Quick Start

Requirements

Install Node.js 20 or newer. The generated projects use pnpm.

Create A Deck

Use the CLI without a global install:

npx -y slidev-theme-scholarly init my-talk
cd my-talk
pnpm install
pnpm run dev

The browser opens with a live Slidev preview. Edit slides.md to start writing.

The first npx run may need to download Scholarly before it can execute the CLI. npm stores that temporary installation in its cache rather than adding it to your project or global packages. The -y flag accepts the cache installation without prompting.

Pick A Template

List available templates:

npx -y slidev-theme-scholarly template list

Common choices:

Template	Use it for
basic	Minimal English starter
academic	General academic deck with BibTeX
paper-talk	Paper presentations with summary, method, results, and references
seminar	Research seminars with agenda, related work, method, and discussion
thesis-defense	Defense decks with experiments, limitations, Q&A, and appendix map
reading-group	Paper critique and group discussion
conference-lightning	Short talks focused on one result
zh	Minimal Chinese starter

Create from a specific template:

npx -y slidev-theme-scholarly init paper-session --template paper-talk
npx -y slidev-theme-scholarly init defense --template thesis-defense

If you are unsure, start with the academic workflow guide.

Useful CLI Commands

After pnpm install, run the project-local sch binary with pnpm exec. This keeps the CLI version aligned with the version declared by the project.

Discover what the theme provides:

pnpm exec sch theme list
pnpm exec sch layout list
pnpm exec sch component list
pnpm exec sch snippet list

Apply a theme preset or append common content:

pnpm exec sch theme preset apply cambridge --file slides.md
pnpm exec sch snippet append theorem --file slides.md
pnpm exec sch workflow apply paper --file slides.md

Check the project setup:

pnpm exec sch doctor
pnpm exec sch doctor --json

sch doctor reports OK, WARN, and ERROR items with concrete next actions. Use --json for CI, scripts, or editor integrations.

With npm, install slidev-theme-scholarly locally and use npx sch. A global install is optional:

npm i -g slidev-theme-scholarly
sch template list

Manual Setup For An Existing Slidev Project

Install the theme:

npm i -D slidev-theme-scholarly

Set the frontmatter in slides.md:

---
theme: scholarly
bibFile: references.bib
bibStyle: apa
---

Run Slidev:

npx slidev

Scholarly registers its citation hooks from the theme package. Normal usage does not require a project-level vite.config.ts.

Add a references slide:

---
layout: references
---

Use [[bibliography]] only when you need to choose the exact bibliography position inside that slide.