Mathjax support in VS Code and Pelican

Mathjax

MathJax is an open-source JavaScript display engine for LaTeX, MathML, and AsciiMath notation that works in all modern browsers. Please refer to Mathjax for details.

Mathjax in VS Code

VS Code uses KaTeX by default as the math rendering engine. VS Code extension Markdown Preview Enhanced (MPE) is the best option in VS Code if you want full MathJax support including equation numbering and cross-referencing.

After the installation of MPE extension, one can go to its setting to change Math Rending Option to Mathjax. For equation numbering and cross-referencing, press:

• Ctrl+Shift+P → Markdown Preview Enhanced: Open Config Script (Global)

Copy the following json configuration into the opened config.js file:

{
  "mathjaxConfig": {
    "tex": {
      "inlineMath": [["$", "$"], ["\\(", "\\)"]],
      "displayMath": [["$$", "$$"], ["\\[", "\\]"]],
      "tags": "ams"
    }
  }
}

Mathjax Support in Pelican

Pelican plugin render-math can be installed to render mathematics in the generated pages. It accomplishes this by using the MathJax JavaScript engine.

To support equation numbering and cross-referencing, modify your theme’s HTML template to include the correct MathJax config before the MathJax script:

<script>
window.MathJax = {
  tex: {
    tags: 'ams',  // Enable automatic equation numbering
    inlineMath: [['$', '$'], ['\\(', '\\)']],
    displayMath: [['$$', '$$'], ['\\[', '\\]']]
  }
};
</script>
<script type="text/javascript" async
  src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/mathjax@3/es5/tex-mml-chtml.js">
</script>

Equation Numbering and Cross-Referencing

In your Markdown file, write

$$
\begin{equation}
E = mc^2 \label{eq:einstein}
\end{equation}
$$

It will result in:

The equation number will be automatically generated as long as \begin{equation} and \end{equation} are used. The numbered equation can be referenced with its name indicated by \label{name}. To reference the above equation, \ref{} can be used. One can write:

Equation [\ref{eq:einstein}] can be used for ...

It will result in:

Equation [\ref{eq:einstein}] can be used for ...