Guide — LexTyp

Why LexTyp?

Legal writing has a specific problem: you need beautiful PDFs, precise citations that follow strict formatting rules, and an editor that doesn't fight you. Most tools make you choose between ease-of-use and correctness. LexTyp doesn't.

✎

Edit-focused

A clean WYSIWYG editor. No markup syntax to learn. Just write like you think — headings, bold, lists, citations flow naturally.

📚

Citation-format free

Import your .bib file, insert /citation, and pick a style. OSCOLA, Harvard, APA, Chicago, IEEE — switch with one click. The formatting is handled for you.

📄

Instant PDF output

Typst compiles your document to a publication-ready PDF in real time. See every change reflected in the live preview — no separate build step.

Quick Start

From zero to a working paper in four steps.

Download & open

Grab the installer for your OS from the Releases page. Open the app — that's it. Typst is automatically downloaded on first launch.

Create a workspace & document

Click Open Folder in the sidebar to choose (or create) a folder for your project. Then hit + New Document. LexTyp saves everything as .lextyp project files inside that folder.

Import references & start writing

Drag a .bib file into the sidebar's References panel (or click Import). Start typing in the editor — the PDF preview updates live on the right.

Export your PDF

Click the Download button in the PDF preview toolbar. Done — a publication-ready PDF on your disk.

Workspace

LexTyp organises your files in a workspace — just a regular folder on your computer. Inside it you can create documents and sub-folders. Each document is a self-contained .lextyp file (a ZIP archive containing the editor state, Typst source, and bibliography).

my-thesis/
  📁 chapter-1/
    📄 introduction.lextyp
    📄 literature-review.lextyp
  📁 chapter-2/
    📄 methodology.lextyp
  📄 abstract.lextyp

Right-click items in the sidebar to rename, delete, or create new folders. Changes auto-save every 2 seconds.

The Editor

The editor is a block-based rich-text area (powered by BlockNote). Everything you'd expect works:

Formatting

Ctrl + B Bold
Ctrl + I Italic
Ctrl + U Underline
Ctrl + E Inline code

Block types

Type # for headings (## for H2, etc.)
Type - for bullet lists
Type 1. for numbered lists
Type / for the slash menu

The slash menu is your power tool. Type / anywhere to see all available block types — headings, lists, tables, images, and of course /citation.

Citations

This is where LexTyp really shines. The citation workflow is designed to be as frictionless as possible:

Import your .bib file

Click Import BibTeX in the sidebar's References section. All entries appear instantly, searchable by author, title, or key.

Insert a citation

Type /citation in the editor. A picker appears — search and click the entry. An @key tag is inserted inline.

Switch style anytime

Use the style dropdown in the sidebar. All citations re-render instantly — OSCOLA footnotes become Harvard author-date references, or vice versa. No manual changes needed.

What you see in the editor

The modern law of negligence originates from the foundational case establishing the neighbour principle. @donoghue1932

↓ Compiled output (OSCOLA)

The modern law of negligence originates from the foundational case establishing the neighbour principle.¹

1. Donoghue v Stevenson [1932] AC 562

PDF Preview & Export

The right panel shows a live PDF preview that updates as you type (with a 400ms debounce so it doesn't flicker). It's not a simulation — it's the real compiled PDF.

Navigate

Double-click on the PDF to jump to that line in the editor
Ctrl + Scroll to zoom in/out
Click & drag to pan when zoomed in

Export

Click the Download button in the preview toolbar
Choose where to save the .pdf file
You can also export raw Typst source from the sidebar menu

Citation Styles

LexTyp supports 6 citation styles. Each handles books, articles, cases, legislation, chapters, theses, and conference papers. Switch between them with one click — your citations re-render instantly.

OSCOLA Oxford Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities

The UK standard for law journals, dissertations, and legal scholarship. Uses footnotes, not in-text citations.

Book: Author, Title (Publisher Year)
Article: Author, 'Title' (Year) Volume Journal First Page
Case: Party A v Party B [Year] Report Number
Legislation: Short Title Year (no italics, always full form)
Chapter: Author, 'Title' in Editor (ed), Book (Publisher Year)
Thesis: Author, 'Title' (PhD thesis, University Year)

Special rules: OSCOLA uses ibid when the same source is cited consecutively, and short-form Author (n X) for subsequent citations of the same source. LexTyp handles both automatically.

Harvard Author-Date System

An author-date system widely used in social sciences and humanities.

Book: Author (Year) Title. Place: Publisher.
Article: Author (Year) 'Title', Journal, vol. X, pp. X–Y.
Book titles and journal names are italicised; article titles use single quotes.

APA American Psychological Association

Author-date style common in psychology, education, and interdisciplinary legal research. Similar to Harvard but with APA-specific punctuation rules.

Chicago Chicago Manual of Style

Footnote-based style popular in history, the arts, and some legal contexts. Uses full and short-form citations in footnotes.

IEEE Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

Numbered citation style for technical law, technology policy papers, and cross-disciplinary tech/legal work.

Plain Simple Format

A minimal, no-frills format. Useful for drafts or when your institution doesn't have a specific style requirement.

Example Output

Here's a real PDF generated by LexTyp from our example project — a citation guide covering OSCOLA and Harvard with books, articles, cases, legislation, chapters, theses, and conference papers.

Citation Guide - OSCOLA & Harvard.pdf Download PDF

This PDF was compiled from the included example project using OSCOLA citation style. View source on GitHub

Keyboard Shortcuts

Action	Shortcut
Bold	`Ctrl` + `B`
Italic	`Ctrl` + `I`
Underline	`Ctrl` + `U`
Slash menu	`/`
Jump to source	Double-click on PDF

Tips & Tricks

Switch citation styles on the fly. Writing for a journal that uses Harvard but your supervisor wants OSCOLA? Just flip the dropdown. All your citations re-render. Zero manual work.

Double-click the PDF to find source. Lost track of which paragraph generated a specific section? Double-click it in the preview and the editor scrolls right to it.

Collapse panels for focus mode. Click the arrow icons to collapse the sidebar and/or PDF preview. When you're deep in writing, give yourself the full screen.

Use the floating outline. The bottom-left outline button shows a clickable table of contents generated from your headings. Great for navigating long documents.

Dark mode for late-night sessions. Toggle the theme from the sidebar settings. Your preference is saved automatically.

Ready to write?

Download LexTyp and start your paper today.

Download LexTyp

Write once. Cite any style. Export PDF.