Comparison with TexLab?

[raxod502]

TexLab is a popular project which implements the Language Server Protocol for LaTeX. How does this project relate to TexLab? Is it intended as a replacement?

[astoff]

I haven't used TexLab so I don't know how it compares. It seems to be a quite different approach towards the same basic functionality. I can list some features that might be unique to Digestif:

• ConTeXt, plain TeX and Texinfo support
• Detailed documentation (a.k.a. eldoc, hover, and so on) and signature help
• As a byproduct of the above: extensive snippet support
• Fuzzy completion of citations and references (see GIF in the README)
• Completion of TikZ key-value parameters

A notable missing feature is a VS Code client, which may explain a popularity difference. I develop and test Digestif on Emacs with Eglot.

Some basic principles/rationales behind Digestif are the following:

• Under the hood, Digestif is a Lua library which emulates, as closely as is reasonably possible, the way TeX "digests" stuff. The LSP server is a little script on top of it.
• I always wanted to have really good eldoc for (La)TeX; I care more about this than, say, command autocompletion. There's no way to achieve this than by (semi-)manually turning various manuals into data files. This is, admittedly, very hard work.

[raxod502]

Thank you for your response. Digestif seems very promising and I am trying it out to see if I can switch, as TexLab is very big and slow in my experience. You might consider adding some of this information to the README, as I doubt that I will be the only person who wonders which package to pick.