gem-hunter
Language: TypeScript
A CLI interface for Marp and Marpit based converters
A CLI interface, for Marp (using @marp-team/marp-core) and any slide deck converter based on Marpit framework.
It can convert Marp / Marpit Markdown files into static HTML / CSS, PDF, PowerPoint document, and image(s) easily.
npx (npm exec) is the best way to use the latest Marp CLI if you wanted
one-shot Markdown conversion without install. Just run below if you have
installed Node.js v18 and later.
# Convert slide deck into HTML npx @marp-team/marp-cli@latest slide-deck.md npx @marp-team/marp-cli@latest slide-deck.md -o output.html # Convert slide deck into PDF npx @marp-team/marp-cli@latest slide-deck.md --pdf npx @marp-team/marp-cli@latest slide-deck.md -o output.pdf # Convert slide deck into PowerPoint document (PPTX) npx @marp-team/marp-cli@latest slide-deck.md --pptx npx @marp-team/marp-cli@latest slide-deck.md -o output.pptx # Watch mode npx @marp-team/marp-cli@latest -w slide-deck.md # Server mode (Pass directory to serve) npx @marp-team/marp-cli@latest -s ./slides
Important
You have to install any one of Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, or Mozilla Firefox to convert slide deck into PDF, PPTX, and image(s).
Don't you like installing Node.js and Chrome to local? We have an official container image that is ready to use CLI.
⏩ Please refer how to use at Docker Hub.
docker pull marpteam/marp-cli
docker pull ghcr.io/marp-team/marp-cli
You can use the package manager to install and update Marp CLI easily.
Disclaimer: Package manifests are maintained by the community, not Marp team.
brew install marp-cli
scoop install marp
Node.js v18 and later is required to use Marp CLI.
We recommend to install Marp CLI into your Node.js project. You may control the CLI version (and engine if you want) exactly.
npm install --save-dev @marp-team/marp-cli
The installed marp command is available in npm-scripts or npx marp.
You can install with -g option if you want to use marp command globally.
npm install -g @marp-team/marp-cli
We also provide standalone binaries for Linux, macOS (Apple Silicon), and Windows. These have bundled Marp CLI with Node.js binary, so no need to install Node.js separately.
⏩ Download the latest standalone binary from release page.
Important
Several kind of conversions with 🌐 icon require to install any of compatible browsers, Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, or Mozilla Firefox. When an unexpected problem has occurred while converting, please update your browser to the latest version. Check out browser options too.
The passed markdown will be converted to HTML file by default. In the below example, a converted slide-deck.html will output to the same directory.
marp slide-deck.md
You can change the output path by --output (-o) option.
marp slide-deck.md -o output.html
Marp CLI supports converting multiple files by passing multiple paths, directories, and glob patterns. In this case, --output option cannot use.
When you want to output the converted result to another directory with keeping the origin directory structure, you can use --input-dir (-I) option. --output option would be available for specify the output directory.
If you passed --pdf option or the output filename specified by --output (-o) option ends with .pdf, Marp CLI will try to convert Markdown into PDF file through the browser.
marp --pdf slide-deck.md marp slide-deck.md -o converted.pdf
--pdf-notes: Add PDF note annotations to the lower left when the slide page has Marpit presenter notes.--pdf-outlines: Add PDF outlines/bookmarks.--pdf-outlines will make outlines based on slide pages and Markdown headings by default. If necessary, you may prevent making outlines from one of them, by setting --pdf-outlines.pages=false or --pdf-outlines.headings=false.
Do you want more familiar way to present and share your deck? PPTX conversion to create PowerPoint document is available by passing --pptx option or specify the output path with PPTX extension.
marp --pptx slide-deck.md marp slide-deck.md -o converted.pptx
A created PPTX includes rendered Marp slide pages and the support of Marpit presenter notes. It can open with PowerPoint, Keynote, Google Slides, LibreOffice Impress, and so on...
A converted PPTX usually consists of pre-rendered background images, that is meaning contents cannot to modify or re-use in PowerPoint. If you want to generate editable PPTX for modifying texts, shapes, and images in GUI, you can pass --pptx-editable option together with --pptx option.
marp --pptx --pptx-editable slide-deck.md
Important
The experimental --pptx-editable option requires installing both of the browser and LibreOffice Impress.
If the theme and inline styles are providing complex styles into the slide, --pptx-editable may throw an error or output the incomplete result. (e.g. gaia theme in Marp Core)
Warning
Conversion to the editable PPTX results in lower slide reproducibility compared to the conversion into regular PPTX and other formats. Additionally, presenter notes are not supported. We do not recommend to export the editable PPTX if maintaining the slide's appearance is important.
