Templates

A section's entries are written into the PDF by a template: cv-tex/templates/<section>.eta if you have one, else vitakit's template for that section, else vitakit's generic one. A template only describes the entries; headings and order are the document's.

pnpm

pnpm vitakit customize teaching --pdf                     # a copy of the template in use
pnpm vitakit customize teaching --pdf --field evaluation  # with a line for a field
pnpm vitakit customize talks-public --pdf --from talks    # a copy of another section's

npm

npx vitakit customize teaching --pdf                     # a copy of the template in use
npx vitakit customize teaching --pdf --field evaluation  # with a line for a field
npx vitakit customize talks-public --pdf --from talks    # a copy of another section's

A template whose name matches no section is an error rather than a file that is silently never read — so talk.eta tells you it meant talks.eta. A local _generic.eta is the fallback for sections without a named template; named templates (local or bundled) take precedence. vitakit explain <section> shows which template a section uses; vitakit validate renders every template without running LaTeX.

Writing entries

After vitakit customize teaching --pdf, cv-tex/templates/teaching.eta is yours. Templates receive the document's already-selected, sorted entries as it.entries. They describe the entries, not section headings or ordering.

<% for (const item of it.entries) { %>
<%~ it.vita.entry({
  date: it.text(item.term) || it.date(item.date),
  title: item.title,
  context: it.join([item.role, it.linked(item.institution)])
}) %>
<%~ it.vita.note(item.note) %>
<%~ it.vita.note`Evaluation: ${item.evaluationScore}/5` %>
<% } %>

The evaluation line is an example for a field you have added to the schema. Adding a schema field does not display it automatically.

<% … %> runs JavaScript; <%~ … %> inserts helper output. it is Eta's name for its input object. Every helper escapes inserted data, and helper results can be passed directly to other helpers without being escaped twice.

Helpers

Helper	Meaning
it.text(value)	text, numbers, or booleans; absent values become empty output
it.date(value)	a normalized date or range from a dateRange schema field
it.linked(value)	text, or a { label, url? } value (a link field); links only when a URL exists
it.linked(label, url)	the same operation with a separate label and URL
it.url(value)	a URL target for hand-written LaTeX, not a complete visible link
it.join(values, separator)	combine nonempty values; separator defaults to ,
it.vita.entry({ date, title, context })	emit \vitaentry; date and context are optional
it.vita.note(value)	emit \vitanote unless the value is absent

There is one text helper regardless of a field's internal representation. Formatting follows the schema: a richText field retains its mathematics, while ordinary strings are literal text (so Budget: $500 stays currency). This does not add Markdown-to-LaTeX conversion: other Markdown formatting still appears literally. Unknown structured values are errors rather than [object Object]; use date or linked as appropriate.

join accepts data and formatted helper results, omits only empty output, and keeps zero and false. A custom separator is text too. Unlike notes, an entry is not omitted when one of its slots is empty.

Optional sentences

Use a tagged template string, with no parentheses, to put text around optional values:

<%~ it.vita.note`Evaluation: ${item.evaluationScore}/5` %>
<%~ it.vita.note`Hosted by ${it.linked(item.institution)}` %>
<%~ it.optional`\vitanote{Custom note: ${item.note}}` %>

If any inserted value is absent (undefined, null, or empty output), the whole tagged fragment is omitted, including its labels and punctuation. Zero and false are present values. A tag with no inserted values always emits its literal content.

Literal portions of these tags are template-authored LaTeX: write \emph{…} or \& directly, with single backslashes. Inserted values are escaped automatically; formatted results from linked, date, etc. are preserved. vita.note wraps the body in \vitanote{…}; the lower-level optional tag emits just the fragment.

For independently optional clauses, use separate tags and join their results:

<%~ it.vita.note(it.join([
  it.optional`\emph{${item.title}}`,
  it.optional`, supervised by ${it.linked(item.supervisor)}`
], '')) %>

Compose with these tags and join, rather than ordinary JavaScript string concatenation: concatenation loses the distinction between data and generated LaTeX and can cause double escaping. The wrappers still emit ordinary CV macros; redefine those in preamble.tex to change their appearance.

Generic and bibliography templates

The generic fallback additionally has it.generic.title(item) and it.generic.context(item), which select conventional fields and return formatted output. Named templates normally choose their fields explicitly. Teaching's term preference likewise lives in its template, not a special formatter.

Only the publications template has it.bib.group(group), which emits the citation-key selection check used by biblatex. It is not an ordinary entry helper.

Templates from vitakit 0.1

The previous helper names are no longer provided:

• tex and rich become text; inst and linkOrText become linked.
• Replace term(item) with text(item.term) || date(item.date).
• Replace rich(titleOf(item)) and secondaryOf(item) with generic.title(item) and generic.context(item).
• In publications templates, bibgroup(group) becomes bib.group(group).

All names above are accessed through it. If an old template deliberately used rich on a plain string to preserve mathematics, declare that field as richText in its schema instead. The renderer, not the template author, then handles its representation.