Please add MathJax support to WorkFlowy to enable users to write and display mathematical equations, formulas, and notation directly within their outlines.
Currently, WorkFlowy users who need to include mathematical content in their notes must resort to workarounds like uploading images of equations, using plain text approximations, or switching to external tools. This breaks the seamless workflow that makes WorkFlowy so effective for organising thoughts and information.
MathJax is a widely adopted, cross-browser JavaScript library that renders mathematical notation from LaTeX, MathML, or AsciiMath markup. Integration would allow users to type mathematical expressions using standard LaTeX syntax (e.g., $E = mc^2$ for inline math or $$\int_{0}^{\infty} e^{-x^2} dx$$ for display math) and have them render as properly formatted mathematical notation.
This feature would benefit students, researchers, educators, engineers, and anyone working with mathematical content. Common applications include lecture notes, research planning, problem-solving workflows, formula collections, and collaborative mathematical discussions. The hierarchical structure of WorkFlowy makes it particularly well-suited for breaking down complex mathematical concepts and proofs into digestible components.
Cool idea. In case it’s helpful for the developers looking into this, I’ve also had good luck with the KaTeX library for rendering LaTeX notation in the browser.
Exactly yes - the screenshots are from Obsidian.md, which renders mathjax. Typically a single ‘$’ renders inline, and a double ‘$$’ renders block/display.
I think KaTeX is slightly faster to load and has slightly fewer features, but to 99% of users, I imagine it makes no difference. Just being able to get basic equations rendering would be amazing.
This would be tremendously useful. I bet you could get a whole host of scientists that would draft papers in Workflowy if it could support math notation.
I agree here. A lot of my collaborators have asked me what I am using when they see workflowy + Katex in my browser but then get turned off by having to deal with loading a script. So if this were a native feature, it would certainly look so much more attractive!
I don’t know if this helps but somebody implemented a small javascript to add Katex functionality to workflowy
The problem is that this functionality does not work in the workflowy apps since it is a script for the browsers. It would be cool if this could be implemented in the apps itself.
I tried to use WorkFlowy in the browser, but I definitely prefer using the native app. It would be incredible to have Latex support as I use WorkFlowy a lot to summarize math papers and agree with @jamesaizzard that it feels very natural to break down math concepts. However, as soon as it gets technical, it really is a pain. What I currently do is writing latex code without it being rendered, but it just looks ugly and takes up a lot of space. Also, I can’t really show my notes to collaborators like this. So I would be very very happy to have Latex support in the native app!
The LaTeX rendering support would be especially valuable for people in science, engineering, math, and education.
Workflowy is already fantastic for outlining and knowledge management, but it’s difficult to write mathematical formulas or scientific notation clearly. If Workflowy could render LaTeX inline (for example, $\frac{a}{b}$ → 𝑎/𝑏), it would open up many new use cases in research, teaching, and technical note-taking.
A lightweight way to achieve this could be by integrating a proven library like KaTeX or MathJax. Both are widely used in note-taking and publishing apps, and they handle LaTeX rendering in the browser with minimal setup.
This feature would make Workflowy much more friendly to the scientific/technical community and could attract a whole new group of users.
Thank you for continually improving this fantastic app!
Any thoughts on this one from the dev team? Feasible? Not feasible? This would be a massive quality-of-life improvement for many people in science and math.