You can convert the slide deck into multiple images when specified --images [png|jpeg] option.
# Convert into multiple PNG image files marp --images png slide-deck.md # Convert into multiple JPEG image files marp --images jpeg slide-deck.md
Output files have a suffix of page number, like slide-deck.001.png, slide-deck.002.png, and so on.
When you passed --image option or specified the output path with PNG/JPEG extension, Marp CLI will convert only the first page (title slide) of the targeted slide deck into an image.
# Convert the title slide into an image
marp --image png slide-deck.md
marp slide-deck.md -o output.pngIt would be useful for creating Open Graph image that can specify with image global directive and --og-image option.
You can set the scale factor for rendered image(s) through --image-scale option. It is useful for making high-resolution image from the slide.
# Generate high-resolution image of the title slide
marp slide-deck.md -o title-slide@2x.png --image-scale 2Tip
--image-scale is not affect to the actual size of presentation.
The scale factor is also available for PPTX conversion. By default, Marp CLI will use 2 as the default scale factor in PPTX, to suppress deterioration of slide rendering in full-screen presentation.
You can export presenter notes in Marp / Marpit Markdown as a text file by using --notes option or specifying the output path with TXT extension.
# Export presenter notes as a text
marp --notes slide-deck.md
marp slide-deck.md -o output.txtBecause of the security reason, conversion that is using the browser cannot use local files by default.
Marp CLI would output incomplete result with warning if the blocked local file accessing is detected. We recommend uploading your assets to online.
If you really need to use local files in these conversion, --allow-local-files option helps to find your local files. Please use only to the trusted Markdown because there is a potential security risk.
marp --pdf --allow-local-files slide-deck.md
When converting multiple files, Marp CLI will process them in parallel with 5 concurrency by default. You can set the number of concurrency by --parallel (-P) option, or disable parallelism by --no-parallel.
Marp CLI will observe a change of Markdown and using theme CSS when passed with --watch (-w) option. The conversion will be triggered whenever the content of file is updated.
While you are opening the converted HTML in browser, it would refresh the opened page automatically.
Server mode supports on-demand conversion by HTTP request. We require to pass --server (-s) option and a directory to serve.
In this mode, the converted file outputs as the result of accessing to server, and not to disk.
You would get the converted PDF, PPTX, PNG, JPEG, and TXT by adding corresponded query string when requesting. e.g. http://localhost:8080/deck-a.md?pdf returns converted PDF.
Tip
You can set the server port by setting the environment variable PORT. For example, PORT=5000 marp -s ./slides would listen on port number 5000.
Marp CLI server will provide the list of served files by default, but you can place the default Markdown deck like a common web server's index.html.
Place Markdown named index.md or PITCHME.md (GitPitch style) to served directory. It would be redirected just accessing to http://localhost:8080/.
When conversions were executed together with --preview (-p) option, Marp CLI will open preview window(s) to check the converted result immediately.
Unlike opening with browser, you may present deck with the immersive window. Watch mode is automatically enabled while using preview window.
Note
--preview option cannot use when you are using Marp CLI through official Docker image.
You can specify the kind of browser for conversion by --browser option. Available browsers are chrome, edge, and firefox. If set comma-separated browsers, Marp CLI will try to use the first available browser among them.
# Use Firefox for image conversion marp --browser firefox ./slide.md -o slide.png # Prefer to use Firefox first, then Chrome marp --browser firefox,chrome ./slide.md -o slide.png
The default is a special value auto, which means to use the first available browser from chrome,edge,firefox.
If you have a browser binary that cannot find out by Marp CLI automatically, you can explicitly set the path to the browser executable through --browser-path option.
# Use Chromium-flavored browser (Chromium, Brave, Vivaldi, etc...) marp --browser-path /path/to/chromium-flavored-browser ./slide.md -o slide.pdf # Use Firefox with explicitly set path marp --browser firefox --browser-path /path/to/firefox ./slide.md -o slide.png
--browser-protocol: Set the preferred protocol for connecting to the browser.
cdp: Chrome DevTools Protocol (default)webdriver-bidi: WebDriver BiDi--browser-timeout: Set the timeout for each browser operation in seconds. (default: 30 seconds)You can choose a built-in HTML templates by --template option. Default template is bespoke.
marp --template bespoke slide-deck.md
The bespoke template is using Bespoke.js as the name implies. It has several features to be useful in a real presentation. A few features may control by CLI options.
