VS Code Extension

The extension brings Scholarly's templates, layouts, components, citations, theme controls, and project checks into VS Code. Its sidebar follows the usual workflow: start, build, customize, then check.

The interface follows the VS Code display language. English and Simplified Chinese are included.

Install

Install Slidev Scholarly from the VS Code Marketplace. Requires VS Code 1.106.0 or newer. Preview and export also need Slidev and the theme installed in the presentation project; see Quick start.

Open the extension

1. Open a Markdown file.
2. Open the Secondary Side Bar.
3. Select Slidev Scholarly.

The sidebar is ordered by task:

Stage	View	Purpose
Start	Start · Templates	Create a deck from a template
Build	Build · Layouts	Insert a whole-slide structure
Build	Build · Components	Insert theorems, metrics, evidence, and other content
Build	Build · Citations & Anchors	Insert BibTeX keys, summaries, and internal links
Customize	Customize · Themes	Set presets, colors, fonts, and light or dark modes
Reference	Reference · CLI Actions	Run CLI tasks, the doctor, and help

Keep the sidebar beside your Markdown and work through it from top to bottom.

1. Start a deck

Choose a template in Start · Templates to create a complete project through the CLI. Enter a new or empty folder name, then open that folder, install dependencies, and start the preview:

pnpm install
pnpm run dev

The Command Palette action Slidev Scholarly: Create Presentation creates a starter Markdown file instead. It writes to the workspace, or opens an untitled document when no workspace is open. Add the file to a Slidev project before previewing it.

Build an outline with Deck Builder

Run Slidev Scholarly: Open Deck Builder, then follow these steps:

1. Choose a workflow, such as a paper talk or thesis defense.
2. Check each layout thumbnail, then add or reorder slides.
3. Select a slide and write its content.

Create an untitled Markdown deck when the outline is ready, or append only the selected slide to the end of the active Markdown file. Appending preserves the existing deck settings and pages. Continue editing and previewing in Slidev.

Citation workflows also need the references.bib file beside the saved Markdown. After generating an outline, choose Create template project in the notification to initialize the complete starter, then save your generated outline into that project. The notification can be dismissed without changing the outline; creating a project refuses to overwrite a nonempty folder.

Switching layouts keeps each slide's draft fields; only the active layout is generated. In narrow editors, expand the workflow, layout, or outline controls when needed. Use arrow keys to choose a workflow, then Tab to move to the editor.

Choose a workflow, understand the layouts, then write the first draft.

2. Build the slides

Insert layouts and components

Choose a layout or component from the sidebar. Selecting an item inserts its Markdown at the cursor; the eye icon opens a visual preview first. Place whole-slide snippets at a page boundary and check the surrounding --- separators.

Use:

• Layouts for whole-slide structure;
• Components for theorems, metrics, evidence, and other content;
• Citations for BibTeX references and footnotes.

Use completions as you type

Trigger	Suggestions
layout:	Layout names
colorTheme:, fontTheme:	Theme values
contentMode:, chromeMode:, sectionMode:	Light and dark modes
<	Scholarly components
:::	Markdown directives
](#, href="#, to="#	Internal anchors
ss-, scholarly-	Built-in snippets

Press Ctrl+Space if suggestions do not open automatically.

Insert citations and anchors

Build · Citations & Anchors lists BibTeX entries and internal anchors from the active document.

Available commands include:

• Slidev Scholarly: Insert Citation
• Slidev Scholarly: Insert Internal Anchor
• Slidev Scholarly: Insert Internal Anchor Reference
• Slidev Scholarly: Insert Paper Summary

Use snippets

Type a prefix and press Tab:

Prefix	Inserts
ss-cover	Cover slide
ss-section	Section divider
ss-figure	Figure with caption
ss-theorem	Theorem component
ss-results	Results layout
ss-cite	BibTeX citation
ss-anchor	Internal anchor
ss-frontmatter	Scholarly frontmatter

Browse the full catalog from the completion list or sidebar. Legacy scholarly-* prefixes still work.

3. Customize the deck

Customize · Themes contains four groups:

• Presets
• Color Themes
• Font Themes
• Light & Dark Modes

Theme actions update frontmatter in the active Markdown file. They do not rewrite slide content.

Choose a theme in the sidebar or Command Palette. The extension writes the change to frontmatter.

4. Check and get help

Reference · CLI Actions groups commands by task:

Group	Actions
Start	Create a presentation or list templates
Build	List layouts and components, add snippets, or apply workflows
Customize	Set a theme or list presets
Check & Help	Run doctor or show CLI help

Citation diagnostics

When a deck contains @citekey or !@citekey, the extension checks for:

• missing bibFile configuration;
• missing .bib files;
• duplicate or unresolved keys;
• a missing layout: references slide.

Quick Fix can repair the common cases.

Troubleshooting

Suggestions or snippets do not appear

1. Confirm that the extension is installed and enabled.
2. Open a .md file.
3. Press Ctrl+Space.

The sidebar is missing

1. Run View: Toggle Secondary Side Bar.
2. Run View: Reset View Locations if the view is still missing.

Extension development

Install a local VSIX

1. Download or build the .vsix file.
2. Open the Command Palette with Cmd+Shift+P or Ctrl+Shift+P.
3. Run Extensions: Install from VSIX....
4. Select the file and reload VS Code.

Turn on developer diagnostics

Run Slidev Scholarly: Toggle Dev Mode. The status bar shows Scholarly Dev, and the Slidev Scholarly output channel records timing logs.

Settings:

• slidevScholarly.devMode.enabled
• slidevScholarly.devMode.slowThresholdMs (default: 25)

Report bugs and feature requests on GitHub.