ASY(1)

💖 ASY(1) 💖

okay bestie, pull up a chair, we're talking about asy — that's Asymptote, the script-based vector graphics language, and honestly? she's iconic. this is the manual page (section 1, General Commands Manual) and i'm gonna walk you through every single bit of it, no skips, no "you'll figure it out." 🫶

---

✨ NAME ✨

asy — Asymptote: a script-based vector graphics language 🌸

---

🌈 SYNOPSIS 🌈

asy [options] [file ...]

---

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

Asymptote is a powerful descriptive vector graphics language for technical drawings, inspired by MetaPost but with an improved C++-like syntax. literally the glow-up of the century. 💅

Asymptote provides for figures the same high-quality level of typesetting that LaTeX does for scientific text. no cap — the figures get the same treatment LaTeX gives your science text. ate. 👑

---

✨ OPTIONS ✨

okay so. if you give it no arguments, Asymptote runs in interactive mode (she just wants to chat 💬).

If - is given as the file argument, Asymptote reads from standard input.

A summary of options is included below. The effect of most options can be negated by prepending no to the option name. Default values for most options may also be entered in the file .asy/config.asy in the user's home directory using the long form:

import settings;
batchView=true;

For a complete description, see the Info files. 📚

bestie the flag list is LONG and i'm not skipping a single one. hydration check, then we go. 💧

