Frontmatter Options

Complete reference for all frontmatter configuration options in Tap presentations.

Overview

Frontmatter is YAML configuration at the start of your presentation file, enclosed in triple dashes (---). These settings apply globally to your entire presentation unless overridden by slide directives.

---
title: My Presentation
theme: minimal
author: Jane Developer
transition: fade
---

Presentation Metadata

title

The presentation title, displayed in the browser tab and used for PDF exports.

Property	Value
Type	string
Default	File name
Required	No

---
title: Quarterly Business Review
---

author

Author name for presentation metadata.

Property	Value
Type	string
Default	None
Required	No

---
author: Jane Developer
---

date

Presentation date, useful for version tracking and PDF metadata.

Property	Value
Type	string
Default	None
Required	No

---
date: 2024-01-15
---

Visual Appearance

theme

The visual theme applied to all slides. Themes control typography, colors, animations, transitions, and spacing.

Property	Value
Type	string
Default	minimal
Required	No
Options	minimal, gradient, terminal, brutalist, keynote

---
theme: terminal
---

Available themes:

Theme	Description
minimal	Clean, spacious design with neutral colors
gradient	Modern, colorful with gradient backgrounds
terminal	Hacker aesthetic with dark, monospace styling
brutalist	Bold, geometric with high contrast
keynote	Professional, polished with classic feel

See Themes for detailed descriptions and examples.

aspectRatio

Slide aspect ratio. Defines the width-to-height ratio of your slides.

Property	Value
Type	string
Default	16/9
Required	No
Options	16/9, 4/3, 21/9, custom (e.g., 3/2)

---
aspectRatio: 4/3
---

Common aspect ratios:

Ratio	Use Case
16/9	Modern widescreen (default)
4/3	Traditional/legacy projectors
21/9	Ultra-wide displays

TIP

Most modern projectors and displays use 16:9. Use 4:3 only if you know your venue has older equipment.

Animations and Transitions

transition

Default slide transition animation applied when advancing between slides.

Property	Value
Type	string
Default	fade
Required	No
Options	none, fade, slide, push, zoom

---
transition: slide
---

Transition types:

Transition	Effect
none	Instant switch, no animation
fade	Crossfade between slides
slide	Slide horizontally (left to right)
push	New slide pushes old slide out
zoom	Zoom in/out effect

Individual slides can override this using the transition directive. See Animations & Transitions.

fragments

Enable automatic fragment reveals for list items. When enabled, bullet points appear one at a time as you advance.

Property	Value
Type	boolean
Default	false
Required	No

---
fragments: true
---

When true, all bullet lists in the presentation will reveal incrementally. Individual slides can override this with the fragments directive.

See Animations & Transitions for more on fragments and the <!-- pause --> directive.

Code Display

codeTheme

Syntax highlighting theme for code blocks. Uses Shiki themes.

Property	Value
Type	string
Default	Theme-dependent
Required	No

---
codeTheme: github-dark
---

Popular code themes:

Theme	Style
github-dark	GitHub's dark mode colors
github-light	GitHub's light mode colors
nord	Arctic, bluish color palette
dracula	Popular dark theme
one-dark-pro	Atom One Dark colors
monokai	Classic dark theme
min-light	Minimal light theme

TIP

Each presentation theme sets a sensible default code theme. Only override if you want a specific look.

codeFontSize

Font size for code blocks. Adjust for readability at presentation distance.

Property	Value
Type	string (CSS value)
Default	16px
Required	No

---
codeFontSize: 14px
---

Recommended sizes:

Size	Use Case
18px	Large venue, few lines of code
16px	Default, standard presentations
14px	More code on screen
12px	Dense code, close viewing

Live Code Execution

drivers

Configure live code execution drivers. Each driver connects to a different backend for running code during presentations.

Property	Value
Type	object
Default	None
Required	No (only for live code execution)

---
drivers:
  sqlite:
    database: ./data/demo.db
  postgres:
    host: localhost
    port: 5432
    database: analytics
    user: $PGUSER
    password: $PGPASSWORD
  shell:
    cwd: ./scripts
    timeout: 30
---

Available drivers:

Driver	Description
sqlite	SQLite database queries
mysql	MySQL/MariaDB database queries
postgres	PostgreSQL database queries
shell	Shell/Bash command execution

WARNING

Live code execution only works with tap dev. Static builds (tap build) do not execute code.

Environment variables: Values starting with $ are replaced with environment variables. Never hardcode passwords in your files.

See Drivers Reference for complete driver configuration options.

Complete Example

Here's a comprehensive frontmatter example using multiple options:

---
title: Database Architecture Deep Dive
author: Jane Developer
date: 2024-03-15
theme: terminal
aspectRatio: 16/9
transition: fade
fragments: true
codeTheme: github-dark
codeFontSize: 14px
drivers:
  sqlite:
    database: ./demo.db
  postgres:
    host: localhost
    database: analytics
    user: $PGUSER
    password: $PGPASSWORD
    timeout: 30
---

Quick Reference

Option	Type	Default	Description
title	string	File name	Presentation title
author	string	None	Author name
date	string	None	Presentation date
theme	string	minimal	Visual theme
aspectRatio	string	16/9	Slide aspect ratio
transition	string	fade	Default slide transition
fragments	boolean	false	Auto-reveal list items
codeTheme	string	Theme default	Syntax highlighting theme
codeFontSize	string	16px	Code block font size
drivers	object	None	Live code execution config

Next Steps

• Slide Directives - Per-slide configuration options
• Themes - Detailed theme descriptions
• Drivers Reference - Complete driver configuration
• Animations & Transitions - Transition and fragment options