Getting started

This walks you from a clean checkout to a rendered document, using the bundled fictional demo so nothing depends on your own content.

Install

renderfact runs on Python 3.11+ (dev-tested on 3.14 too). Editable install from a checkout:

git clone https://github.com/Wombat164/renderfact
cd renderfact
pip install -e .

That installs the render console entry point. Some steps use external engines (pandoc, typst, mermaid-cli, d2) or optional Python libraries (svgpathtools for diagram metrics, vsdx for the Visio adapter, markitdown for embedded-object previews); each degrades gracefully or tells you exactly what to install when you reach a step that needs it. Check your host against the pinned tool versions:

render doctor

render doctor reports OK / OK-unpinned / DRIFT / MISSING / SKIP per tool and always exits 0 — it is a report, not a gate.

Render the demo

The repository ships a fictional railway-infrastructure operator’s procurement dossier under demo/: one full-candor source, three audience profiles, a demo brand skin. Render it:

render docx demo/source/meridian-rail-signalling.md --profile public-tender

You get a styled, numbered DOCX with the public-tender profile’s disclosure rules applied. Try the other profiles (bidder-confidential, internal-evaluation) to see the same source projected differently.

Gate a document

Run the fail-closed QA chain over any rendered artifact:

render gate demo/renders/*.docx --stages vale,lychee,verapdf

Findings fail; a requested stage whose tool is missing fails loudly. This is what CI would run.

Next

• Recipes for each capability: How-to.
• The full command surface and environment variables: Reference.
• Why the pipeline is shaped this way: Explanation.