What are compiler features and how do I enable them?

Questions
1

I tried to use the pdf.data-cell function, but got the following error:

error: cannot access field `data-cell` because the `a11y-extras` feature is not enabled
   ┌─ hi.typ:22:5
   │
22 │ #pdf.data-cell()
   │      ^^^^^^^^^
   │
   = hint: try enabling the `a11y-extras` feature
   = hint: see https://typst.app/help/compiler-features for more details

What does this mean and how do I enable the feature?

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2

Some features of the Typst compiler are already available for use, but still in development or not yet fully fleshed out. Since these are particularly likely to change, causing potential breakage, you need to opt-in to be able to use them.

How to opt in depends on your environment.

Command line

In the command line, you can pass features for a single invocation with the --features CLI flag. For instance, to enable HTML export, you would pass --features html. To enable multiple features, separate them with commas, e.g. --features html,bundle.

To view the list of available features, run typst compile --help and search for the documentation of the --feature argument.

If you frequently find yourself passing these arguments, you can instead set them permanently as a system environment variable. The format is the same, e.g. TYPST_FEATURES=html,bundle. How to set an environment variable depends on your operating system (Guidance: Windows, macOS, Linux).

Web app

In the web app, experimental features are configured per project. To enable one, open the project, click on the cogwheel icon in the left sidebar, locate the “Experimental compiler features” heading and select the feature you would like to enable.

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3

To those who use multiple versions of Typst compilers on the same system:
You should think twice before setting $TYPST_FEATURES system-wide, because old compilers will complain about unknown features.

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