LaTeX Command Decoder

Convert LaTeX command syntax to Unicode characters for readable text output.

Usage

npx tsx scripts/decode.ts [options] <text-or-file>

Options

• --file - Read input from file instead of command line argument
• --output <file> - Write output to file
• --strip - Also remove formatting commands (like \textbf, \emph)

Examples

Decode LaTeX text

npx tsx scripts/decode.ts "caf\\'{e} na\\\"{\i}ve"
# Output: café naïve

Decode from file

npx tsx scripts/decode.ts --file paper.tex --output readable.txt

Decode and strip formatting

npx tsx scripts/decode.ts --strip "\\textbf{M\\\"{\u}ller}"
# Output: Müller

Decode BibTeX author names

npx tsx scripts/decode.ts "M\\\"{\u}ller, Hans and Garc\\'{\i}a, Mar\\'{\i}a"
# Output: Müller, Hans and García, María

Supported Commands

• Accented characters: \'{e}, \{a}, ^{o}, "{u}, ~{n}`
• Accent shortcuts: \'e, \"a (without braces)
• Ligatures: \ae, \oe, \ss
• Special characters: \&, \%, \$, \#, \_
• Greek letters: \alpha, \beta, \gamma
• Dashes: -- (en-dash), --- (em-dash)
• Quotes: `` (open quote), '' (close quote)

Technical Details

The decoder uses a comprehensive mapping table with ~100 LaTeX commands. Commands are decoded in order of length (longest first) to handle overlapping patterns correctly.

Both braced (\'{e}) and non-braced (\'e) accent syntax is supported.