Jinja Templates

Data content is specified in the markmeld config through options like md_files, yaml_globs, and more. Markmeld loads this data and runs it through a Jinja template.

Standard variable naming

Use content as the standard name for your main document:

data:
  md_files:
    content: manuscript.md

In your template:

{{ content }}

For multiple documents, use descriptive names:

data:
  md_files:
    content: manuscript.md
    supplement: appendix.md

File directives

md_files and yaml_files

Specify a key for each file:

data:
  md_files:
    my_md_file: path/to/file1.md
  yaml_files:
    my_yaml_file: path/to/file2.yaml

Access markdown content directly:

{{ my_md_file }}

Access YAML as a dictionary:

{{ my_yaml_file.variable_name }}

Globs

For md_globs and yaml_globs, content is available under the filename (without extension):

data:
  md_globs:
    - chapters/*.md

{{ chapter1 }}

Variables directive

Define variables directly in config:

data:
  variables:
    author: "Jane Doe"
    year: 2025

Access them: {{ author }}, {{ year }}

Special variables

Markmeld provides these automatically:

• {{ _today }} — Today’s date (YYYY-MM-DD)
• {{ _now }} — Current UNIX timestamp
• {{ target_name }} — Current target name
• {{ _global_frontmatter }} — Merged frontmatter from all sources
• {{ _local_frontmatter }} — Frontmatter by file key
• {{ _md }} — Structured access to markdown content
• {{ _yaml }} — Structured access to YAML content

Frontmatter

Base defaults

targets:
  my_target:
    frontmatter:
      csl: "nature.csl"
    data:
      md_files:
        content: manuscript.md

Overrides (always win)

targets:
  my_target:
    frontmatter_overrides:
      lab: "Sheffield Lab"

Precedence

frontmatter < md frontmatter < yaml data < variables < frontmatter_overrides

Dynamic access with _md

For loops and dynamic templates:

data:
  md_files:
    intro: md/01-intro.md
    chapter1: md/02-chapter.md
  variables:
    chapters: [intro, chapter1]

{% for chapter in chapters %}
{{ _md[chapter].content }}
{% endfor %}

Properties: .content, .frontmatter, .path, .ext

Custom filters

date filter

{{ some_date | date(to_format="%B %d, %Y") }}

extract_refs filter

{% set refs = content | extract_refs %}