Usage
=====
docutils [options] [<source> [<destination>]]
Convert documents into useful formats. Reads from <source> (default is stdin)
and writes to <destination> (default is stdout). See
https://docutils.sourceforge.io/docs/user/config.html for a detailed settings
reference.
Options
=======
General Docutils Options
------------------------
--title=TITLE Specify the document title as metadata.
--generator, -g Include a "Generated by Docutils" credit and link.
--no-generator Do not include a generator credit.
--date, -d Include the date at the end of the document (UTC).
--time, -t Include the time & date (UTC).
--no-datestamp Do not include a datestamp of any kind.
--source-link, -s Include a "View document source" link.
--source-url=<URL> Use <URL> for a source link; implies --source-link.
--no-source-link Do not include a "View document source" link.
--toc-entry-backlinks Link from section headers to TOC entries. (default)
--toc-top-backlinks Link from section headers to the top of the TOC.
--no-toc-backlinks Disable backlinks to the table of contents.
--footnote-backlinks Link from footnotes/citations to references. (default)
--no-footnote-backlinks
Disable backlinks from footnotes and citations.
--section-numbering Enable section numbering by Docutils. (default)
--no-section-numbering Disable section numbering by Docutils.
--strip-comments Remove comment elements from the document tree.
--leave-comments Leave comment elements in the document tree. (default)
--strip-elements-with-class=<class>
Remove all elements with classes="<class>" from the
document tree. Warning: potentially dangerous; use
with caution. (Multiple-use option.)
--strip-class=<class> Remove all classes="<class>" attributes from elements
in the document tree. Warning: potentially dangerous;
use with caution. (Multiple-use option.)
--report=<level>, -r <level>
Report system messages at or higher than <level>:
"info" or "1", "warning"/"2" (default), "error"/"3",
"severe"/"4", "none"/"5"
--verbose, -v Report all system messages. (Same as "--report=1".)
--quiet, -q Report no system messages. (Same as "--report=5".)
--halt=<level> Halt execution at system messages at or above <level>.
Levels as in --report. Default: 4 (severe).
--strict Halt at the slightest problem. Same as "--halt=info".
--exit-status=<level> Enable a non-zero exit status for non-halting system
messages at or above <level>. Default: 5 (disabled).
--debug Enable debug-level system messages and diagnostics.
--no-debug Disable debug output. (default)
--warnings=<file> Send the output of system messages to <file>.
--traceback Enable Python tracebacks when Docutils is halted.
--no-traceback Disable Python tracebacks. (default)
--input-encoding=<name[:handler]>, -i <name[:handler]>
Specify the encoding and optionally the error handler
of input text. Default: <auto-detect>:strict.
--input-encoding-error-handler=INPUT_ENCODING_ERROR_HANDLER
Specify the error handler for undecodable characters.
Choices: "strict" (default), "ignore", and "replace".
--output-encoding=<name[:handler]>, -o <name[:handler]>
Specify the text encoding and optionally the error
handler for output. Default: utf-8:strict.
--output-encoding-error-handler=OUTPUT_ENCODING_ERROR_HANDLER
Specify error handler for unencodable output
characters; "strict" (default), "ignore", "replace",
"xmlcharrefreplace", "backslashreplace".
--error-encoding=<name[:handler]>, -e <name[:handler]>
Specify text encoding and optionally error handler for
error output. Default: utf-8:backslashreplace.
--error-encoding-error-handler=ERROR_ENCODING_ERROR_HANDLER
Specify the error handler for unencodable characters
in error output. Default: backslashreplace.
--language=<name>, -l <name>
Specify the language (as BCP 47 language tag).
Default: en.
--record-dependencies=<file>
Write output file dependencies to <file>.
--config=<file> Read configuration settings from <file>, if it exists.
--version, -V Show this program's version number and exit.
--help, -h Show this help message and exit.
Generic Parser Options
----------------------
--no-file-insertion Disable directives that insert the contents of an
external file; replaced with a "warning" system
message.