--bespoke.osc=false if unnecessary.* and 1) as the bullet marker.--bespoke.progress option, you can add a progress bar on the top of the deck.transition local directive) powered by View Transition API.bespoke templatebespoke template: Built-in transitions, custom transitions, and morphing animations.
The bare template is a primitive template, and there is no extra features. It only has minimum assets to give your presentation with browser.
When the conversion engine is changed to Marpit framework by setting engine option, it would not use any scripts. Even then, it has enough to use for the browser-based presentation.
marp --template bare --engine @marp-team/marpit slide-deck.md
Through global directives or CLI options, you can set metadata for a converted HTML, PDF, and PPTX slide deck.
| Global directives | CLI option | Description | Available in |
|---|---|---|---|
title |
--title |
Define title of the slide deck | HTML, PDF, PPTX |
description |
--description |
Define description of the slide | HTML, PDF, PPTX |
author |
--author |
Define author of the slide deck | HTML, PDF, PPTX |
keywords |
--keywords |
Define comma-separated keywords | HTML, PDF |
url |
--url |
Define canonical URL | HTML |
image |
--og-image |
Define Open Graph image URL | HTML |
When a title was not defined, Marp CLI may assign the title from the first heading of Markdown automatically. If not wanted this detection, specify the title as empty string "".
Marp CLI supports additional global directives to specify metadata in Markdown. You can define meta values in Markdown front-matter.
--- title: Marp slide deck description: An example slide deck created by Marp CLI author: Yuki Hattori keywords: marp,marp-cli,slide url: https://marp.app/ image: https://marp.app/og-image.jpg --- # Marp slide deck
Marp CLI prefers CLI option to global directives. You can override metadata values by --title, --description, --author, --keywords, --url, and --og-image.
You can override theme you want to use by --theme option. For example to use Gaia built-in theme in Marp Core:
marp --theme gaia
A custom theme created by user also can use easily by passing the path of CSS file.
marp --theme custom-theme.css
Tip
Marpit theme CSS requires @theme meta comment in regular use, but it's not required in this usage.
--theme-set option has to specify theme set composed by multiple theme CSS files. The registered themes are usable in Marpit's theme directive.
# Multiple theme CSS files marp --theme-set theme-a.css theme-b.css theme-c.css -- deck-a.md deck-b.md # Theme directory marp --theme-set ./themes -- deck.md
Marp CLI is calling the Marpit framework based converter as "Engine". Normally we use the bundled Marp Core, but you may swap the conversion engine to another Marpit based engine through --engine option.
You can use Marp (and compatible markdown-it) plugins while converting, or completely swap the converter to the other Marpit-based engine which published to npm.
For example, you can convert Markdown with using the pure Marpit framework.
# Install Marpit framework npm i @marp-team/marpit # Specify engine to use Marpit marp --engine @marp-team/marpit marpit-deck.md
Notice that Marpit has not provided theme. It would be good to include inline style in Markdown, or pass CSS file by --theme option.
Tip
If you want to use the Marpit-based custom engine by the module name, the specified module must be exporting a class inherited from Marpit as the default export.
When you specified the path to JavaScript file (.js, .cjs, or .mjs) in --engine option, you may use more customized engine by a JavaScript function.
The functional engine should export a function as the default export, which should have a single argument representing the constructor option of Marpit/Marp Core.
The function must return a class that inherits from Marpit, or an instance of a Marpit-based engine created with the constructor options passed as an argument.
// engine.mjs import { MarpitBasedEngine } from 'marpit-based-engine' export default () => MarpitBasedEngine // Return a class inherited from Marpit // or return an instance of Marpit-based engine // export default (constructorOptions) => new MarpitBasedEngine(constructorOptions)
.cjs)
// engine.cjs (CommonJS) const { MarpitBasedEngine } = require('marpit-based-engine') module.exports = () => MarpitBasedEngine // module.exports = function (constructorOptions) { // return new MarpitBasedEngine(constructorOptions) // }
This function can return Promise object so you can use async function too.
export default async (constructorOptions) => { const { MarpitBasedEngine } = await import('marpit-based-engine') return new MarpitBasedEngine(constructorOptions) }
Marp CLI also exposes marp getter property to the parameter. It returns a prepared instance of the built-in Marp Core engine, so you can apply several customizations to Marp engine with simple declarations.
import marpPlugin from 'marp-plugin-foo' import andMorePlugin from 'marp-plugin-bar' export default ({ marp }) => marp.use(marpPlugin).use(andMorePlugin)
It allows converting Markdown with additional syntaxes that were provided by Marp (or compatible markdown-it) plugins.
import markdownItMark from 'markdown-it-mark' export default ({ marp }) => marp.use(markdownItMark)
# Install markdown-it-mark into your project npm i markdown-it-mark --save # Specify the path to functional engine marp --engine ./engine.mjs slide-deck.md
The customized engine will convert ==marked== to <mark>marked</mark>.
