Formula Structure

A Fontist formula is a YAML file that describes how to download, extract, and install a font package. Understanding the structure helps you choose the right formula and troubleshoot issues.

Basic Structure

---
name: "Font Name"
description: "Brief description of the font"
homepage: "https://example.com/font"
license_url: "https://example.com/license"

resources:
  font-archive.zip:
    urls:
      - https://example.com/download/font.zip
    sha256: "abc123..."
    file_size: 123456

fonts:
  - name: "Font Family"
    styles:
      - family_name: "Font Family"
        type: "Regular"
        full_name: "Font Family Regular"
        post_script_name: "FontFamily-Regular"
        version: "1.0"
        font: "Font-Regular.ttf"
        copyright: "Copyright holder"

Key Fields

Metadata Fields

Field	Required	Description
name	Yes	Display name of the font package
description	No	Brief description
homepage	No	URL to font homepage
license_url	No	URL to license information
copyright	No	Copyright notice
license	No	License identifier

Resources Section

The resources section defines where to download font files:

resources:
  filename.zip:
    urls:           # List of download URLs (mirrors)
      - https://url1/font.zip
      - https://url2/font.zip
    sha256: "..."    # SHA256 checksum for verification
    file_size: 12345 # File size in bytes

Fonts Section

The fonts section lists all font families and their styles:

fonts:
  - name: "Family Name"
    styles:
      - family_name: "Family Name"
        type: "Regular"           # Style: Regular, Bold, Italic, etc.
        full_name: "Family Name Regular"
        post_script_name: "FamilyName-Regular"
        version: "1.0"
        font: "filename.ttf"      # Actual font file name
        copyright: "..."

Font Collections (TTC)

For TrueType Collection files containing multiple fonts:

font_collections:
  - filename: "fonts.ttc"
    fonts:
      - name: "Font One"
        styles:
          - family_name: "Font One"
            type: "Regular"
            font: "FontOne-Regular"
      - name: "Font Two"
        styles:
          - family_name: "Font Two"
            type: "Regular"
            font: "FontTwo-Regular"

License Information

Open License

For fonts with open source licenses:

open_license: |
  Full license text here...
  SIL Open Font License 1.1
  ...

Requires License Agreement

For fonts that require accepting a EULA:

requires_license_agreement: |
  END-USER LICENSE AGREEMENT
  By using this software...

Platform-Specific Formulas

Some formulas are platform-specific:

# macOS system fonts
platforms:
  - macos

# Windows system fonts
platforms:
  - windows

Extract Options

For archives that need special extraction:

extract:
  format: cab        # For CAB files (Windows)
  format: zip        # For ZIP files
  format: gzip       # For GZIP files

Example: Complete Formula

---
name: "Open Sans"
description: "Open Sans is a humanist sans-serif typeface"
homepage: "https://fonts.google.com/specimen/Open+Sans"
license_url: "https://scripts.sil.org/OFL"

resources:
  open_sans.zip:
    urls:
      - https://github.com/googlefonts/OpenSans/archive/refs/tags/v1.0.zip
    sha256: "abc123def456..."
    file_size: 1234567

fonts:
  - name: "Open Sans"
    styles:
      - family_name: "Open Sans"
        type: "Regular"
        full_name: "Open Sans Regular"
        post_script_name: "OpenSans-Regular"
        version: "1.0"
        font: "OpenSans-Regular.ttf"
        copyright: "Google LLC"
  - name: "Open Sans"
    styles:
      - family_name: "Open Sans"
        type: "Bold"
        full_name: "Open Sans Bold"
        post_script_name: "OpenSans-Bold"
        version: "1.0"
        font: "OpenSans-Bold.ttf"
        copyright: "Google LLC"

open_license: |
  Copyright 2020 The Open Sans Project Authors

  This Font Software is licensed under the SIL Open Font License, Version 1.1.
  ...

See Also

• What is a Formula?
• Choosing a Formula
• Create a Formula