How to switch to different tex engines for different projects?

[xlucn]

If I have two projects, where I want to build one with xelatex, but the other with pdflatex. How do I make texlab choose the correct options for latexmk? Should I change the lsp settings, or should I put some configuration files inside the projects?

Currently I have these in neovim's config

... ...
build = {
                executable = "latexmk",
                args = { "-outdir=./output/", "-xelatex", "-synctex=1",
                         "-interaction=nonstopmode", "%f" },
            }
... ...

where texlab will always use xelatex for all projects.

[pfoerster]

@xlucn Some clients allow having project-local settings (e. g. .vscode/settings.json). A more universal solution would be to set the engine in the latexmkrc file (use the $pdflatex variable) and omit the -xelatex argument in the texlab config.

[xlucn]

The latexmkrc solution seems promising. Thanks, I will try and come back later!

[NiklasKappel]

I have the same problem, but I don't normally use latexmkrc files. What would be a minimal latexmkrc, that behaves the same as the default texlab config, and only sets the executable to xelatex?

[xlucn]

I have the same problem, but I don't normally use latexmkrc files. What would be a minimal latexmkrc, that behaves the same as the default texlab config, and only sets the executable to xelatex?

@NiklasKappel I think adding this to your latexmkrc will do

$pdf_mode = 5;

Or use $pdflatex option, as suggested by @pfoerster. I found the documents here: https://texdoc.org/serve/latexmk/0