GitBook FAQ

This page gathers common questions and answers concerning the GitBook format and toolchain.

Questions about GitBook.com and the Editor are gather into the help.gitbook.com's FAQ.

How can I host/publish my book?

Books can easily be published and hosted on GitBook.com. But GitBook output can be hosted on any static file hosting solution.

What can I use to edit my content?

Any text editor should work! But we advise using the GitBook Editor. GitBook.com also provides a web version of this editor.

Does GitBook supports RTL/bi-directional text ?

The GitBook format supports right to left, and bi-directional writing. To enable it, you either need to specify a language (ex: ar), or force GitBook to use RTL in your book.json:

{
    "language": "ar",
    "direction": "rtl"
}

With version 3.0 of GitBook, it's automatically detected according to the content. Note that, while the output book will indeed respect RTL, the Editor doesn't support RTL writing yet.

Should I use an .html or .md extensions in my links?

You should always use paths and the .md extensions when linking to your files, GitBook will automatically replace these paths by the appropriate link when the pointing file is referenced in the Table of Contents.

Can I create a GitBook in a sub-directory of my repository?

Yes, GitBooks can be created in sub-directories. GitBook.com and the CLI also looks by default in a serie of folders.

Does GitBook supports RTL languages?

Yes, GitBook automatically detect the direction in your pages (rtl or ltr) and adjust the layout accordingly. The direction can also be specified globally in the book.json.

Does GitBook support Math equations?

GitBook supports math equations and TeX thanks to plugins. There are currently 2 official plugins to display math: mathjax and katex.

Can I customize/theme the output?

Yes, both the website and ebook outputs can be customized using themes.

Can I add interactive content (videos, etc)?

GitBook is very extensible. You can use existing plugins or create your own!