By using --version (-v) option, you may confirm the version of engine that is expected to use in current configuration.
$ marp --version @marp-team/marp-cli v4.x.x (w/ @marp-team/marp-core v4.x.x)
Marp CLI prefers to use an installed core to local project by user than the bundled.
If the current project has installed @marp-team/marp-core individually, it would show its version and the annotation: w/ user-installed @marp-team/marp-core vX.X.X or w/ customized engine.
$ npm i @marp-team/marp-cli @marp-team/marp-core@^4.0.0 --save-dev $ npx marp --version @marp-team/marp-cli v4.x.x (w/ user-installed @marp-team/marp-core v4.0.0)
Marp CLI can be configured options with file, such as marp.config.js, marp.config.mjs (ES Modules), marp.config.cjs (CommonJS), .marprc (JSON / YAML), and marp section of package.json.
It is useful to configure settings for the whole of project.
// package.json { "marp": { "inputDir": "./slides", "output": "./public", "themeSet": "./themes" } }
# .marprc.yml allowLocalFiles: true options: looseYAML: false markdown: breaks: false pdf: true
// marp.config.mjs import markdownItContainer from 'markdown-it-container' export default { // Customize engine on configuration file directly engine: ({ marp }) => marp.use(markdownItContainer, 'custom'), }
By default we use configuration file that is placed on current directory, but you may also specify the path for a configuration file by --config-file (--config / -c) option.
If you want to prevent looking up a configuration file, you can pass --no-config-file (--no-config) option.
| Key | Type | CLI option | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
allowLocalFiles |
boolean | --allow-local-files |
Allow to access local files from Markdown while converting PDF (NOT SECURE) |
author |
string | --author |
Define author of the slide deck |
bespoke |
object | Setting options for bespoke template |
|
┗ osc |
boolean | --bespoke.osc |
[Bespoke] Use on-screen controller (true by default) |
┗ progress |
boolean | --bespoke.progress |
[Bespoke] Use progress bar (false by default) |
┗ transition |
boolean | --bespoke.transition |
[Bespoke] Use transitions (Only in browsers supported View Transition API: true by default) |
browser |
string | string[] | --browser |
The kind of browser for conversion (auto by default) |
browserPath |
string | --browser-path |
Path to the browser executable |
browserProtocol |
cdp | webdriver-bidi |
--browser-protocol |
Set the preferred protocol for connecting to the browser (cdp by default) |
browserTimeout |
number | --browser-timeout |
Set the timeout for each browser operation in seconds (30 by default) |
description |
string | --description |
Define description of the slide deck |
engine |
string | Class | Function | --engine |
Specify Marpit based engine |
html |
boolean | object | --html |
Enable or disable HTML tags (Configuration file can pass the whitelist object if you are using Marp Core) |
image |
png | jpeg |
--image |
Convert the first slide page into an image file |
images |
png | jpeg |
--images |
Convert slide deck into multiple image files |
imageScale |
number | --image-scale |
The scale factor for rendered images (1 by default, or 2 for PPTX conversion) |
inputDir |
string | --input-dir -I |
The base directory to find markdown and theme CSS |
jpegQuality |
number | --jpeg-quality |
Setting JPEG image quality (85 by default) |
keywords |
string | string[] | --keywords |
Define keywords for the slide deck (Accepts comma-separated string and array of string) |
lang |
string | Define the language of converted HTML | |
notes |
boolean | --notes |
Convert slide deck notes into a text file |
ogImage |
string | --og-image |
Define Open Graph image URL |
options |
object | The base options for the constructor of engine | |
output |
string | --output -o |
Output file path (or directory when input-dir is passed) |
parallel |
boolean | number | --parallel -P |
Set the number of concurrency for parallel conversion (5 by default) |
pdf |
boolean | --pdf |
Convert slide deck into PDF |
pdfNotes |
boolean | --pdf-notes |
Add presenter notes to PDF as annotations |
pdfOutlines |
boolean | object | --pdf-outlines |
Add outlines (bookmarks) to PDF |
┗ pages |
boolean | --pdf-outlines.pages |
Make PDF outlines from slide pages (true by default when pdfOutlines is enabled) |
┗ headings |
boolean | --pdf-outlines.headings |
Make PDF outlines from Markdown headings (true by default when pdfOutlines is enabled) |
pptx |
boolean | --pptx |
Convert slide deck into PowerPoint document |
pptxEditable |
boolean | --pptx-editable |
[EXPERIMENTAL] Generate editable PPTX when converting to PPTX |
preview |
boolean | --preview -p |
Open preview window |
server |
boolean | --server -s |
Enable server mode |
template |
bare | bespoke |
--template |
Choose template (bespoke by default) |
theme |
string | --theme |
Override theme by name or CSS file |
themeSet |
string | string[] | --theme-set |
Path to additional theme CSS files |
title |
string | --title |
Define title of the slide deck |
url |
string | --url |
Define canonical URL |
watch |
boolean | --watch -w |
Watch input markdowns for changes |
Some of options that cannot specify through CLI options can be configured by file. (e.g. options field for the constructor option of used engine)
You can fine-tune constructor options for the engine, Marp Core / Marpit.
