CLI

The same rendering pipeline as the extension and the MCP server, as shell commands. Render a figure source to SVG or PNG, validate sources in CI, list formats, or host the MCP server — with output byte-for-byte identical to what quarto render produces.

Install

Nothing to install with npx:

npx livefigures --help

Or use the copy that ships inside the extension — every project that ran quarto add already has it:

node _extensions/seandavi/livefigures/cli.mjs --help

Node ≥ 18 is the only requirement, same as the extension.

Commands

# render a source file (format inferred from the extension)
livefigures render figures/arch.excalidraw -o arch.png
livefigures render figures/deps.dot -o deps.svg

# render from stdin
echo 'digraph { a -> b }' | livefigures render - --format graphviz > g.svg

# check sources without producing output — exit 1 + the exact
# quarto render error on a bad source
livefigures validate figures/*.dot figures/*.vl.json

# what can I write?
livefigures formats
livefigures formats --json

# host the MCP server (stdio)
livefigures mcp

Render options mirror the extension: --theme light|dark, --background transparent|scene (Excalidraw/Vega only), --scale <n> for PNG.

Validate figures in CI

validate exits non-zero on the first bad source, so a one-line CI step keeps broken figures out of main:

- name: Validate figure sources
  run: npx -y livefigures validate figures/*

See also

• MCP server — the same tools, callable by your agent, with images the agent can see.
• Agent skill — teach an agent when and how to use all of this.