Quick Start

Start by reading a short .tdsl file, try it in the Playground, then save and validate it with the CLI.

1. Read

timeline "Reading Notes" {
    title "Reading Notes";
    unit year;
    range 2024..2026;
    calendar proleptic_gregorian;
}

lane "Books" as books { kind custom; order 10; }

event books 2025 "Trying Timeline DSL" { id "event:first"; };

Use timeline for the overall timeline, lane for vertical axes, and event for individual occurrences. The Grammar & Samples page has short examples explaining how to read the syntax.

2. Try it in the Playground

Open this sample in the Playground

In the Playground, the source passed via the source query is loaded directly into the editor, where you can validate it and view the SVG preview — all in your browser.

3. Save and validate with the CLI

Save the same content as sample.tdsl and validate it with the CLI.

tdsl check sample.tdsl
tdsl lint sample.tdsl

If the output is successful, the file has passed syntax and basic quality checks. Use build to inspect the result as JSON.

tdsl build sample.tdsl --pretty --output sample.json

To view it in a browser, render it as a standalone HTML file.

tdsl render sample.tdsl --output sample.html

Next steps

• Review span, event_range, and Wikidata import constraints in Grammar & Samples
• Explore CLI commands for each use case in Commands
• Automate tdsl check and tdsl lint in Validate in CI