Universe

Typst Universe Deixis automated test suite status License: MIT

Deixis — Point to What Matters: a colorful collage of highlights, an equation callout, shared notes, diagram connections, an editorial comment, a native footnote, a note outline, and a table with its own local notes.

Notes, highlights, and connections for Typst. Keep explanations beside their subjects, share one note across several passages, or connect the parts of an image, equation, or diagram. Use it in articles, edited texts, and presentation slides.

Get started · Website · Read the guide · PDF manual · Browse examples

Requires Typst 0.15.0+.

Start With A Note

#import "@preview/deixis:0.2.0": *
#show: deixis-setup-notes

A useful result#deixis-footnote[A short explanation.]
is easier to read when its details have a place.

Simple wrappers create the mark and explanation together. Choose native footnotes, margin notes, inset callouts, inline explanations, or collected endnotes. Connections and custom styling are optional.

For shorter calls, write with short names such as footnote and margin-note.

One Explanation, Several Passages

A one-page document: a margin note explains a shared assumption that is marked twice with the same number, a region around the sample-mean equation connects to its own margin note, and a native footnote sits in the page footer.

Name an annotation with id: and reuse it with of:. The passages share one number and one body:

#deixis-margin-note(id: <assumption>, connector: "right-angle")[shared assumption][
  Several passages can point to this same note.
]
Return to the #deixis-mark(of: <assumption>)[same assumption] later.

A reused mark adds a navigation point rather than another note; add deixis-connect when it also needs a drawn connection. Margin notes need room beside the text; they pack, and can spill onto existing pages.

Complete document · Shared notes · Appearance

Explain The Equation

Bayes' rule with three highlighted regions connected to explanations of the posterior, evidence update, and prior.

Regions follow the measured content. Add precise callouts to equations, code, images, or tables; choose their colors and connectors independently. The routing API also connects your own objects, with optional obstacle avoidance; the diagram in the banner above uses it.

Editable equation · Regions and pins · Connect your own objects

Review In Draft, Read In Final

Two builds of the same passage: the draft has Ada's editorial comment and connector; the final keeps the passage and source footnote while omitting the review annotation.

deixis-comment writes an editorial comment in its own "review" series, with lettered markers that stay apart from source notes:

The #deixis-comment(author: "Ada", status: "open")[proposed method][
  State the conditions under which this claim holds.]

A final build omits that series while preserving the marked passage and the document’s other notes:

#deixis-set(omit: (series: ("review",)))

The comparison renders the same source twice, with --input final=false and --input final=true. Author and status fields can also drive custom review lists.

Editable review · Draft/final guide · Editorial apparatus and glossaries

Reveal Notes With Your Slides

Two frames of a Touying slide: the first shows one footnoted line; after the pause, a highlighted idea, its connector and callout, and a second footnote appear together.

Annotations follow Touying reveals. A highlight, its connector and callout, or a page footnote appears with the content it explains, while earlier notes stay on screen. Install setup in the slide setting and let the theme own the page layers.

Editable slides · Touying integration

Write With Short Names

The opt-in short module offers every public function without the deixis- prefix. They are the same functions, with the same options:

#import "@preview/deixis:0.2.0": short
#import short: *
#show: setup-notes
#configure(stroke: teal)

A useful result#footnote[A short explanation.]
#note-block[A local table#footnote[Collected at the end of its block.]]

configure is deixis-set, and note-block is deixis-block, so native set and block keep working. A wildcard import shadows native footnote and ref; use std.footnote and std.ref for those functions. In math it also shadows attach and arrowhead; use std.math.attach and std.sym.arrowhead. Import short as dx to keep names separate and write dx.footnote. See short names.

Install

Requires Typst 0.15.0+. Import Deixis from Typst Universe:

#import "@preview/deixis:0.2.0": *

Typst downloads the package automatically. Upgrading from 0.1.1? See the compatibility and migration guide.

Go Further

Task Guide
Pick a note type and placement Getting started · Body ownership
Keep notes with tables or figures Local collections · Scopes
Annotate presentation reveals Touying integration
Restart markers per page or reset counters Counters
Build annotation lists and indexes Queries · Outlines
Style notes or replace a renderer Configuration · Custom renderers
Update an older document Compatibility and migration

The PDF manual includes a guided introduction, 23 worked examples with source beside output, and a reference for every public API. The searchable website combines the guides, examples, and API reference. See CONTRIBUTING for local build and serving commands. The Deixis agent skill includes checked authoring recipes.

For development, checks and artwork generation, see CONTRIBUTING.

Acknowledgements

Related work inspired parts of Deixis: drafting, dashy-todo, marge, pinit, and Rik’s endnotes implementation.

License

MIT licensed; see LICENSE. Report bugs or suggest improvements on GitHub.