LaTeX Block

Compile LaTeX source into a PDF and search available TeX Live packages using the public LaTeX-on-HTTP service (latex.ytotech.com). No authentication required.

Overview

When to Use

• Generate publication-quality PDFs from LaTeX source directly in a workflow without a local TeX installation.
• Produce formatted reports, academic papers, or technical documents as part of an automated pipeline.
• Compile documents that rely on BibTeX bibliographies or supplementary resource files (images, style files).
• Choose from multiple compilers (pdflatex, xelatex, lualatex, platex, uplatex, context) to match the document's requirements.
• Discover which TeX Live packages are available before referencing them in a document.
• Pass the resulting base64-encoded PDF or data URL to downstream blocks for storage, email attachment, or display.

Configuration

Operation

Selects the action to perform. Controls which sub-fields are visible.

Default: latex_compile.

LaTeX Source (content) — Compile only

Type: long-input
Required when operation is latex_compile

The full LaTeX source of the main document, from \documentclass to \end{document}. Supports dynamic values via {{blockName.field}}.

Example placeholder: \documentclass{article}\begin{document}Hello\end{document}

Compiler (compiler) — Compile only

Type: short-input
Optional

The LaTeX compiler to use. Accepted values:

• pdflatex (default)
• xelatex
• lualatex
• platex
• uplatex
• context

If left blank, pdflatex is used.

Resources (resources) — Compile only

Type: long-input
Optional

Additional supporting files passed alongside the main document. Provide a JSON array where each entry has a "path" key plus one of:

• "content" — raw text content
• "file" — base64-encoded binary
• "url" — remote URL the service should fetch

Example: [{"path":"refs.bib","content":"@article{...}"}]

Query (query) — Search packages only

Type: short-input
Required when operation is latex_search_packages

Search terms matched against TeX Live package names and short descriptions. Example: tikz.

Inputs & Outputs

Inputs:

• operation (string) — Operation to perform (latex_compile or latex_search_packages)
• content (string) — LaTeX source of the main document
• compiler (string) — LaTeX compiler to use
• resources (json) — Additional supporting files
• query (string) — Package search query

Outputs:

• data (json) — Compiled PDF (when compiling: { pdfBase64, dataUrl }) or array of matching TeX Live packages (when searching)
• metadata (json) — Response metadata (compile: { compiler, status }; search: { count, status })

Tools

LaTeX Compile (latex_compile) — POSTs the LaTeX source and optional resource files to https://latex.ytotech.com/builds/sync, runs the chosen compiler, and returns the resulting PDF as a base64 string (data.pdfBase64) and a ready-to-use data URL (data.dataUrl). metadata.compiler echoes the compiler used; metadata.status carries the HTTP status code.

LaTeX Search Packages (latex_search_packages) — GETs the full TeX Live package list from https://latex.ytotech.com/packages and filters it client-side against the supplied query, matching on package name or short description. Returns the matching packages as data (array) and metadata.count with the number of hits.

YAML Example

latex_1:
  type: latex
  name: "LaTeX"
  inputs:
    operation: "latex_compile"
    content: "{{document_block.latex_source}}"
    compiler: "xelatex"
    resources: '[{"path":"refs.bib","content":"{{bib_block.content}}"}]'
  connections:
    outgoing:
      - target: next-block-id