LaTeXBot

FAQ

1. Which packages are included in the math rendering?

The following packages are included automatically in the document preamble:

\usepackage{amsmath,amsthm,amssymb,amsfonts}

2. Why doesn’t my equation work properly?

The equation submitted to the /latex command gets wrapped in the following document boilerplate:

\documentclass[12pt,a4paper]{article}
\usepackage{amsmath,amsthm,amssymb,amsfonts}
\usepackage[active,displaymath,tightpage]{preview}
\begin{document}
\[ ...user equation goes here... \]
\end{document}

We currently don’t provide detailed errors on the entered formula. If the LaTeX formula is really complex, simply use the above boilerplate and debug the formula offline. We use pdflatex as the rendering engine.

3. Can I include extra packages in the preamble?

YES! Lines that start with \usepackage will be moved into the preamble. For example:

/latex
\usepackage{multirow}
E=mc^2

(Note how /usepackage ... is in a line by itself, and there is a new line at the end of /usepackage ...)

The above Slack command will result in the following LaTeX file:

\documentclass[12pt,a4paper]{article}
\usepackage{amsmath,amsthm,amssymb,amsfonts}
\usepackage[active,displaymath,tightpage]{preview}
\usepackage{multirow}
\begin{document}
\[ E=mc^2 \]
\end{document}

4. How do I enter multi-line equations?

By default, math formula are in Display mode using the \[ ... \] LaTeX syntax. This prevents one from using environments such as \begin{equation} ... \end{equation} or \begin{align*} ... \end{align*}, which are needed for multi-line derivations.

To work around the default behavior, one can embed the comment %latexbot:raw at the start of any line and the default display mode environment will be skipped.

E.g. the following Slack command results in a multi-line equation:

/latex
%latexbot:raw
\begin{align*}
A & = B + C \\
B & = 1 \\
C & = 2 \\
\therefore A & = 1 + 2 = 3 \\
\end{align*}

5. Can I type embedded formula?

YES! Using the “raw” environment shown above, one can type embedded formula around text blocks. Here’s an example:

/latex
%latexbot:raw
\text{Einstein's famous equation,}  $ E=mc^2 $ \text{relates energy with mass.}

6. Can I embed formula in native Slack’s markdown text?

YES! You can use the “before” and “after” environments to include text before and after the LaTeX formula. Here’s an example:

/latex
%latexbot:before The most famous equation:
E = mc^2
%latexbot:after is attributed to Einstein

The above slash command will render E = mc^2 using LaTeX while the rest is passed directly to Slack.