Introduction

This repository gathers resources for using VSCodium (the open source and private fork of VS Code) to write in LaTeX, Markdown, Python, or any programming languages that you might want to use.

Motivation

VSCodium offers a nice suite of features while being extremely accessible and easy to configure. By contrast, TexShop and TexMaker do not offer the resources provided by modern IDEs (e.g., LSP support, snippets, Git integration, syntax highlighting, etc.), Overleaf is limited to the browser and requires internet access, and NeoVim is much more difficult to install, configure, and learn to use.

The instructions below aim to streamline the process of adopting VSCodium as your daily driver for composing and editing text of all kinds. Even if you are new to LaTeX, this configuration provides a place to start with all the information and instructions that you will need in one place. The configuration is modular and easy to extend to include further utilities for writing, taking notes, managing your workflow, staying organized, or for working with other languages such as Python etc. (there is a large ecosystem of plugins).

Topics

Resources will be provided for how to use the following with VSCodium:

• LaTeX: A document preparation system for high-quality typesetting
• Zotero: A free reference manager to organize your research papers and citations
• Git: Version control system for tracking changes and collaborating with others
• Python: Popular programming language for data analysis and scientific computing
• Jupyter Notebooks: Interactive computing environment for data science and research

Issues

If you run into trouble you can open an issue by clicking the issues tab above, checking first to see that your issue was not already answered (search for both open and closed issues). Since future users may find the responses to your issue helpful, GitHub issues are a nice way to not only solve the problems that you are facing, but to contribute to the project by expanding its surrounding documentation. With this in mind, make sure to appropriately name the issue you create, providing a careful description of the problem and what you have tried already. It is also important to stay on topic, opening new issues if you have separate problems rather than lumping them altogether.

If you find any errors in this documentation, you are welcome to submit a pull request by directly editing this README.md document (click the edit icon in the top right corner). That way your changes will be able to be easily reviewed and integrated into the project. If you feel that certain information is missing or would otherwise be helpful to include as a part of this project, don't hesitate to create an issue with your suggestions.

LaTeX Screenshot

Table of Contents

Note: To facilitate navigation, section headers are linked back to the table of contents.

This guide covers the installation and configuration of VSCodium along with a variety of tools for academic writing and research.

Main Sections

• Introduction: Overview of the VSCodium academic writing setup
  • Motivation: Why choose VSCodium over other editors
  • Topics: Key technologies covered in this guide
  • Issues: How to get help and contribute
• Installation: Install VSCodium and essential extensions
• Configuration: Add the configuration files
• Customization: Personalize your VSCodium environment
  • Themes: Visual customization options
  • Custom Keyboard Shortcuts: Improve your workflow
• Toolchain: A comprehensive collection of tools for academic writing

Extended Documentation

For a complete overview of all available documentation, see the Documentation Index.

You can find detailed guides on specific topics here:

• Terminal Guide: How to open and use the terminal on macOS, Windows, and Linux (start here if you're new to the command line)
• LaTeX Guide: Complete setup and configuration for LaTeX document preparation
• Zotero Integration: Connect your reference manager with VSCodium
• Git Workflow: Version control and collaboration
• Claude Code Installation: AI coding assistant setup for macOS, Windows, and Linux
• Theme Gallery: Visual customization options for your editor
• Keyboard Shortcuts: Custom keybindings for improved productivity
• Tools Reference: Detailed guide to Markdown, Templates, Snippets, Pandoc, Python, and Jupyter
• Jupyter Notebooks: Interactive computing and data visualization

Directory Structure

This repository is organized as follows:

VSCodium/
├── README.md                     # Main documentation
├── assets/                       # Configuration files and resources
│   ├── README.md                 # Assets documentation
│   ├── settings.json             # Main VSCodium configuration
│   └── .latexmkrc                # LaTeX build configuration
├── docs/                         # Detailed documentation
│   ├── claude-code.md            # Claude Code installation guide
│   ├── git.md                    # Git integration guide
│   ├── jupyter.md                # Jupyter notebooks
│   ├── keymaps.md                # Keyboard shortcuts
│   ├── latex.md                  # LaTeX setup and usage
│   ├── themes.md                 # Theme configuration
│   ├── tools.md                  # Tools reference
│   └── zotero.md                 # Zotero integration
├── images/                       # Screenshots and images
│   └── latex.png                 # LaTeX editor screenshot
├── templates/                    # LaTeX templates
│   ├── Glossary.tex              # Template for glossaries
│   ├── HandOut.tex               # Handout template
│   ├── Letter.tex                # Letter template
│   ├── PhilBeamer.tex            # Beamer presentation
│   ├── PhilPaper.tex             # Academic paper template
│   ├── formal_template/          # Formal paper structure
│   └── subfiles_template/        # Multi-file document template
└── texmf/                        # TeX resources
    ├── bibtex/                   # Bibliography resources
    └── tex/                      # LaTeX classes and styles

Installation

Although VS Code is free and open source, it is owned by Microsoft and so your data is not private as a result. By contrast, VSCodium is a community-driven distribution of VS Code that is otherwise identical (compare Chromium to Google Chrome). To get started, download and install VSCodium for your operating system.

Note: If you prefer to install VS Code, all the same settings will continue to apply, though some of the paths will differ. For instance, on MacOS, VS Code stores the settings.json file in ~/Library/Application Support/Code/User instead of in ~/Library/Application Support/VSCodium/User.

Once installed, open the "Extensions" tab on the top left, or hit ctrl + shift + x. Search for and install the plugins 'LaTeX Workshop' as well as 'Two Monokai Theme' (this is required for the settings.json configuration to "just work"). It is easy to switch between themes, where these details will be covered below.

There are many other themes and plugins which you can try out. You can even install a NeoVim plugin (by asvetliakov) to simulate the Vim motions in VSCodium. Here are some additional resources. If you are serious about learning to use the Vim motions, you would do best to use NeoVim.

Configuration

NOTE: If you are familiar with Git or interested in giving it a try, the best way to proceed is to fork this repository, using Git to clone your fork onto your machine. These details will be described in the documentation for Git. In addition to streamlining the process, this method will allow you to easily backup your configuration as you make changes, tracking its complete history. Alternatively, the following brute-force method is very easy, but does not backup your configuration (this can be added later with a little extra hassle).

The main configuration files are located in the assets directory. For complete documentation of all available configuration files, see the Assets README.

Settings.json Configuration

Open VSCodium and hit ctrl + shift + p, typing 'Preferences: Open User Settings (JSON)'. This will open your user settings.json file where you can declare your configuration. Replace the entire contents (including the empty braces) with the entire contents of the settings.json file from the assets directory. Save the document with ctrl + s, confirming that the changes have taken place (e.g., note th