# Documentation

TeXForm parses, edits, and transforms LaTeX math from a command knowledge base, with one Rust core behind identical APIs in Rust, Python, and JavaScript.

https://texform.dev/docs

A formula parses into a real syntax tree, driven by xparse-style argument specifications for every command in a structured knowledge base; you get an editable `Document` tree to query and mutate, and a profile-based transform engine that normalizes formulas into canonical forms tuned for specific downstream uses.

Programs that process LaTeX formulas — cleaning OCR training data, comparing formulas for equivalence, preparing pretraining corpora, building math editors — keep reinventing the same fragile layer of regular expressions and one-off heuristics that guess what `\frac`, `\over`, or `\quantity` mean. The hard part was never the string manipulation; it is knowing the argument structure of every command well enough to work on formulas as syntax trees instead of text. That is why TeXForm parses against a command knowledge base rather than matching patterns: a regex cannot tell that `\frac` takes two arguments while `\sqrt` takes an optional one followed by a mandatory one, because argument structure is not something the surface syntax reveals. [Parsing](https://texform.dev/docs/parsing) explains the full mental model.

## Three pillars [#three-pillars]

TeXForm is built on three capabilities, each layered on the one before it:

* **Knowledge-driven parser.** Formulas parse into real syntax trees, driven by argument specifications for every command in the built-in packages: `base`, `ams`, `physics`, `braket`, `bboldx`, `boldsymbol`, `color`, and `textmacros`. By default, a parser omits `physics` because it redefines `\bra`, `\ket`, and friends that `braket` also owns, so you turn it on explicitly when your formulas use physics-package notation. Unknown commands and unparseable fragments survive as explicit nodes under your control, never a crash. [Parsing](https://texform.dev/docs/parsing) covers the package set and how to change it.
* **Editable document tree.** Parsing produces a `Document` — a DOM-style tree you can query, mutate, and serialize back to LaTeX. Edits are validated and return structured errors; no panic ever reaches the caller. The serializer guarantees text idempotency.
* **Profile-based transform engine.** Normalization has no single correct answer, so TeXForm never imposes one true form. You pick a profile that names your downstream use, and a curated rule pipeline produces the canonical form for that case — from polished authoring output to aggressive corpus normalization.

## Where to start [#where-to-start]

For corpus cleaning and formula comparison:

1. [Quick start](https://texform.dev/docs/quick-start) — normalize your first formula in Python, JavaScript, or Rust.
2. [Normalize a corpus](https://texform.dev/docs/normalize-a-corpus) — reuse an engine with error handling and statistics.

For editors, linters, and converters:

1. [What TeXForm is](https://texform.dev/docs/what-is-texform) — understand the product boundary.
2. [Pipeline](https://texform.dev/docs/pipeline) — follow a formula through its output channels.
3. [Edit a document](https://texform.dev/docs/edit-a-document) — query and mutate the tree, then serialize it.