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IntentText for Writers

You want to write, not fight formatting. IntentText gives you plain text in → professional documents out.

Writer-friendly keywords​

You don't need to memorize the full language. Writers use these first:

You writeIt meansCanonical
note: or body:A paragraphtext:
h2: or heading:Section headingsection:
h3: or subheading:Subsection headingsub:
blockquote: or excerpt:Quotationquote:
citation: or source:Citationcite:
todo: or check:Task itemtask:

All aliases are listed in the Aliases Reference. Write what’s natural — the parser maps it to the canonical keyword.

Write an article​

title: The Future of Structured Documents
summary: Why plain text formats are making a comeback
meta: | author: Elena Vasquez | date: 2026-03-15 | tags: opinion, technology

section: The Problem
text: Every organization stores critical information in formats that can’t be searched, can’t be queried, and can’t be verified.
text: A contract in Word is just a blob of styled text. The deadline on page 12? Good luck finding it.

section: The Solution
text: Structured plain text — where every line declares its intent — is the answer that’s been hiding in plain sight.
quote: The best format is the one you can still read in 50 years. | citation: Knuth, 1984

section: Sources
cite: Structured Documents and the Future of Computing | url: https://arxiv.org/example | author: Chen, Wei | date: 2025
cite: Open Formats in Enterprise | url: https://openstandards.org/example | author: Thompson, Ada | date: 2024

Add figures with captions​

figure: gives you numbered, captioned images — unlike image: which is inline and unnumbered:

figure: The IntentText document lifecycle | src: ./images/lifecycle.png | num: 1 | caption: Documents progress from draft to sealed, with optional formal amendments.
figure: Query architecture | src: ./images/query-arch.png | num: 2 | caption: Shallow indexes compose automatically across nested folders.
KeywordWhat it does
image:Inline image, no number, no caption, flows with text
figure:Numbered, captioned, referenceable, floats in print

Define terms​

Use def: near the first use of a term, or gather definitions in a glossary section:

Inline (near first use):

text: The document enters the sealed state after freeze.
def: Sealed | meaning: A document whose content hash has been cryptographically locked. Any modification breaks the seal.

Grouped (formal glossary):

section: Definitions
def: Sealed | meaning: A document whose content hash has been cryptographically locked.
def: Amendment | meaning: A formal, additive change to a frozen document that preserves the original seal.
def: Shallow Index | meaning: A per-folder index that only catalogs files in its own directory.

Apply themes​

8 built-in themes transform your document instantly:

intenttext article.it --html --theme editorial
intenttext article.it --html --theme warm
intenttext article.it --print --theme minimal
ThemeBest for
corporateBusiness documents, quarterly reports
minimalClean, distraction-free reading
warmArticles, newsletters, personal documents
technicalAPI docs, specs, engineering reports
printOptimized for paper output
legalContracts, policies, formal agreements
editorialMagazine-style articles, long-form content
darkScreen-optimized dark mode

Export to PDF​

One command:

intenttext article.it --print --theme editorial --pdf article.pdf

The print renderer reads font: and page: blocks for typography and layout:

font: | family: Georgia | size: 12pt | leading: 1.8 | heading: Playfair Display
page: | size: A4 | margins: 25mm
header: | right: Elena Vasquez — The Future of Structured Documents
footer: | center: Page {{page}} of {{pages}}

Citations and sources​

cite: blocks create a bibliography:

cite: The Pragmatic Programmer | author: Hunt, Thomas | date: 2019 | url: https://pragprog.com/titles/tpp20/

Inline formatting​

Within any block, use:

SyntaxResult
*text*bold
_text_italic
~text~strikethrough
```text```inline code
`text`label / badge
{text}label / badge
^text^highlighted
[[text]]inline note
@personmention
#topictag

Code blocks​

code: works like any other keyword — triple backticks delimit the code value:

Single-line:

code: ```console.log("Hello, World!")``` | lang: javascript

Multi-line:

code: ```
def greet(name):
    print(f"Hello, {name}")
``` | lang: python

Inline code — use triple backticks within any text block:

text: Run ```npm install``` to set up the project.

The editorial workflow​

  1. Write in .it — plain text, any editor
  2. Preview with intenttext article.it --html --theme editorial
  3. Get feedback, revise
  4. track: to activate history
  5. approve: for editorial sign-off
  6. Export with --pdf
  7. Publish the template to the Hub for others to use

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