Configuration

Customize NovaType with project and global configuration files.

nova.toml File

Each NovaType project can have a nova.toml file at its root:

# nova.toml - Project configuration

[project]
name = "my-article"
version = "1.0.0"
authors = ["John Doe <john@example.com>"]

[compile]
input = "main.typ"
output = "output/document.pdf"
format = "pdf"  # pdf, svg, png

[fonts]
paths = ["./fonts", "~/.fonts"]

[bibliography]
file = "references.bib"
style = "ieee"

[schema]
file = "schemas/article.json"
strict = true

[watch]
debounce = 300  # ms
clear = true    # Clear the terminal

[python]
python = "python"
figures_dir = "figures"
cache_dir = ".nova/cache"
timeout = 60

Configuration Sections

[project]

Option	Type	Description
`name`	string	Project name
`version`	string	Document version
`authors`	array	List of authors
`description`	string	Project description

[compile]

Option	Type	Default	Description
`input`	string	`"main.typ"`	Main source file
`output`	string	auto	Output file path
`format`	string	`"pdf"`	Output format
`root`	string	`"."`	Root directory

[fonts]

Option	Type	Description
`paths`	array	Additional font directories
`fallback`	string	Fallback font

[bibliography]

Option	Type	Description
`file`	string	Path to .bib file
`style`	string	Citation style (apa, ieee, chicago...)
`crossref`	bool	Enable CrossRef API

[watch]

Option	Type	Default	Description
`debounce`	int	`300`	Delay in ms before recompilation
`clear`	bool	`false`	Clear the terminal
`open`	bool	`false`	Open PDF automatically

[python]

Configure Python figure generation. See Python Figures for a full guide.

Option	Type	Default	Description
`python`	string	`"python"`	Python executable name or path
`figures_dir`	string	`"figures"`	Directory containing figure scripts
`cache_dir`	string	`".nova/cache"`	Directory for cached SVGs
`timeout`	int	`60`	Timeout per figure (seconds)
`venv`	string	—	Path to virtual environment
`python_path`	array	`[]`	Additional PYTHONPATH entries
`env`	table	`{}`	Environment variables for Python execution

Global Configuration

User configuration file (~/.config/nova/config.toml on Linux/macOS, %APPDATA%\nova\config.toml on Windows):

# NovaType global configuration

[defaults]
template = "article"
citation_style = "ieee"
language = "en"

[fonts]
paths = [
  "~/.fonts",
  "/usr/share/fonts"
]

[editor]
command = "code"  # Default editor

[pdf]
viewer = "evince"  # PDF viewer

Environment Variables

Variable	Description
`NOVA_CONFIG`	Path to global config file
`NOVA_FONT_PATH`	Font directories (separated by `:`)
`NOVA_TEMPLATE_PATH`	Template directories
`NOVA_CACHE_DIR`	Cache directory

Configuration Priority

Configurations are applied in this order (last one wins):

NovaType default values
Global configuration (~/.config/nova/config.toml)
Project configuration (nova.toml)
Command line arguments
Environment variables

Complete Example

# nova.toml for an IEEE article

[project]
name = "ieee-paper-2024"
version = "1.0.0"
authors = [
  "John Doe <john.doe@univ-paris.fr>",
  "Jane Smith <jane.smith@cnrs.fr>"
]

[compile]
input = "paper.typ"
output = "build/paper.pdf"
format = "pdf"

[fonts]
paths = ["./fonts/ieee"]

[bibliography]
file = "references.bib"
style = "ieee"
crossref = true

[schema]
file = "schemas/ieee-article.json"
strict = true

[watch]
debounce = 200
clear = true

[plots]
theme = "ieee"
dpi = 300

Tip

Use nova init --template ieee-article to automatically generate a pre-configured nova.toml.