CLI

Prerequisites: Getting Started and Export profiles.

Install and build

npm install --global @illusions-lab/mdi-cli
mdi build novel.mdi --to epub --config novel.export.json -o dist/novel.epub

mdi build <input.mdi> --to html|pdf|epub|docx|txt|txt-ruby|narou|kakuyomu|aozora|txt-all [--config export.json] [-o <output>]

<input.mdi> is UTF-8. --to is required; -o overrides the derived output path and cannot be used with txt-all; --config points to an export profile JSON file. Success prints Written <path> and exits 0. Any argument, input, profile, renderer, or output failure writes one message to stderr and exits 1.

Which output you get

--to	Default	Renderer and profile behavior
html	novel.html	Rust semantic standalone HTML; no page profile is applied.
pdf	novel.pdf	Rust HTML plus local Chromium; consumes the print profile.
epub	novel.epub	Baseline Rust EPUB without --config; configured profile export with metadata, typography, chapter split, and optional cover with --config.
docx	novel.docx	Baseline Rust DOCX without --config; configured profile export with metadata, page setup, typography, and numbering with --config.
txt / txt-ruby / narou / kakuyomu / aozora	matching .txt suffix	Rust text convention; profile controls indentation. aozora is Shift_JIS.
txt-all	six text files	Writes every text flavor and rejects -o.

The CLI reads epub.coverPath relative to the profile file. It must name a PNG or JPEG; the bytes are included in the EPUB only, never sent to the parser. --config is no longer silently ignored for EPUB or DOCX.

Without --config, the CLI chooses its built-in layout from front matter: writing-mode: vertical uses japanese-publisher’s A4-landscape, right-bound 40×30 novel-manuscript grid; every other document uses word’s flowing A4 layout. Only a supplied --config must explicitly contain layout.system.

A useful profile

{
  "layout": { "system": "japanese-publisher" },
  "metadata": { "title": "雨の東京", "author": "Illusions", "language": "ja" },
  "typesetting": { "writingMode": "vertical", "fontFamily": "Yu Mincho", "fontSize": 10, "textIndentEm": 1 },
  "pagination": {
    "pageSize": "A4", "landscape": true, "gridMode": "strict",
    "pageNumbers": { "enabled": true, "position": "bottom-center", "format": "simple" }
  },
  "epub": { "chapterSplitLevel": "h1", "coverPath": "cover.png" }
}

When supplied, --config must contain layout.system; a profile without it is rejected. "japanese-publisher" is the book system: horizontal text defaults to a mirrored, left-bound Shirokuban/10 pt Mincho 27×26 strict grid; vertical text defaults to the mirrored, right-bound A4-landscape novel-manuscript 40×30 strict grid. "word" is a separate flowing system: A4, 25.4 mm margins on all four sides, no mirroring, and gridMode: "typographic"; it rejects strict grids.

Semantic MDI parsing and source-span diagnostics remain Rust-owned. Profile values are publication policy: EPUB/DOCX adapters use them to package the parsed IR, while PDF geometry and Chromium layout are host concerns. This keeps application UI preferences and machine-specific browser behavior out of the parser.

PDF and DOCX limits

PDF requires a Chromium-family browser through @illusions-lab/mdi-to-pdf; Chromium receives Rust-rendered HTML, never .mdi syntax. It applies paper size, orientation, margins, vertical writing, fonts, type/line grid, indentation, and page numbering. Use Rendering model for the host boundary.

Configured DOCX supports the same practical page, type, and numbering controls, but OOXML cannot promise pixel-identical browser composition. Ruby, tate-chu-yoko, no-break/kern, and forced blank paragraphs are represented using DOCX’s available runs, directions, and paragraph constructs; validate in the Word-compatible reader you ship against. For parser diagnostics in an editor, call @illusions-lab/mdi’s parse() before invoking the CLI.