#1 parks cover artwork in cover/ without touching the build. This issue lists the ways it could actually appear on the book, so the choice stays yours. None of it is urgent — the files are harmless where they are, and "leave it" is a legitimate answer.
| Option |
Change needed |
Where it shows |
Needs new artwork? |
| 1. Sidebar logo |
one line in _config.yml |
left sidebar, every page |
no |
| 2. Landing page |
a directive in intro.md |
top of intro.md only |
no |
| 3. GitHub social preview |
a Settings upload, no code |
repo link previews in Slack, X, email |
yes, landscape |
4. Site og:image |
new dependency + config |
book link previews |
yes, landscape |
| 5. Favicon |
one line in _config.yml |
browser tab |
yes, square |
| 6. Leave it |
none |
nowhere |
no |
1. Sidebar logo — the smallest change
_config.yml already carries an empty logo: key. Pointing it at the thumbnail is the whole edit:
logo: cover/continuous-time-thumb.png
sphinx-book-theme then renders it at the top of the left sidebar on every page, scaled to the sidebar width. The trade-off is that a 2:3 portrait image is tall — it pushes the table of contents down by roughly 375px, which is why many books use a wide wordmark in that slot instead. That cost is worth weighing here, since this book has a long table of contents: 23 chapters across two parts, plus appendices. Using the 480px thumbnail rather than the 1920px master keeps the built site light. One line to revert.
A second wrinkle specific to this cover: the artwork is a dark field, and sphinx-book-theme's sidebar is light in its default theme and dark in its dark mode. The cover will sit as a dark block against the light sidebar. That may read as deliberate or as a mistake depending on your taste — worth a look before merging.
2. Landing page — the cover where a book's cover goes
This leaves the sidebar and the table of contents alone, and puts the cover on intro.md only, floated beside the opening paragraphs. colon_fence is already enabled, so:
:::{image} cover/continuous-time-cover.png
:alt: Continuous Time Stochastic Processes
:width: 260px
:align: right
:::The trade-off is that it edits your prose layout, and a right float would interact with the hand-drawn-figures note a little further down intro.md — worth previewing before committing.
3. GitHub social preview — no code at all
Settings → General → Social preview → upload an image. This is what renders when someone pastes the repository URL into Slack, X, or an email client. GitHub wants landscape, nominally 1280 × 640, so the portrait cover would letterbox badly; this wants a landscape derivative built from the same elements. The sample paths crop to landscape more naturally than most cover art would.
4. og:image for the deployed site
Same idea as option 3 but for the thomassargent30.github.io URL rather than the GitHub one. sphinx-book-theme does not emit an og:image on its own, so this needs sphinxext-opengraph added to requirements.txt, plus html.baseurl set — it is currently absent, and the extension needs it to build absolute image URLs. Also wants a landscape image.
5. Favicon
html.favicon is unset. The full cover does not reduce to 32px legibly, but a square crop of the sample paths alone would make a reasonable mark. Needs a derivative.
6. Leave it
The files sit in cover/ for slides, talks, or a future print edition, and the book stays exactly as it is today.
If you want a suggestion
Option 1 is one line and reverts in one line, but check the dark-block-on-light-sidebar point above first. Option 2 is the better choice if you would rather the table of contents keep its vertical space, which given its length here is a real consideration.
Happy to push any of these onto the branch in #1, or to produce the landscape and square derivatives that options 3–5 need. Equally happy to change the artwork itself — the palette, the paths drawn, or the kicker wording — if something is not to your taste.
For context, the book is now listed on the QuantEcon books page — see QuantEcon/website#257. The companion cover for Linear Time Series Analysis is offered in thomassargent30/sargent-time-series#1, with the same options written up in thomassargent30/sargent-time-series#2.
🤖 Generated with Claude Code
#1 parks cover artwork in
cover/without touching the build. This issue lists the ways it could actually appear on the book, so the choice stays yours. None of it is urgent — the files are harmless where they are, and "leave it" is a legitimate answer._config.ymlintro.mdintro.mdonlyog:image_config.yml1. Sidebar logo — the smallest change
_config.ymlalready carries an emptylogo:key. Pointing it at the thumbnail is the whole edit:sphinx-book-theme then renders it at the top of the left sidebar on every page, scaled to the sidebar width. The trade-off is that a 2:3 portrait image is tall — it pushes the table of contents down by roughly 375px, which is why many books use a wide wordmark in that slot instead. That cost is worth weighing here, since this book has a long table of contents: 23 chapters across two parts, plus appendices. Using the 480px thumbnail rather than the 1920px master keeps the built site light. One line to revert.
A second wrinkle specific to this cover: the artwork is a dark field, and sphinx-book-theme's sidebar is light in its default theme and dark in its dark mode. The cover will sit as a dark block against the light sidebar. That may read as deliberate or as a mistake depending on your taste — worth a look before merging.
2. Landing page — the cover where a book's cover goes
This leaves the sidebar and the table of contents alone, and puts the cover on
intro.mdonly, floated beside the opening paragraphs.colon_fenceis already enabled, so::::{image} cover/continuous-time-cover.png :alt: Continuous Time Stochastic Processes :width: 260px :align: right :::The trade-off is that it edits your prose layout, and a right float would interact with the hand-drawn-figures note a little further down
intro.md— worth previewing before committing.3. GitHub social preview — no code at all
Settings → General → Social preview → upload an image. This is what renders when someone pastes the repository URL into Slack, X, or an email client. GitHub wants landscape, nominally 1280 × 640, so the portrait cover would letterbox badly; this wants a landscape derivative built from the same elements. The sample paths crop to landscape more naturally than most cover art would.
4.
og:imagefor the deployed siteSame idea as option 3 but for the
thomassargent30.github.ioURL rather than the GitHub one. sphinx-book-theme does not emit anog:imageon its own, so this needssphinxext-opengraphadded torequirements.txt, plushtml.baseurlset — it is currently absent, and the extension needs it to build absolute image URLs. Also wants a landscape image.5. Favicon
html.faviconis unset. The full cover does not reduce to 32px legibly, but a square crop of the sample paths alone would make a reasonable mark. Needs a derivative.6. Leave it
The files sit in
cover/for slides, talks, or a future print edition, and the book stays exactly as it is today.If you want a suggestion
Option 1 is one line and reverts in one line, but check the dark-block-on-light-sidebar point above first. Option 2 is the better choice if you would rather the table of contents keep its vertical space, which given its length here is a real consideration.
Happy to push any of these onto the branch in #1, or to produce the landscape and square derivatives that options 3–5 need. Equally happy to change the artwork itself — the palette, the paths drawn, or the kicker wording — if something is not to your taste.
For context, the book is now listed on the QuantEcon books page — see QuantEcon/website#257. The companion cover for Linear Time Series Analysis is offered in thomassargent30/sargent-time-series#1, with the same options written up in thomassargent30/sargent-time-series#2.
🤖 Generated with Claude Code