PreTeXt CLI

2.38.3 verified Sat May 09 auth: no python

A Python package for authoring, building, and deploying PreTeXt projects. PreTeXt is an XML-based markup language for writing academic articles, textbooks, and other documents. Current version 2.38.3, requires Python >=3.10, <4.0. Roughly monthly releases.

pip install pretext

Common errors

error ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'pretext' ↓

cause Package not installed or typo in import (capital P instead of lowercase).

fix

Install with pip install pretext and ensure import is import pretext (all lowercase).

error ImportError: cannot import name 'PretextProject' from 'pretext' ↓

cause Using older version of pretext (pre-2.0) that did not have PretextProject class.

fix

Upgrade pretext with pip install --upgrade pretext.

Warnings

breaking Python 3.10+ required. Installation on Python 3.9 or older will fail. ↓

fix Upgrade to Python >=3.10.

gotcha Importing submodules (e.g., `pretext.build`) directly is discouraged; use `pretext.build(project_dir, format=...)` via the top-level API. Direct imports may break without notice. ↓

fix Always import from the top-level `pretext` package. E.g., import `pretext` and call `pretext.build(...)`.

Imports

PretextProject
wrong
```
from Pretext import PretextProject
```
correct
```
from pretext import PretextProject
```
Case-sensitive: module name is all lowercase 'pretext'.

Quickstart

Create a new PreTeXt project and build to HTML.

from pretext import PretextProject

# Create a new project in the current directory
project = PretextProject()
project.setup("my-book", author="Your Name", source_dir="source")
print(f"Project created at {project.path}")

# Build to HTML
from pretext import build
def build_html(project_dir):
    build(project_dir, format="html")
    print("Build complete")

build_html("./my-book")