{
"options": {
"markdown": {
"breaks": false
},
"minifyCSS": false
}
}This configuration will set the constructor option for Marp Core as specified:
\n to <br />) to match for CommonMark, by passing markdown-it's breaks option as false.minifyCSS as false.[!WARNING]
Some options may be overridden by used template.
When Marp CLI has been installed into the local project, for getting the power of auto completion for the config, such as IntelliSense, you can annotate the config object through JSDoc, with Marp CLI's Config type.
/** @type {import('@marp-team/marp-cli').Config} */ const config = { // ... } export default config
Or you can import Vite-like defineConfig helper from Marp CLI instead.
import { defineConfig } from '@marp-team/marp-cli' export default defineConfig({ // ... })
If you've swapped the engine into another Marpit based engine, you can provide better suggestion for options field by passing the engine type to generics.
/** @type {import('@marp-team/marp-cli').Config<typeof import('@marp-team/marpit').Marpit>} */ const config = { engine: '@marp-team/marpit', options: { // Suggest only Marpit constructor options, not Marp Core }, } export default config
If you've installed both of Marp CLI and TypeScript (up to v6) into your local Node.js project, you can write a config by TypeScript: marp.config.ts. Marp CLI will try to transpile .ts with the project setting tsconfig.json.
If you're using the standalone binary, Marp CLI will try to load marp.config.ts by Node.js native TypeScript support. In this case, the project setting tsconfig.json will not be used, and there are some constraints.
In TypeScript configuration, you can specify the custom engine as the generics for defineConfig helper, like this:
// marp.config.ts import { Marpit } from '@marp-team/marpit' import { defineConfig } from '@marp-team/marp-cli' export default defineConfig<typeof Marpit>({ engine: Marpit, options: { // Suggest only Marpit constructor options }, })
You can use Marp CLI through Node.js if installed Marp CLI into your local project.
import { marpCli } from '@marp-team/marp-cli' try { const exitStatus = await marpCli(['test.md', '--pdf']) if (exitStatus > 0) { console.error(`Failure (Exit status: ${exitStatus})`) } else { console.log('Success') } } catch (err) { console.error(err) }
marpCli() accepts an argument of CLI options as array, and returns Promise to resolve an expected exit status in CLI. It would be rejected with the instance of Error if CLI met an error to suspend the conversion process.
We have exported CLIError class and CLIErrorCode enum, to allow handling for specific errors that have already known by Marp CLI.
If CLIError instance was thrown, you can identify the reason why CLI threw error by checking errorCode member.
import { marpCli, CLIError } from '@marp-team/marp-cli' try { await marpCli(['foobar.md', '--pdf']) } catch (err) { if (err instanceof CLIError) { console.error(`Marp CLI Error (Error code: ${err.errorCode}):`, err) } else { console.error('Unexpected error:', err) } }
marpCli() would not be resolved initiatively if started some observation: Watch mode, server mode, and preview window.
waitForObservation() is helpful for handling them. It returns a Promise that resolves with a helper object when ready to observe resources in marpCli().
import { marpCli, waitForObservation } from '@marp-team/marp-cli' // This call is not awaited so the server startup will continue in the background marpCli(['--server', './slides/']) .then((exitCode) => console.log(`Done with exit code ${exitCode}`)) .catch(console.error) // Wait for the server to be ready const { stop } = await waitForObservation() console.log('Observed') // ... Do something while observing resources ... // Stop observing, and resolve the Promise from `marpCli()` stop()
The resolved helper has stop() method for telling Marp CLI to stop observation and resolve the Promise from marpCli().
Are you interested in contributing? Please see CONTRIBUTING.md and the common contributing guideline for Marp team.
Managed by @marp-team.
Yuki Hattori (@yhatt)This tool releases under the MIT License.