Artifacts

An artifact is a single deliverable produced for a module (or for the whole course): a slide deck, a handout, an assignment, notes, a syllabus, etc.

Artifacts are declared in course.yaml under a module’s artifacts: list or at the top-level artifacts: list for course-wide documents.

Artifact fields

Field	Default	Description
`id`	`{type}-{index}`	Unique identifier within the scope (module or course)
`type`	—	Drives template resolution and subdirectory placement
`enabled`	`true`	Whether to generate a stub and include it in Quarto configs
`overwrite`	`defaults.overwrite` or `on-force`	Existing file overwrite policy: `on-force`, `always`, or `never`
`status`	`planned`	Lifecycle status metadata; in the default templates, `published` and `archived` are treated as release-ready
`visibility`	`public`	Whether the artifact is included in the public course website and navigation; `hidden` items are omitted from public links even when generated
`file`	computed	Explicit output path; overrides the computed default
`output_formats`	—	List of render formats: `revealjs`, `beamer`, `pdf`, `website`
`stub_template`	auto-resolved	Jinja2 template name: string or per-format dict

`enabled`, `overwrite`, `visibility`, and `status`

These three fields are intentionally independent:

enabled: false skips generation entirely.
overwrite: on-force allows generate --force to replace an existing stub.
overwrite: always replaces an existing stub on every run.
overwrite: never preserves an existing stub even when generate --force is used.
enabled: true with visibility: hidden still generates the stub file, but it is omitted from the public website navigation and module links.
status is informational metadata. The default templates use it mainly to decide whether a document is treated as published or still in progress.

Default file paths

When file: is not set, the generator computes:

content/{subdir}/{scope_id}-{artifact_type}.qmd

where {subdir} is determined by artifact type:

Artifact type	Subdirectory
`slides`	`content/slides/`
`handout`	`content/handouts/`
`notes`	`content/notes/`
`assignment`	`content/assignments/`
`syllabus`	`content/`
any other	`content/{type}/`

Example: module id: intro with artifact type: slides produces content/slides/intro-slides.qmd.

Output formats

Each artifact declares which Quarto render formats it participates in via the output_formats list. The generator uses this to include the artifact in the correct sub-project _quarto.yml and to emit matching format blocks in the stub front matter.

Format	Sub-project	Output
`revealjs`	`content/slides/`	reveal.js HTML slides
`beamer`	`content/slides/`	Beamer PDF slides
`pdf`	`content/handouts/` or `content/assignments/`	PDF document
`website`	root website project	HTML page embedded in course website

The “Other Formats” sidebar link

When a Quarto document declares multiple formats in its YAML front matter, Quarto automatically renders an “Other Formats” entry in the right-hand sidebar, linking to the alternative output (e.g. a PDF download link on an HTML page).

Whether this link appears is controlled entirely by the stub template, not by the renderer. The built-in templates conditionally emit a second format block based on output_formats:

Template	Condition	Emitted formats in stub
`handout.qmd.j2`	`website` in `output_formats`	`html: default` + `pdf: …`
`handout.qmd.j2`	`website` not in `output_formats`	`pdf: …` only
`notes.qmd.j2`	`pdf` in `output_formats`	`html: default` + `pdf: …`
`notes.qmd.j2`	`pdf` not in `output_formats`	`html: default` only
`assignment.qmd.j2`	always	`html: default` + `pdf: …`

To enable the “Other Formats: PDF” link for a handout, declare both formats:

artifacts:
  - id: intro-handout
    type: handout
    output_formats: [website, pdf]   # both → "Other Formats: PDF" appears

Custom stub templates follow the same rule: declare both formats in the generated front matter and Quarto produces the sidebar link automatically.

Examples

Slides with Beamer PDF

artifacts:
  - id: intro-slides
    type: slides
    enabled: true
    output_formats: [revealjs, beamer]

Handout with website page and PDF download

artifacts:
  - id: intro-handout
    type: handout
    enabled: true
    output_formats: [website, pdf]

Assignment (website + PDF)

artifacts:
  - id: ex01
    type: assignment
    enabled: true
    output_formats: [website, pdf]
    lms:
      release: 2026-10-05
      due: 2026-10-19

Disabled artifact (placeholder for future use)

artifacts:
  - id: project-brief
    type: assignment
    enabled: false

Never overwrite a hand-edited artifact stub

artifacts:
  - id: intro-slides
    type: slides
    overwrite: never
    output_formats: [revealjs, beamer]

Always regenerate a derived artifact stub

artifacts:
  - id: schedule-overview
    type: notes
    overwrite: always
    output_formats: [website]

Pinning a custom template

artifacts:
  - id: my-poster
    type: slides
    output_formats: [revealjs]
    stub_template: poster.qmd.j2              # single template for all formats

  - id: lecture-slides
    type: slides
    output_formats: [revealjs, beamer]
    stub_template:
      default: slides.qmd.j2
      beamer:  slides-beamer.qmd.j2          # per-format override

See Templates & Filters for full template resolution rules.