, or `pdflatex`.
`latexStudio.tectonicPath`	(empty)	Path to a Tectonic executable to use instead of the bundled one.
`latexStudio.build.onSave`	`true`	Rebuild the PDF every time you save a `.tex` file.
`latexStudio.build.outputDirectory`	`.latex-build`	Where compiled PDFs and intermediates go (relative to the root `.tex`).
`latexStudio.preview.invertColors`	`false`	Dark mode for the PDF preview.
`latexStudio.preview.renderScale`	`1.5`	Preview render scale, `0.5`–`3.0`. Higher = sharper, uses more memory.
`latexStudio.preview.openOnBuild`	`true`	Open the preview after your first successful build.

🔧 Bring your own LaTeX

Already have TeX Live, MiKTeX, or MacTeX installed and don't want a second engine?

Open Settings, search for latexStudio.engine.
Set it to xelatex, lualatex, or pdflatex.
Make sure that binary (and latexmk) is on your PATH.

LaTeX Studio will drive your existing engine and nothing extra is downloaded.

You can also pin a specific Tectonic binary via latexStudio.tectonicPath (absolute path to the executable).

🆘 Troubleshooting

"Tectonic engine not found" / first build never starts

Run LaTeX: Download/Update Tectonic Engine from the Command Palette. Check the Output panel (View → Output → LaTeX Studio) for the download URL and any HTTP errors. Most failures here are corporate proxies — see the proxy section above.

Build hangs the first time a document uses a new package

Tectonic is fetching the package from CTAN in the background. Subsequent builds use the local cache and are instant. Watch the Output panel for progress.

"Could not find root file"

You're building a sub-file in a multi-file project. Add a magic comment at the top:

% !TEX root = ../main.tex

Preview is blurry

Increase latexStudio.preview.renderScale (try 2.0 or 2.5).

I want to start from a clean slate / fully uninstall

Run LaTeX Studio: Reset Everything (Before Uninstall) before uninstalling the extension. This removes the bundled engine, Tectonic's package cache, and extension state.

🔒 Privacy

No telemetry. Nothing is sent anywhere.
No accounts. No sign-in, ever.
Network use is strictly: GitHub (engine download, one time) and CTAN (LaTeX packages, on demand). Both are initiated by you, by building.
Your documents and PDFs never leave your computer.

📜 License

See the repository for license terms.

Crafted by Bipul Raman. Made with ♥ for LaTeX.