--file-insertion-enabled
Enable directives that insert the contents of an
external file. (default)
--no-raw Disable the "raw" directive; replaced with a "warning"
system message.
--raw-enabled Enable the "raw" directive. (default)
--line-length-limit=<length>
Maximal number of characters in an input line. Default
10 000.
reStructuredText Parser Options
-------------------------------
--pep-references Recognize and link to standalone PEP references (like
"PEP 258").
--pep-base-url=<URL> Base URL for PEP references (default
"https://peps.python.org/").
--pep-file-url-template=<URL>
Template for PEP file part of URL. (default
"pep-%04d")
--rfc-references Recognize and link to standalone RFC references (like
"RFC 822").
--rfc-base-url=<URL> Base URL for RFC references (default
"https://tools.ietf.org/html/").
--tab-width=<width> Set number of spaces for tab expansion (default 8).
--trim-footnote-reference-space
Remove spaces before footnote references.
--leave-footnote-reference-space
Leave spaces before footnote references.
--syntax-highlight=<format>
Token name set for parsing code with Pygments: one of
"long", "short", or "none" (no parsing). Default is
"long".
--smart-quotes=<yes/no/alt>
Change straight quotation marks to typographic form:
one of "yes", "no", "alt[ernative]" (default "no").
--smartquotes-locales=<language:quotes[,language:quotes,...]>
Characters to use as "smart quotes" for <language>.
--word-level-inline-markup
Inline markup recognized at word boundaries only
(adjacent to punctuation or whitespace). Force
character-level inline markup recognition with "\ "
(backslash + space). Default.
--character-level-inline-markup
Inline markup recognized anywhere, regardless of
surrounding characters. Backslash-escapes must be used
to avoid unwanted markup recognition. Useful for East
Asian languages. Experimental.
Standalone Reader Options
-------------------------
--no-doc-title Disable the promotion of a lone top-level section
title to document title (and subsequent section title
to document subtitle promotion; enabled by default).
--no-doc-info Disable the bibliographic field list transform
(enabled by default).
--section-subtitles Activate the promotion of lone subsection titles to
section subtitles (disabled by default).
--no-section-subtitles Deactivate the promotion of lone subsection titles.
HTML Writer Options
-------------------
--template=<file> Template file. (UTF-8 encoded, default:
"/opt/chainguard/aws-cli-2/lib/python3.14/site-package
s/docutils/writers/html5_polyglot/template.txt")
--stylesheet=<URL[,URL,...]>
Comma separated list of stylesheet URLs. Overrides
previous --stylesheet and --stylesheet-path settings.
--stylesheet-path=<file[,file,...]>
Comma separated list of stylesheet paths. Relative
paths are expanded if a matching file is found in the
--stylesheet-dirs. With --link-stylesheet, the path is
rewritten relative to the output HTML file. (default:
"minimal.css,plain.css")
--stylesheet-dirs=<dir[,dir,...]>
Comma-separated list of directories where stylesheets
are found. Used by --stylesheet-path when expanding
relative path arguments. (default:
".,/opt/chainguard/aws-cli-2/lib/python3.14/site-
packages/docutils/writers/html5_polyglot")
--embed-stylesheet Embed the stylesheet(s) in the output HTML file. The
stylesheet files must be accessible during processing.
(default)
--link-stylesheet Link to the stylesheet(s) in the output HTML file.
--initial-header-level=<level>
Specify the initial header level. Does not affect
document title & subtitle (see --no-doc-title).
(default: 2 for "<h2>")
--footnote-references=<format>
Format for footnote references: one of "superscript"
or "brackets". (default: "brackets")
--attribution=<format> Format for block quote attributions: one of "dash"
(em-dash prefix), "parentheses"/"parens", or "none".
(default: "dash")
--compact-lists Remove extra vertical whitespace between items of
"simple" bullet lists and enumerated lists. (default)
--no-compact-lists Disable compact simple bullet and enumerated lists.
--compact-field-lists Remove extra vertical whitespace between items of
simple field lists. (default)
--no-compact-field-lists
Disable compact simple field lists.
