Quarto Brief

Create DIN 5008-compliant German-style letters using Quarto with the brief-pdf format. The extension uses the scrlttr2 LaTeX document class.

Rendering

quarto render <file>.qmd

Installing the Extension

If a project does not yet have _extensions/brief/, install the format:

quarto add mavam/quarto-brief

Writing a Letter

Every .qmd file must set format: brief-pdf and provide frontmatter for sender, recipient, and letter metadata. The body is plain Markdown placed after the frontmatter.

Minimal example

---
format: brief-pdf
author:
  - name: Jane Doe
    email: jane@example.com
    phone: +49 30 1234567
    affiliation:
      - address: Musterstraße 1
        postal-code: 10115
        city: Berlin
address:
  - Max Mustermann
  - Beispielweg 42
  - :0331 München
subject: Ihr Schreiben vom 1. März 2026
opening: Sehr geehrter Herr Mustermann,
closing: Mit freundlichen Grüßen
---

hier folgt der eigentliche Brieftext in Markdown.

Sender details (author)

• author[].name — name in the letterhead and signature block.
• author[].email — email line in the letterhead.
• author[].phone — telephone line in the letterhead.
• author[].url — website line in the letterhead.
• author[].affiliation[].address — street and number.
• author[].affiliation[].postal-code — postal code.
• author[].affiliation[].city — city.
• author[].affiliation[].country — country (optional).

Recipient (address)

Each entry in address renders as a separate line in the recipient window:

address:
  - Firma GmbH
  - z. Hd. Frau Schmidt
  - Poststraße 7
  - 50667 Köln

Reference fields

Add business reference lines that appear below the letterhead:

• yourmail / yourmail_label — incoming mail reference and its caption.
• yourref / yourref_label — recipient's reference number and label.
• myref / myref_label — sender's reference number and label.
• customer / customer_label — customer identifier and label.
• invoice / invoice_label — invoice number and label.
• place / place_label — location line and label.
• date_label — custom caption for the date field.

Closing elements

• closing — complimentary close before the signature.
• signature — path to an image placed above the typed name.
• ps — postscript appended after the closing.
• encl[] — list of enclosures.
• cc[] — carbon-copy recipients.

Date

• date — overrides the default (today). Accepts any value Quarto understands.
• date-format — controls how the date is formatted (default: long).

Font size

The default is 12pt. Override with:

fontsize: 11pt

Custom fonts

Adjust mainfont and sansfont for the letter body and address fields:

mainfont: Roboto
mainfontoptions:
  - Extension=.ttf
  - UprightFont=*-Regular
  - BoldFont=*-Bold
  - ItalicFont=*-Italic
  - BoldItalicFont=*-BoldItalic
sansfont: Roboto
sansfontoptions:
  - Extension=.ttf
  - UprightFont=*-Regular
  - BoldFont=*-Bold
  - ItalicFont=*-Italic
  - BoldItalicFont=*-BoldItalic

Common Use Cases

Formal business letter

Include reference fields, subject, and enclosures for official correspondence:

yourref: AZ-2026-42
myref: MV-0815
subject: Vertragsunterlagen
encl:
  - Vertrag (2-fach)
  - AGB

Invoice cover letter

Use invoice, customer, and date_label to create an invoice-style header:

customer_label: Kundennr.
customer: K-12345
invoice_label: Rechnungsnr.
invoice: "2026-007"
date_label: Rechnungsdatum

Letter with signature image

Place a scanned signature above the printed name:

signature: sig.png
closing: Hochachtungsvoll