Step 1 — Install LaTeX (no GUI)
We recommend the official TeX Live/MacTeX distributions without a GUI. Pick your platform below; you can switch anytime.
Tip: LingTeX can install a curated set of linguistics packages for you from the panel via “Install Recommended Packages”. On macOS, after installing BasicTeX, LingTeX automatically installs this set.
macOS
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Option A — User-local TeX Live (no sudo):
curl -LO http://mirror.ctan.org/systems/texlive/tlnet/install-tl-unx.tar.gz tar -xzf install-tl-unx.tar.gz cd install-tl-* echo "selected_scheme scheme-small" > texlive.profile echo "TEXDIR $HOME/texlive/$(date +%Y)" >> texlive.profile echo "instopt_letter 1" >> texlive.profile echo "tlpdbopt_autobackup 0" >> texlive.profile echo "no_doc 1" >> texlive.profile echo "no_src 1" >> texlive.profile perl install-tl --profile=texlive.profile export PATH="$HOME/texlive/$(date +%Y)/bin/universal-darwin:$PATH" - Option B — BasicTeX (system-wide): CTAN (BasicTeX.pkg). Or full MacTeX via tug.org/mactex.
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Open Terminal and install required engines, tools, and packages with
tlmgr:sudo -E tlmgr update --self sudo -E tlmgr install latexmk xetex biber \ datetime2 footmisc comment geometry fontspec \ langsci-gb4e forest qtree tipa csquotes biblatex xparse \ setspace enumitem ragged2e needspace placeins float longtable \ tabularx array multirow makecell booktabs diagbox xcolor tcolorbox \ caption glossaries-extra etoolbox ulem fancyhdr hyperref cleveref pdflscape - Or use LingTeX’s panel: open VS Code → LingTeX panel → TeX Environment → click “Install Recommended Packages”.
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Verify tools:
xelatex --version biber --version latexmk -v
Windows (TeX Live)
- Download and run the TeX Live installer from tug.org/texlive/windows.html (choose scheme without GUI editors).
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Open the “TeX Live Command Prompt” (from Start Menu) and install packages:
tlmgr update --self tlmgr install latexmk xetex biber \ datetime2 footmisc comment geometry fontspec \ langsci-gb4e forest qtree tipa csquotes biblatex xparse \ setspace enumitem ragged2e needspace placeins float longtable \ tabularx array multirow makecell booktabs diagbox xcolor tcolorbox \ caption glossaries-extra etoolbox ulem fancyhdr hyperref cleveref pdflscape -
Optionally, install the recommended set via LingTeX’s panel (TeX Environment → “Install Recommended Packages”). On TeX Live, this uses
tlmgr; on MiKTeX, LingTeX usesmpm --admin. -
Verify tools:
xelatex --version biber --version latexmk -v
Linux
Recommended: Use the official TeX Live installer (current year) for the latest packages.
- Install TeX Live per Quick Install.
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Then install required packages with
tlmgr:tlmgr update --self tlmgr install latexmk xetex biber \ datetime2 footmisc comment geometry fontspec \ langsci-gb4e forest qtree tipa csquotes biblatex xparse \ setspace enumitem ragged2e needspace placeins float longtable \ tabularx array multirow makecell booktabs diagbox xcolor tcolorbox \ caption glossaries-extra etoolbox ulem fancyhdr hyperref cleveref pdflscape -
Optionally, install the recommended set via LingTeX’s panel (TeX Environment → “Install Recommended Packages”). If
tlmgrisn’t available in your distro’s TeX Live, use your package manager equivalents (e.g.,texlive-latex-extra,biber).
Alternatively, use your distro packages (quick, may be older)
Debian/Ubuntu
sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y texlive texlive-latex-recommended texlive-latex-extra texlive-fonts-recommended texlive-xetex biber latexmkFedora
sudo dnf install -y texlive-scheme-medium texlive-biber latexmkArch
sudo pacman -S --needed texlive-most biber latexmkIf a package is missing at compile time, install it via your package manager or tlmgr where available.
Why these packages? Your LaTeX template uses XeLaTeX/LuaLaTeX and relies on: langsci-gb4e, graphicx, tabularx, biblatex (with biber), glossaries-extra, hyperref, cleveref, and many common formatting packages listed above.