Manifests

Manifests are YAML files that define the fonts your project requires. They enable reproducible font installations across teams, machines, and CI/CD pipelines.

Basic Format

A manifest is a simple YAML file listing font names:

Fira Code:
Open Sans:
Roboto:

Save this as fonts.yml and install all fonts with:

fontist manifest install fonts.yml

Specifying Styles

You can request specific font styles:

Roboto:
  - Regular
  - Bold
  - Italic

Open Sans:
  - Regular
  - Bold

If no styles are specified, Fontist installs all available styles for each font.

Finding Font Names

To see available fonts and their exact names:

fontist list

Search for a specific font:

fontist list "Roboto"

Getting Font Locations

After installing fonts from a manifest, you can get their file paths:

fontist manifest locations fonts.yml

Output is a YAML structure with paths:

---
Roboto:
  Regular:
    full_name: Roboto
    paths:
    - "/home/user/.fontist/fonts/Roboto-Regular.ttf"
  Bold:
    full_name: Roboto Bold
    paths:
    - "/home/user/.fontist/fonts/Roboto-Bold.ttf"

This output can be parsed by scripts or used directly in applications.

Use Cases

CI/CD Pipelines

Define project fonts in a manifest for reproducible builds:

# fonts.yml
Fira Code:
Source Sans Pro:

# .github/workflows/build.yml
steps:
  - uses: actions/checkout@v4
  - uses: fontist/setup@v1
  - run: fontist manifest install fonts.yml --accept-all-licenses --hide-licenses

Team Projects

Commit fonts.yml to your repository so all team members use the same fonts:

# Project fonts - install with: fontist manifest install fonts.yml
Merriweather:
  - Regular
  - Bold
Inter:
  - Regular

Documentation

Manifests serve as self-documenting font requirements. Anyone joining the project can see exactly which fonts are needed.

CI Options

For automated environments, use these flags:

fontist manifest install fonts.yml --accept-all-licenses --hide-licenses

• --accept-all-licenses - Skip license prompts
• --hide-licenses - Don't display license text

Related

• fontist manifest CLI reference - Complete command documentation
• CI/CD Integration guide - Setting up Fontist in CI