tectonic ☆

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Description:
Modernized, complete, self-contained TeX/LaTeX engine

Type: Formula | Tracked Since: Dec 28, 2025

Links: Homepage | @tectonictex | formulae.brew.sh

Category: Developer tools

Tags: latex typesetting pdf documentation publishing

Install: brew install tectonic

About:
Tectonic is a modern TeX engine that bundles the functionality of pdfTeX, XeTeX, and LuaTeX into a single, self-contained binary. It simplifies the typesetting workflow by automatically downloading necessary support files from the internet, eliminating the need for complex local TeX installations. The tool focuses on producing high-quality PDFs from LaTeX source with a streamlined, developer-friendly interface.

Key Features:

Self-contained binary with no external TeX distribution required
Automatic fetching of macro packages and font files
Modern build pipeline based on the TeXLive codebase
Supports modern font formats like OpenType

Use Cases:

Compiling LaTeX documents in CI/CD pipelines
Generating academic papers and technical documentation
Building PDFs in containerized or ephemeral environments

Alternatives:

MacTeX – MacTeX is a full TeX Live distribution for macOS, offering a complete suite of tools but requiring significantly more disk space and complex setup.
BasTeX – Similar lightweight TeX engines, though Tectonic distinguishes itself with its aggressive caching and dependency management.

Version History

Detected	Version	Rev	Change	Commit
Oct 31, 2024 3:09am		3	VERSION_BUMP	3bbf240a