Is it possible to distribute python filters?

[acederberg]

Description

Hi!

I could probably test this quickly but I think it is a worthwhile discussion. I looked and I didn't see any discussion about this directly so I decided I'd ask.

Is it possible to distribute filters in a language other than lua.
Of course, I assume adding additional dependencies might require more work out of the user (in my case s3cmd and panflute would be required by python) and it should not be a feature quarto to handle the deps. However, it would be good enough to specify the deps in a file included by the extension (e.g. just include requirements.txt with the extension, in the case of python).

I see in distributing a lua file is not necessarily required so I am wondering if I could do something like

title: My Filter
author: Cooltools
version: 1.0.0
quarto-required: ">=1.2.0"
contributes:
  filters:
    - my-filter.py

for a python filter.

[mcanouil]

Did you look at Pandoc filters documentation? https://pandoc.org/filters.html
That's what is used in Quarto.

Quarto extension is an additional layer which might not support everything.
At least, you could try directly in a document:

filters:
  - my-filter.py

[acederberg]

Did you look at Pandoc filters documentation? https://pandoc.org/filters.html

Yes I have read the pandoc docs and have implemented exactly this in a single document. So certainly adding filters in the yaml front matter of an individual document does work.

I think filter was a poor choice of phrasing on my part - I mean can I distribute an extension containing a filter that is a python file and have it be installable with quarto add? I have a number of filters that I have written locally that I might eventually distribute.

[mcanouil]

I guess, the best way to know is to try it out, but if it works already in filters, it's likely going to work in extensions.

[acederberg]

That is great to hear. I'll share my results when/if it happens. Thank you for your help.

[mcanouil]

If it does, we might want to add a note that filters are not limited to Lua.