jinnastic

Write and edit TEI, JATS, and DocBook documents in VS Code with a familiar, Word-like surface — while your file stays proper XML underneath.

jinnastic is a companion to source editing, not a replacement. Keep using the text editor (and tools such as the Red Hat XML extension) for precise markup work; open jinnastic when you want to focus on the text and structure without staring at angle brackets.

Powered by JinnTap.

Getting started

1. Install jinnastic from the Extensions view.
2. Open a .xml, .tei, .dbk, or .docbook file as usual.
3. Run Open in jinnastic (WYSIWYM) from the editor title bar, the Command Palette, or the explorer context menu.

Tip: open jinnastic in a split beside the XML source. Both views edit the same file and stay in sync when you save or switch between them.

jinnastic never takes over as the default editor for XML — you choose when to use it.

What you can do

• Create a new TEI, JATS, or DocBook skeleton from File → New File…, the Command Palette, or a folder’s explorer context menu
• Edit TEI, JATS, and DocBook with headings, paragraphs, emphasis, lists, tables, figures, and more
• Use a toolbar and keyboard shortcuts familiar from word processors
• Work with images next to your document (pick files from the document folder)
• Look up authorities where the schema supports them (for example GND or GeoNames)
• Switch freely between the visual editor and raw XML

jinnastic detects TEI / JATS / DocBook from the file name and root element. You can override that in settings if needed.

Settings

Setting	Purpose
jinnastic.format	auto (default), or force tei / jats / docbook
jinnastic.schemas.tei	Optional path to a custom TEI schema
jinnastic.schemas.jats	Optional path to a custom JATS schema
jinnastic.schemas.docbook	Optional path to a custom DocBook schema

Leave the schema settings empty to use the built-in defaults. A custom schema can include its own stylesheet beside the JSON file.

Current limitations

jinnastic is early (0.1.x). Please try it on copies of important files first.

• Saving from the visual editor rewrites the whole document as XML. Comments, processing instructions, and some formatting details may change or disappear if the visual model does not represent them.
• Undo history and diffs can look coarser than when editing XML by hand.

Feedback & further reading

• JinnTap — the editor engine and schema documentation
• Issues and contributions: use this extension’s repository