SnapTeX is a lightweight, ultra-fast LaTeX previewer for Visual Studio Code. Unlike traditional previewers, it does not require a full TeX distribution (like TeXLive or MiKTeX) to function.
By using a custom high-speed regex parser, KaTeX, and Markdown-It, it provides near-instant structural and mathematical previews of your document, via several features including text-block splitter, diff checker and local renderer.
It is a demo based on the early conceptual proof, mume.parser for MPE.
SnapTeX Preview Quick Start Guide
Installation
It can be installed from the VSC extension market. Find SnapTeX.
How to Open the Preview
- Via Command Palette: Open your
*.tex file, press Ctrl+Shift+p, search for "SnapTeX Preview: Start", and press Enter.
- Via Shortcut: Simply press the keyboard shortcut
Ctrl+k v to launch the preview immediately.
- Initial Load: The first time you open the preview, it may take several seconds to complete the full rendering.
- Real-Time Updates: Once initialized, updates are processed locally, providing instant, real-time rendering as you type.
Syncing & Navigation
- Editor to Preview: Press
Ctrl+Alt+n in the editor to sync your cursor position and jump to the corresponding location in the preview panel.
- Preview to Editor: Double-click anywhere in the preview panel to automatically sync and jump to that specific line in the editor.
Features
Instant Math Rendering: Real-time rendering of inline math $ ... $ and complex display math environments (e.g., equation, align, gather) using KaTeX.
Intelligent Math Protection: Uses a proprietary protection layer to ensure LaTeX math syntax is not corrupted by the Markdown parser.
Structural Previews: Renders hierarchical headers (\section to \subsubsection), abstracts, and keywords with academic styling.
Smart Bi-Directional Sync:
- Forward Sync: Jump from the editor cursor to the exact location in the preview with
ctrl+alt+n.
- Reverse Sync: Double-click any element in the preview to jump to the corresponding line in the LaTeX source.
Auto Scrolling:
snaptex.autoScrollSync: Enable cursor and scroll synchronization between editor and preview.snaptex.autoScrollDelay: Debounce/Throttle delay (in ms) for scroll synchronization events.
Macro Support: Real-time expansion of \newcommand, \def and \DeclareMathOperator definitions.
Advanced Environments Support (Basic demo works):
- Algorithms: Renders pseudocode with keyword bolding (If, For, Return) and preserved indentation.
- Tables: Converts standard
tabular environments into clean HTML tables with support for internal math rendering.
- Figures: Automatically resolves local image paths (e.g.,
\includegraphics{figures/plot.png}) and generates responsive webview previews.
Label Reference: Supports equation/section/figure/table/algorithm/theorem... labeling and cross-reference commands ref,label,eqref.
Citations: Support dynamic BibTeX bibliography rendering, with a simple style and rendering rule for snap preview.
Requirements
SnapTeX is designed to be "zero-config." It works out of the box with no external dependencies.
- Simply open a
.tex file and run the preview command.
- For math rendering, it uses an internal bundled version of KaTeX.
Extension Settings
Requirements
Known Issues and update plan
- Complex Packages: Since this is a regex-based parser and not a full TeX engine, highly complex macro-heavy packages (like
tikz or pgfplots) will be displayed as placeholders.
Enjoy writing LaTeX with SnapTeX!
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