Documentation

Use Essenfont.

One font. Every Unicode 17 script. Pick your format, wire it in, ship.

Quick start

npm
npm install essenfont
Fontist
gem install fontist && fontist install "Essenfont"
Direct
curl -LO github.com/essenfont/essenfont/releases/latest/download/Essenfont-Regular.otc

Getting started

Four pages. Start with the decision matrix.

01

Which format do I need?

Decision matrix for 6 scenarios: OS install, web embed, app bundle, PDF, fleet, npm package.

start here →02

Install

CLI commands for Fontist, npm, and direct download — per platform.

read →03

CSS integration

@font-face, unicode-range, fallback chains, self-hosting, CORS.

read →04

npm API reference

TypeScript types for every export in the essenfont package.

read →

Under the hood

How Essenfont is built. For contributors and the curious.

05

Build pipeline

How 160k glyphs from 38 donors become one OTC. Plane partitioning, UFO normalization, MetricsPass.

read →06

Donor strategy

OFL-compatible sourcing. Tier 1/2/3 model, code-chart SVG extraction, why Full-Sung is the CJK donor.

read →07

Output formats

Why OTC not TTF. Why both WOFF and WOFF2. The release pipeline and SRI hashes.

read →08

Font specification

Internal structure of the OTC — faces, UPM strategy, vertical metrics, donor attribution per block.

read →09

Coverage & gaps

What works today, what is blocked on upstream fontisan fixes, Chrome OTS requirements, roadmap.

read →