External Extension for Quarto

This repository provides an extension for Quarto that allows you to include content from external sources or files into your Quarto documents.

Installation

quarto add mcanouil/quarto-external

This will install the extension under the _extensions subdirectory.

If you're using version control, you will want to check in this directory.

Usage

To use the external extension, you can include external content, a specific section, or a div from a file into your Quarto document using the external shortcode.

Basic syntax

Include the entire file:

{{< external <URI> >}}

Include a specific section (by header ID):

{{< external <URI>#<section-id> >}}

Include a specific div (by div ID):

{{< external <URI>#<div-id> >}}

<URI> specifies the location of the external file. This can be a local file path (outside the project directory) or a URL.

When using #<id>, the extension will first look for a header with that ID. If no header is found, it will then search for a div with that ID.

Important

The external shortcode must be placed on its own line with no other content. Include blank lines both before and after the shortcode.

No code cells will or can be executed from the included file.

Currently supports .md, .markdown, and .qmd files only.

• .md and .markdown files are included as-is.
• .qmd files are processed as Quarto documents, so you can use Quarto features like citations, cross-references, and math.

Note: Using external content breaks the fully reproducible and self-contained nature of Quarto projects, as documents become dependent on external sources that may change or become unavailable.

Example

Here is the source code for a minimal example: example.qmd.

Output of example.qmd:

• HTML