{
  "id": 3375484,
  "title": "Show HN: TeXbrain, a LaTeX editor that runs pdfTeX in the browser via WASM",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/25/show-hn-texbrain-a-latex-editor-that-runs-pdftex-in-the-browser-via",
  "topic": "tech",
  "section": "Tech",
  "published": "2026-08-25T22:08:50.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Hacker News",
    "slug": "hacker-news",
    "url": "https://github.com/swimmingbrain/texbrain"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "A new open-source LaTeX editor called TeXbrain allows users to write and compile LaTeX documents directly in their web browsers. No accounts, installations, or servers are required – just open a tab and start writing. The editor is built on CodeMirror 6 with a custom LaTeX grammar and offers autocomplete features. It supports multiple open files and syncs content between the local filesystem and an in-memory git working tree. The compilation engine uses SwiftLaTeX's pdfTeX, running in a memory filesystem (MEMFS) to handle file requests. Resolved files are cached in the browser's storage to ensure efficient downloads. Git operations are handled by isomorphic-git, a JavaScript implementation of git, with remote operations going through a CORS proxy. The PDF viewer is powered by Mozilla's pdf.js, supporting multi-page rendering with selectable text. The app utilizes the File System Access API to read/write files locally on Chromium-based browsers, while other browsers use an Origin Private File System fallback. TeXbrain is a full client-side LaTeX editor that compiles .tex files to PDFs right in the browser, requiring no backend or server processing. It can be accessed at http://localhost:5173 in supported browsers, with full functionality requiring the File System Access API.",
  "summary": null,
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}