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Show HN: RenderCV – Open-source CV/resume generator, YAML to PDF

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Show HN: RenderCV – Open-source CV/resume generator, YAML to PDF

#1

Post by sinaatalay »

I built RenderCV because Word kept breaking my layout and LaTeX was overkill. I wanted my CV as a single YAML file (content, design, margins, everything) that I could render with one command.

Run rendercv render cv.yaml → get a perfectly typeset PDF.

Highlights:

1. Version-controllable: Your CV is just text. Diff it, tag it.

2. LLM-friendly: Paste into ChatGPT, tailor to a job description, paste back, render. Batch-produce variants with terminal AI agents.

3. Perfect typography: Typst under the hood handles pixel-perfect alignment and spacing.

4. Full design control: Margins, fonts, colors, and more; tweak everything in YAML.

5. Comes with JSON Schema: Autocompletion and inline docs in your editor.

Battle-tested for 2+ years, thousands of users, 120k+ total PyPI downloads, 100% test coverage, actively maintained.

GitHub: https://github.com/rendercv/rendercv

Docs: https://docs.rendercv.com

Overview on RenderCV's software design (Pydantic + Jinja2 + Typst): https://docs.rendercv.com/developer_guide/understanding_rend...

I also wrote up the internals as an educational resource on maintaining Python projects (GitHub Actions, packaging, Docker, JSON Schema, deploying docs, etc.): https://docs.rendercv.com/developer_guide/

Show HN: RenderCV – Open-source CV/resume generator, YAML to PDF
github.com

Re: Show HN: RenderCV – Open-source CV/resume generator, YAML to PDF

#2

Post by scythmic_waves »

I used this recently for my resume and I recommend it.

I have the technical background to write Latex and Typst documents but I honestly didn't want the headache. Plus I'm the type to futz with styling all day long instead of putting down actual content. RenderCV was simple to use and did exactly what I wanted.

Re: Show HN: RenderCV – Open-source CV/resume generator, YAML to PDF

#5

Post by varun_ch »

This looks really interesting, but I’m wondering what this adds that someone can’t already do with Typst+a resume template. The basic-resume template already abstracts enough that you only need to care about content rather than formatting:

https://typst.app/universe/package/basic-resume/

Does anyone have examples of how they’re using the YAML?

Re: Show HN: RenderCV – Open-source CV/resume generator, YAML to PDF

#6

Post by eleventen »

I’d love to know if this performs better than your average resume in OCR or scanning tools. I think if you could advertise that you follow some kind of arcane best practices, that would be super attractive to a lot of people.

I have a lot of anxiety about missing opportunities because of shitty OCR.

Re: Show HN: RenderCV – Open-source CV/resume generator, YAML to PDF

#7

Post by sinaatalay »

varun_ch wrote: post #5

This looks really interesting, but I’m wondering what this adds that someone can’t already do with Typst+a resume template. The basic-resume template already abstracts enough that you only need to care about content rather than formatting: https://typst.app/universe/package/basic-resume/ Does anyone have examples of how they’re using the YAML?

RenderCV actually relies on its own Typst package: https://typst.app/universe/package/rendercv

Here are a couple of reasons, just a few that come to mind, why using YAML + RenderCV can be more appealing than working directly in Typst:

- Reusing the same content across multiple themes. YAML + RenderCV allows you to experiment with different themes and design options to the exact same content with no changes to the data itself. This is difficult to achieve in pure Typst, where switching templates typically means adapting your content to a different set of Typst commands.

- Centralized control over entry layouts. You can adjust how entire classes of entries are rendered from a single place—for example, changing the layout of all education entries at once, rather than editing each entry individually.

Re: Show HN: RenderCV – Open-source CV/resume generator, YAML to PDF

#8

Post by sinaatalay »

pietz wrote: post #3

A bit of a missed opportunity not to use the JSON Resume schema for this. https://jsonresume.org/schema

We deliberately chose not to use JSON Resume because we wanted greater flexibility. For example, in RenderCV, you can use any section title you want and place any of the 9 available entry types under any section. In contrast, JSON Resume has predefined section titles, and each section is restricted to a predefined entry type. For instance, you must use the experience entry schema under the experience section.

Re: Show HN: RenderCV – Open-source CV/resume generator, YAML to PDF

#10

Post by sinaatalay »

eleventen wrote: post #6

I’d love to know if this performs better than your average resume in OCR or scanning tools. I think if you could advertise that you follow some kind of arcane best practices, that would be super attractive to a lot of people. I have a lot of anxiety about missing opportunities because of shitty OCR.

Thank you. We will add an analysis of how RenderCV PDFs perform with applicant tracking systems in docs at some point, but users have been reporting positive results. We generate the PDFs using Typst, which adheres to modern PDF standards.
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