--table-style=TABLE_STYLE
Added to standard table classes. Defined styles:
borderless, booktabs, align-left, align-center, align-
right, colwidths-auto, colwidths-grid.
--math-output=MATH_OUTPUT
Math output format (one of "MathML", "HTML",
"MathJax", or "LaTeX") and option(s). (default: "HTML
math.css")
--xml-declaration Prepend an XML declaration.
--no-xml-declaration Omit the XML declaration.
--cloak-email-addresses
Obfuscate email addresses to confuse harvesters while
still keeping email links usable with standards-
compliant browsers.
HTML5 Writer Options
--------------------
--image-loading=IMAGE_LOADING
Suggest at which point images should be loaded:
"embed", "link" (default), or "lazy".
--section-self-link Append a self-link to section headings.
--no-section-self-link Do not append a self-link to section headings.
(default)
Docutils Application Options
----------------------------
Reader, writer, and parser settings influence the available options.
Example: use `--help --writer=latex` to see LaTeX writer options.
--reader=<reader> Reader name (currently: "standalone").
--parser=<parser> Parser name (currently: "rst").
--writer=<writer> Writer name (currently: "html5").
Options (88)
| Option | Description | Source |
|---|---|---|
--title TITLE | Specify the document title as metadata. | help |
--generator, -g | Include a "Generated by Docutils" credit and link. | help |
--no-generator | Do not include a generator credit. | help |
--date, -d | Include the date at the end of the document (UTC). | help |
--time, -t | Include the time & date (UTC). | help |
--no-datestamp | Do not include a datestamp of any kind. | help |
--source-link, -s | Include a "View document source" link. | help |
--source-url URL | Use <URL> for a source link; | help |
--no-source-link | Do not include a "View document source" link. | help |
--toc-entry-backlinks | Link from section headers to TOC entries. | help |
--toc-top-backlinks | Link from section headers to the top of the TOC. | help |
--no-toc-backlinks | Disable backlinks to the table of contents. | help |
--footnote-backlinks | Link from footnotes/citations to references. | help |
--no-footnote-backlinks | Disable backlinks from footnotes and citations. | help |
--section-numbering | Enable section numbering by Docutils. | help |
--no-section-numbering | Disable section numbering by Docutils. | help |
--strip-comments | Remove comment elements from the document tree. | help |
--leave-comments | Leave comment elements in the document tree. | help |
--strip-elements-with-class class | Remove all elements with classes="<class>" from the document tree. | help |
--strip-class class | Remove all classes="<class>" attributes from elements in the document tree. | help |
--report, -r level | Report system messages at or higher than <level>: "info" or "1", "warning"/"2" (default), "error"/"3", "severe"/"4", "none"/"5" | help |
--verbose, -v | Report all system messages. | help |
--quiet, -q | Report no system messages. | help |
--halt level | Halt execution at system messages at or above <level>. | help |
--strict | Halt at the slightest problem. | help |
--exit-status level | Enable a non-zero exit status for non-halting system messages at or above <level>. | help |
--debug | Enable debug-level system messages and diagnostics. | help |
--no-debug | Disable debug output. | help |
--warnings file | Send the output of system messages to <file>. | help |
--traceback | Enable Python tracebacks when Docutils is halted. | help |
--no-traceback | Disable Python tracebacks. | help |
--input-encoding, -i name[:handler | Specify the encoding and optionally the error handler of input text. | help |
--input-encoding-error-handler INPUT_ENCODING_ERROR_HANDLER | Specify the error handler for undecodable characters. | help |
--output-encoding, -o name[:handler | Specify the text encoding and optionally the error handler for output. | help |
--output-encoding-error-handler OUTPUT_ENCODING_ERROR_HANDLER | Specify error handler for unencodable output characters; | help |
--error-encoding, -e name[:handler | Specify text encoding and optionally error handler for error output. | help |
--error-encoding-error-handler ERROR_ENCODING_ERROR_HANDLER | Specify the error handler for unencodable characters in error output. | help |
--language, -l name | Specify the language (as BCP 47 language tag). | help |
--record-dependencies file | Write output file dependencies to <file>. | help |
