Override Default Templates

When design options don't provide enough control, you can override the default Typst templates to fully customize your CV's appearance.

When to Override Templates

Use template overriding when you need to:

Change the fundamental layout structure
Add custom Typst functions or packages
Modify how entries are rendered beyond what design.templates allows
Create completely custom designs not achievable through design options

For simpler customizations, try these first:

design for colors, fonts, spacing
design.templates for changing entry text layout

Two Methods

Method 1: Quick Template Customization

Use this when you want to tweak an existing theme's templates without creating a full custom theme.

Create templates alongside your CV:

rendercv new "Your Name" --create-typst-templates

This creates:

Your_Name_CV.yaml
classic/
  Preamble.j2.typ
  Header.j2.typ
  SectionBeginning.j2.typ
  entries/
    NormalEntry.j2.typ
    ...

Modify any template file in the classic/ folder.
Render as usual:
```
rendercv render Your_Name_CV.yaml
```

RenderCV automatically uses your local templates instead of the built-in ones.

Method 2: Create a Custom Theme

Use this when building a reusable theme with its own design options.

Create a custom theme:

rendercv create-theme mytheme

This creates:

mytheme/
  __init__.py
  Preamble.j2.typ
  Header.j2.typ
  SectionBeginning.j2.typ
  entries/
    NormalEntry.j2.typ
    ...

Modify template files and optionally add custom design options in __init__.py.

Use your theme in the YAML file:

design:
  theme: mytheme
  # Your custom design options work here

Render:
```
rendercv render Your_Name_CV.yaml
```

Template Structure

Templates use Jinja2 syntax with Typst code:

// Example: entries/NormalEntry.j2.typ
#regular-entry(
  [
{% for line in entry.main_column.splitlines() %}
    {{ line }}
{% endfor %}
  ],
  [
{% for line in entry.date_and_location_column.splitlines() %}
    {{ line }}
{% endfor %}
  ],
)

Variables Available in Templates

cv: All CV data (name, sections, etc.)
design: All design options
locale: Locale strings (month names, translations)
entry: Current entry data (in entry templates)

Example accessing design options:

// In Preamble.j2.typ
#show: rendercv.with(
  page-size: "{{ design.page.size }}",
  colors-body: {{ design.colors.body.as_rgb() }},
  typography-font-family-body: "{{ design.typography.font_family.body }}",
  // ...
)

Markdown Templates

Both methods also support Markdown template customization with --create-markdown-templates. The process is identical to Typst templates.

Tips

Start by copying templates and making small changes
Templates are Jinja2 + Typst, not pure Typst
Delete template files you don't need to customize (RenderCV falls back to built-in versions)

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