# Bold math does not work in MathJax on the linux desktop client

Bold math does not seem to work on the desktop Anki version, at least not on the linux client, but does work in AnkiDroid. For instance, the MathJax line

(x = \boldsymbol{x} = \mathbf{x} = \mathrm{x})

Produces

on my desktop client but should produce (from MathOverflow)

Maybe upgrading to MathJax 3 will solve this (https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/809).

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Maybe you’re not using the latest Anki version (2.1.35). I’m on Windows and it works for me, but I just checked Linux installation file and boldsymbol.js can be found in bin\aqt_data\web\mathjax\extensions\TeX.

And if I use AnkiWebView Inspector add-on, the bold symbol has been rendered with MathJax_Math font and font-family: MJXc-TeX-math-BI,MJXc-TeX-math-BIx,MJXc-TeX-math-BIw.

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No, I am using the latest version (2.1.35). This issue is not new either, it’s been this way since I started using Anki a year ago or so.

I am also not alone in having this issue: https://www.reddit.com/r/Anki/comments/hcnrys/some_latex_bold_fonts_display_incorrectly_on/

It seems to work for me on Ubuntu 20.04.

I don’t know if it means something or not, but if I set the env var QTWEBENGINE_REMOTE_DEBUGGING to 8080 prior to starting Anki (https://addon-docs.ankiweb.net/#/porting2.0?id=webview-changes), open localhost:8080 and navigate to Application tab, I can see MathJax_Main-Bold.woff in Fonts.

Well, that’s strange. I don’t even have a “fonts” category. I only have a “scripts” category with MathJax.js, Math-BoldItalic.js, and MathEvents.js (plus a bunch of other stuff).

I’m also on ubuntu 20.04 by the way.

I just tested it on Ubuntu 20.04 (running in VirtualBox), and bold font doesn’t seem to be rendered properly for me either. Apparently 4 font files (.woff) are loaded in Anki windows version, but not in Ubuntu.

on Windows (anki-2.1.36beta1-53a984ba-windows.exe):

on Ubuntu 20.04 (anki-2.1.35-linux-amd64.tar.bz2):

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I experience the same problem, also using Ubuntu and latest Anki version. I’m pretty sure I had it since I’ve started using desktop Anki a bunch of years ago

Good news here, in the next version of Anki 2.1.36, there will be a lot of improvements to MathJax.

One improvement is that we updated to MathJax 3, but the Anki MathJax will also include more functionality, which includes purposefully or autoloading extensions. So in the future, you can simple use \require{boldsymbol} to load the boldsymbol extension, after which the example in the opening thread should render like you wanted.

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