• -GPUblockSize n — Compute shader block size [8].
• -GPUcompress — Compress GPU transparent fragment counts [false].
• -GPUindexing — Compute indexing partial sums on GPU [true].
• -GPUinterlock — Use fragment shader interlock [true].
• -GPUlocalSize n — Compute shader local size [256].
• -V, -View — View output; command-line only.
• -absolute — Use absolute WebGL dimensions [false].
• -a, -align C|B|T|Z — Center, Bottom, Top, or Zero page alignment [C].
• -aligndir pair — Directional page alignment (overrides align) [(0,0)].
• -animating — [false]
• -antialias n — Antialiasing width for rasterized output [2].
• -auto3D — Automatically activate 3D scene [true].
• -autobillboard — 3D labels always face viewer by default [true].
• -autoimport str — Module to automatically import.
• -autoplain — Enable automatic importing of plain [true].
• -autoplay — Autoplay 3D WebGL animations [true].
• -autorotate — Enable automatic PDF page rotation [false].
• -axes3 — Show 3D axes in PDF output [true].
• -batchMask — Mask fpu exceptions in batch mode [false].
• -batchView — View output in batch mode [false].
• -bw — Convert all colors to black and white false.
• -cd directory — Set current directory; command-line only.
• -cmyk — Convert rgb colors to cmyk false.
• -c, -command str — Command to autoexecute.
• -compact — Conserve memory at the expense of speed false.
• -compress — Compress images in PDF output [true].
• -convertOptions str — []
• -curlAfterRead — Allow libcurl after reading local files via input() false.
• -d, -debug — Enable debugging messages and traceback false.
• -device n — Set Vulkan device [-1].
• -devicepixelratio n — Ratio of physical to logical pixels [0].
• -digits n — Default output file precision [7].
• -divisor n — Garbage collect using purge(divisor=n) [2].
• -dvipsOptions str — []
• -dvisvgmMultipleFiles — dvisvgm supports multiple files [true].
• -dvisvgmOptions str — [--optimize]
• -embed — Embed rendered preview image [true].
• -e, -environment — Show summary of environment settings; command-line only.
• -exitonEOF — Exit interactive mode on EOF [true].
• -fitscreen — Fit rendered image to screen [true].
• -framerate frames/s — Animation speed [30].
• -fxaa — Enable FXAA. Multisampling is turned off if FXAA is enabled [false].
• -glOptions str — []
• -globalread — Allow read from other directory true.
• -globalwrite — Allow write to other directory false.
• -gray — Convert all colors to grayscale false.
• -gsOptions str — []
• -h, -help — Show summary of options; command-line only.
• -historylines n — Retain n lines of history [1000].
• -htmlviewerOptions str —
• -hyperrefOptions str — [setpagesize=false,unicode,pdfborder=0 0 0]
• -ibl — Enable environment map image-based lighting [false].
• -iconify — [false]
• -image str — Environment image name [snowyField].
• -imageDir str — Environment image library directory [ibl].
• -imageURL str — Environment image library URL [https://vectorgraphics.gitlab.io/asymptote/ibl].
• -inlineimage — Generate inline embedded image [false].
• -inlinetex — Generate inline TeX code [false].
• -inpipe n — Input pipe [-1].
• -interactiveMask — Mask fpu exceptions in interactive mode [true].
• -interactiveView — View output in interactive mode [true].
• -interactiveWrite — Write expressions entered at the prompt to stdout [true].
• -interrupt — [false]
• -k, -keep — Keep intermediate files [false].
• -keepaux — Keep intermediate LaTeX .aux files [false].
• -keys — Generate WebGL keys false.
• -level n — Postscript level [3].
• -licenses — Show license and third-party attribution; command-line only.
• -l, -listvariables — List available global functions and variables [false].
• -localhistory — Use a local interactive history file [false].
• -loop — Loop 3D animations [false].
• -lossy — Use single precision for V3D reals [false].
• -lsp — Interactive mode for the Language Server Protocol [false].
• -m, -mask — Mask fpu exceptions; command-line only.
• -maxFramesInFlight n — Maximum frames queued to the GPU [3].
• -maxtile pair — Maximum rendering tile size [(1024,768)].
• -maxviewport pair — Maximum viewport size [(0,0)].
• -multiline — Input code over multiple lines at the prompt [false].
• -multipleView — View output from multiple batch-mode files [false].
• -multisample n — Multisampling width for screen images [4].
• -offline — Produce offline html files [false].
• -offscreen — Use offscreen rendering [false].
• -O, -offset pair — PostScript offset [(0,0)].
• -f, -outformat format — Convert each output file to specified format.
• -o, -outname name — Alternative output directory/file prefix.
• -outpipe n — Output pipe [-1].
• -paperheight bp — Default page height [0].
• -paperwidth bp — Default page width [0].
• -p, -parseonly — Parse file [false].
• -pdfreload — Automatically reload document in pdfviewer [false].
• -pdfreloadOptions str — []
• -pdfreloaddelay usec — Delay before attempting initial pdf reload [750000].
• -pdfviewerOptions str — []
• -position pair — Initial 3D rendering screen position [(0,0)].
• -prc — Embed 3D PRC graphics in PDF output [false].
• -prerender resolution — Prerender V3D objects (0 implies vector output) [0].
• -prompt str — Prompt [> ].
• -prompt2 str — Continuation prompt for multiline input [..].
• -psviewerOptions str — []
• -q, -quiet — Suppress welcome text and noninteractive stdout [false].
• -render n — Render 3D graphics using n pixels per bp [2].
• -resizestep step — Resize step [1.2].
• -reverse — reverse 3D animations [false].
• -rgb — Convert cmyk colors to rgb false.
• -safe — Disable system call true.
• -scroll n — Scroll standard output n lines at a time [0].
• -shiftHoldDistance n — WebGL touch screen distance limit for shift mode [20].
• -shiftWaitTime ms — WebGL touch screen shift mode delay [200].
• -spinstep deg/s — Spin speed [60].
• -srgb — Render 3D images in sRGB space [false].
• -svgemulation — Emulate unimplemented SVG shading [true].
• -tabcompletion — Interactive prompt auto-completion [true].
• -tex engine — latex|pdflatex|xelatex|lualatex|tex|pdftex|luatex|context|none [latex].
• -thick — Render thick 3D lines [true].
• -thin — Render thin 3D lines [true].
• -threads — Use POSIX threads for 3D rendering [true].
• -toolbar — Show 3D toolbar in PDF output [true].
• -s, -translate — Show translated virtual machine code [false].
• -twice — Run LaTeX twice (to resolve references) [false].
• -twosided — Use two-sided 3D lighting model for rendering [true].
• -u, -user str — General purpose user string.
• -v3d — Embed 3D V3D graphics in PDF output [false].
• -v, -verbose — Increase verbosity level (can specify multiple times) 0.
• -version — Show version; command-line only.
• -vibrateTime ms — WebGL shift mode vibrate duration [25].
• -viewportmargin pair — Horizontal and vertical 3D viewport margin [(0.5,0.5)].
• -vsync — Vertically synchronize with monitor [false].
• -vulkan — Use Vulkan renderer if available [true].
• -wait — Wait for child processes to finish before exiting [false].
• -warn str — Enable warning; command-line only.
• -webgl2 — Use webgl2 if available [false].
• -where — Show where listed variables are declared [false].
• -wsl — Run asy under the Windows Subsystem for Linux [false].
• -xasy — Interactive mode for xasy false.
• -zoomPinchCap limit — WebGL maximum zoom pinch [100].
• -zoomPinchFactor n — WebGL zoom pinch sensitivity [10].
• -zoomThreshold threshold —
• -zoomfactor factor — Zoom step factor [1.05].
• -zoomstep step — Mouse motion zoom step [0.1].

---

👀 SEE ALSO 👀

Asymptote is documented fully in the asymptote Info page. The manual can also be accessed in interactive mode with the help command. so if you're lost, just ask her — she'll tell you. 🧚

---

💜 AUTHOR 💜

Asymptote was written by Andy Hammerlindl, John Bowman, and Tom Prince. legends, truly. 🙌

This manual page was written by Hubert Chan for the Debian project (but may be used by others). slay, Hubert. 🎀

---

and that's the whole page bestie — this manual is dated 1 Dec 2004 and it's the ASY(1) page from the General Commands Manual, version and all. go make something gorgeous. mwah. 💋✨