--config file | Read configuration settings from <file>, if it exists. | help |
--version, -V | Show this program's version number and exit. | help |
--help, -h | Show this help message and exit. | help |
--no-file-insertion | Disable directives that insert the contents of an external file; | help |
--file-insertion-enabled | Enable directives that insert the contents of an external file. | help |
--no-raw | Disable the "raw" directive; | help |
--raw-enabled | Enable the "raw" directive. | help |
--line-length-limit length | Maximal number of characters in an input line. | help |
--pep-references | Recognize and link to standalone PEP references (like "PEP 258"). | help |
--pep-base-url URL | Base URL for PEP references (default "https://peps.python.org/"). | help |
--pep-file-url-template URL | Template for PEP file part of URL. | help |
--rfc-references | Recognize and link to standalone RFC references (like "RFC 822"). | help |
--rfc-base-url URL | Base URL for RFC references (default "https://tools.ietf.org/html/"). | help |
--tab-width width | Set number of spaces for tab expansion (default 8). | help |
--trim-footnote-reference-space | Remove spaces before footnote references. | help |
--leave-footnote-reference-space | Leave spaces before footnote references. | help |
--syntax-highlight format | Token name set for parsing code with Pygments: one of "long", "short", or "none" (no parsing). | help |
--smart-quotes yes/no/alt | Change straight quotation marks to typographic form: one of "yes", "no", "alt[ernative]" (default "no"). | help |
--smartquotes-locales language:quotes | Characters to use as "smart quotes" for <language>. | help |
--word-level-inline-markup | Inline markup recognized at word boundaries only (adjacent to punctuation or whitespace). | help |
--character-level-inline-markup | Inline markup recognized anywhere, regardless of surrounding characters. | help |
--no-doc-title | Disable the promotion of a lone top-level section title to document title (and subsequent section title to document subtitle promotion; | help |
--no-doc-info | Disable the bibliographic field list transform (enabled by default). | help |
--section-subtitles | Activate the promotion of lone subsection titles to section subtitles (disabled by default). | help |
--no-section-subtitles | Deactivate the promotion of lone subsection titles. | help |
--template file | Template file. | help |
--stylesheet URL | Comma separated list of stylesheet URLs. | help |
--stylesheet-path file | Comma separated list of stylesheet paths. | help |
--stylesheet-dirs dir | Comma-separated list of directories where stylesheets are found. | help |
--embed-stylesheet | Embed the stylesheet(s) in the output HTML file. | help |
--link-stylesheet | Link to the stylesheet(s) in the output HTML file. | help |
--initial-header-level level | Specify the initial header level. | help |
--footnote-references format | Format for footnote references: one of "superscript" or "brackets". | help |
--attribution format | Format for block quote attributions: one of "dash" (em-dash prefix), "parentheses"/"parens", or "none". | help |
--compact-lists | Remove extra vertical whitespace between items of "simple" bullet lists and enumerated lists. | help |
--no-compact-lists | Disable compact simple bullet and enumerated lists. | help |
--compact-field-lists | Remove extra vertical whitespace between items of simple field lists. | help |
--no-compact-field-lists | Disable compact simple field lists. | help |
--table-style TABLE_STYLE | Added to standard table classes. | help |
--math-output MATH_OUTPUT | Math output format (one of "MathML", "HTML", "MathJax", or "LaTeX") and option(s). | help |
--xml-declaration | Prepend an XML declaration. | help |
--no-xml-declaration | Omit the XML declaration. | help |
--cloak-email-addresses | Obfuscate email addresses to confuse harvesters while still keeping email links usable with standards- compliant browsers. | help |
--image-loading IMAGE_LOADING | Suggest at which point images should be loaded: "embed", "link" (default), or "lazy". | help |
--section-self-link | Append a self-link to section headings. | help |
--no-section-self-link | Do not append a self-link to section headings. | help |
--reader reader | Reader name (currently: "standalone"). | help |
--parser parser | Parser name (currently: "rst"). | help |
--writer writer | Writer name (currently: "html5"). | help |