Feature Matrix

Quick reference mapping every MaTiSSe feature to its activation mechanism and backend support. Columns:

• CLI flag — command-line option
• YAML key — metadata or theme YAML key
• Markdown directive — source-level syntax
• impress — supported by the default impress.js backend
• reveal — supported by the reveal.js backend (--backend reveal)

---

Document structure

Feature	Markdown directive	impress	reveal
Chapter	# heading	✓	✓
Section	## heading	✓	✓
Subsection	### heading	✓	✓
Slide	#### heading	✓	✓
Title page	$titlepage / $titlepage[plain]	✓	✓
File inclusion	$include(path)	✓	✓

---

CLI options

Feature	Flag	impress	reveal
Input file	-i FILE	✓	✓
Output directory	-o DIR	✓	✓
Backend selection	--backend {impress|reveal}	✓	✓
Generate sample	--sample FILE	✓	✓
Apply built-in theme	--theme NAME	✓	✓
Offline bundling	--offline	✓	✗
PDF-friendly output	--pdf	✓	✗ (use ?print-pdf URL)
Code highlight style	--code-style STYLE	✓	✓
TOC at chapter start	--toc-at-chap-beginning DEPTH	✓	✓
TOC at section start	--toc-at-sec-beginning DEPTH	✓	✓
TOC at subsection start	--toc-at-subsec-beginning DEPTH	✓	✓
List built-in themes	--print-themes	✓	✓
List code styles	--print-code-styles	✓	✓
Verbose build output	--verbose	✓	✓
Print expanded source	--print-parsed-source	✓	✓
Install shell completion	--install-completion {bash|zsh|fish}	✓	✓

---

Metadata keys

Key	Type	Description	impress	reveal
title	string	Presentation title	✓	✓
subtitle	string	Subtitle	✓	✓
authors	list	Full author names	✓	✓
authors_short	list	Abbreviated authors	✓	✓
emails	list	Author emails	✓	✓
affiliations	list	Full affiliations	✓	✓
affiliations_short	list	Abbreviated affiliations	✓	✓
date	string	Presentation date	✓	✓
conference	string	Conference name	✓	✓
conference_short	string	Abbreviated conference	✓	✓
session	string	Session name	✓	✓
session_short	string	Abbreviated session	✓	✓
location	string	Venue location	✓	✓
location_short	string	Abbreviated location	✓	✓
logo	string	Logo image path	✓	✓
max_time	integer	Timer duration (minutes)	✓	✓
dirs_to_copy	list	Asset directories to copy	✓	✓
css_overtheme	list	Custom CSS files	✓	✓

---

Theme sections

Section	YAML key	Description
Colour variables	theme.palette	Named variables referenced as $varname
Viewport background	theme.canvas	Body background behind all slides
List styling	theme.lists	Bullets, counters, markers
TOC styling	theme.toc	Active entry emphasis per hierarchy level
Slide container	theme.layout.slide	Dimensions, transitions, impress.js data-*
Content area	theme.layout.content	Font, colour, padding of the text region
Header bands	theme.layout.header-N	Full-width bands above content
Footer bands	theme.layout.footer-N	Full-width bands below content
Sidebar bands	theme.layout.sidebar-N	Vertical bands left/right of content
Environment defaults	theme.entities	box, note, table, figure, video
Code blocks	theme.code	Pygments style + code container CSS
Per-slide override	overtheme:	Same schema as theme + copy-from-theme

---

Content environments

Environment	Syntax	impress	reveal
Box	$box … $endbox	✓	✓
Note	$note … $endnote	✓	✓ (→ speaker note)
Figure	$figure … $endfigure	✓	✓
Table	$table … $endtable	✓	✓
Video	$video … $endvideo	✓	✓
Columns	$columns … $endcolumns	✓	✓
Callout	::: {.callout-TYPE}	✓	✓
Theorem / lemma / …	::: {#PREFIX-id}	✓	✓
Proof	::: {.proof}	✓	✓
Mermaid diagram	```{mermaid}	✓	✓
Graphviz diagram	```{dot}	✓	✓

---

Incremental reveals

Feature	Syntax	impress	reveal
Incremental list	::: {.incremental}	✓ (substep)	✓ (fragment)
Pause token	. . .	✓	✓
Substep block	$substep … $endsubstep	✓	✗
Ordered substeps	$substep[order:N]	✓	✗

---

Inline formatting extensions

Feature	Syntax	impress	reveal
Strikethrough	~~text~~	✓	✓
Superscript	^text^	✓	✓
Subscript	~text~	✓	✓
Quarto span	[text]{.classname}	✓	✓
Legacy span	!!classname|text!!	✓	✓
Footnotes	[^ref] / [^ref]: …	✓	✓
Definition list	Term\n: definition	✓	✓
Image attributes	{width="60%"}	✓	✓
Underline span	[text]{.underline}	✓	✓
Highlighted span	[text]{.mark}	✓	✓
Small caps span	[text]{.smallcaps}	✓	✓

---

Math and code

Feature	Syntax / flag	impress	reveal
Inline math	$...$	✓	✓
Display math	$$...$$	✓	✓
Literal dollar	\$	✓	✓
Code highlighting	fenced ``` blocks	✓	✓
Highlight style (CLI)	--code-style NAME	✓	✓
Highlight style (theme)	theme.code.style	✓	✓
Per-slide code style	overtheme.code.style	✓	✓
GFM checklists	- [x] item	✓	✓

---

Built-in themes

impress.js themes

Name	Structure	Colours
matisse	Right sidebar + header + footer	Blue gradient
sapienza	Header + footer	Sapienza red
dracula	Left sidebar + header + footer	Dracula dark
solarized-dark	Left sidebar + header + footer	Solarized dark
beamer-antibes	Three stacked headers	Beamer blue
beamer-berkely	Left sidebar + header	Beamer blue
beamer-berlin	Three headers + two footers	Beamer dark blue
beamer-madrid	Header + footer	Beamer blue

reveal.js themes (built into reveal.js)

black, white, moon, sky, beige, night, serif, solarized, dracula, blood, league, simple

---

Cross-reference labels

Prefix	Display label
fig	Figure
tbl	Table
eq	Equation
sec	Section
dia	Diagram
thm	Theorem
lem	Lemma
cor	Corollary
prp	Proposition
def	Definition
exm	Example
exr	Exercise
rem	Remark

Syntax: label with {#PREFIX-id}, reference with @PREFIX-id. See Theorems & Proofs.