Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between Typst and Rheo?

Typst is a markup/programming language that provides its own toolchain which includes a CLI. You can use the Typst CLI to compile one Typst document to one kind of output file:

typst compile source.typ # compile to PDF
typst compile --features html --format html source.typ # compile to HTML

Rheo compiles a project folder to three outputs—PDF, HTML, and EPUB—concurrently. It allows you to configure how certain source files should be merged (to produce a ‘combined’ EPUB or PDF file, for example, via spines), and also allows you to enrich certain outputs (such as HTML via custom CSS) with non-Typst content. Rheo supports EPUB natively, which is not currently supported by the upstream Typst CLI (though it is on the roadmap). In summary, Rheo is a opinionated way to manage writing projects with Typst.

How do I read EPUBs on my system?

Mileage varies greatly on EPUB reading niceness across systems! If you’re interested to learn more, we have written more about this here. If you don’t have a good EPUB reading experience currently, we recommend trying bene, an EPUB reading system that we are developing.

Who maintains Rheo?

Rheo is developed by the Free Computing Lab, an academic research consortium that researches the nature of computing freedom. If you’re interested to learn more or get involved, you can join our Zulip.

Can I contribute to Rheo?

Yes! Rheo is written in Rust and developed in public through Github. You can track development and submit issues or requests for features through that platform. While in principle we welcome community pull requests, it’s best to join our Zulip and ask about it first, to confirm that your work will not go to waste.