Skip to content
rv docs

Using rv with Quarto

rv works well with Quarto documents and projects, but there are a few important considerations when using the two together.

Packages Not Found During Render

Section titled “Packages Not Found During Render”

rv sets the R session’s library paths using a .Rprofile file at the project root. Therefore, when an R session starts from that directory, the .Rprofile is sourced and the library paths are set.

This becomes an issue when rendering Quarto documents from subdirectories. The R sessions to render the R code start within the subdirectory, thus do not properly source the project root’s .Rprofile.

Section titled “Recommended Fix”

In order to resolve this issue, a .Rprofile must be present within the subdirectory which sources the project root .Rprofile (i.e. source("../.Rprofile")).

For example, if the quarto doc of interest is two subdirectories within the project, a .Rprofile containing source("../../.Rprofile") must be added.

  • Directorymy-project/
    • Directoryscripts/
      • Directoryreports
        • my-report.qmd
        • .Rprofile contains source("../../.Rprofile")
    • Directoryrv/scripts
      • activate.R
    • .Rprofile contains `source(“rv/scripts/activate.R”)
    • rproject.toml

quarto render Renders Package Documentation

Section titled “quarto render Renders Package Documentation”

By default, quarto render recursively scans all subdirectories in your project, including the rv/ directory. The issue arises when it finds .Rmd files for package documentation within the rv/library/ and attempts to render them using your current R environment. This can cause errors when those documentation files reference packages not available in your project, but can also just be a nuisance to have to render even when they render without error.

Section titled “Recommended Fix”

Option 1: Exclude the rv library within your _quarto.yaml (Recommended)

Section titled “Option 1: Exclude the rv library within your _quarto.yaml (Recommended)”

The simplest solution is to exclude the rv/ directory from Quarto’s rendering process by adding it to your _quarto.yml configuration:

project:
  type: default
  render:
    - "*.qmd"
    - "!rv/"

This works great for simple projects, but can become bulky and complex for larger projects like multi-page websites.

Option 2: Project Structure Reorganization

Section titled “Option 2: Project Structure Reorganization”

Alternatively, restructuring the project so that the Quarto content is within a subdirectory will keep rv from the discoverable path.

  • Directorymy-project/
    • Directoryrv/
      • …
    • rproject.toml
    • .Rprofile
    • Directoryquarto-content/
      • _quarto.yml
      • index.qmd
      • .Rprofile