Provided by: python3-sphinx-external-toc_1.0.1-1_all 
NAME
sphinxexternaltoc - Sphinx External ToC
A sphinx extension that allows the documentation site-map (a.k.a Table of Contents) to be defined
external to the documentation files. As used by Jupyter Book!
In normal Sphinx documentation, the documentation site-map is defined via a bottom-up approach - adding ‐
toctree directives within pages of the documentation.
This extension facilitates a top-down approach to defining the site-map structure, within a single YAML
file.
[image: ToC graphic] [image] Example ToC.UNINDENT
It also allows for documents not specified in the ToC to be auto-excluded.
SPHINX
Configuration
Add to your conf.py:
extensions = ["sphinx_external_toc"]
external_toc_path = "_toc.yml" # optional, default: _toc.yml
external_toc_exclude_missing = False # optional, default: False
Note the external_toc_path is always read as a Unix path, and can either be specified relative to the
source directory (recommended) or as an absolute path.
Basic Structure
A minimal ToC defines the top level root key, for a single root document file:
root: intro
The value of the root key will be a path to a file, in Unix format (folders split by /), relative to the
source directory, and can be with or without the file extension.
NOTE:
This root file will be set as the master_doc.
Document files can then have a subtrees key - denoting a list of individual toctrees for that document -
and in-turn each subtree should have a entries key - denoting a list of children links, that are one of:
• file: path to a single document file in Unix format, with or without the file extension (as for root)
• glob: path to one or more document files via Unix shell-style wildcards (similar to fnmatch, but single
stars don't match slashes.)
• url: path for an external URL (starting e.g. http or https)
IMPORTANT:
Each document file can only occur once in the ToC!
This can proceed recursively to any depth.
root: intro
subtrees:
- entries:
- file: doc1
subtrees:
- entries:
- file: doc2
subtrees:
- entries:
- file: doc3
- url: https://example.com
- glob: subfolder/other*
This is equivalent to having a single toctree directive in intro, containing doc1, and a single toctree
directive in doc1, with the :glob: flag and containing doc2, https://example.com and subfolder/other*.
As a shorthand, the entries key can be at the same level as the file, which denotes a document with a
single subtree. For example, this file is exactly equivalent to the one above:
root: intro
entries:
- file: doc1
entries:
- file: doc2
entries:
- file: doc3
- url: https://example.com
- glob: subfolder/other*
File and URL titles
By default, the initial header within a file document will be used as its title in generated Table of
Contents. With the title key you can set an alternative title for a document. and also for url:
root: intro
subtrees:
- entries:
- file: doc1
title: Document 1 Title
- url: https://example.com
title: Example URL Title
ToC tree options
Each subtree can be configured with a number of options (see also sphinx toctree options):
• caption (string): A title for the whole the subtree, e.g. shown above the subtree in ToCs
• hidden (boolean): Whether to show the ToC within (inline of) the document (default False). By default
it is appended to the end of the document, but see also the tableofcontents directive for positioning
of the ToC.
• maxdepth (integer): A maximum nesting depth to use when showing the ToC within the document (default
-1, meaning infinite).
• numbered (boolean or integer): Automatically add numbers to all documents within a subtree (default
False). If set to True, all sub-trees will also be numbered based on nesting (e.g. with 1.1 or 1.1.1),
or if set to an integer then the numbering will only be applied to that depth.
• reversed (boolean): If True then the entries in the subtree will be listed in reverse order (default
False). This can be useful when using glob entries.
• titlesonly (boolean): If True then only the first heading in the document will be shown in the ToC, not
other headings of the same level (default False).
These options can be set at the level of the subtree:
root: intro
subtrees:
- caption: Subtree Caption
hidden: False
maxdepth: 1
numbered: True
reversed: False
titlesonly: True
entries:
- file: doc1
subtrees:
- titlesonly: True
entries:
- file: doc2
or, if you are using the shorthand for a single subtree, set options under an options key:
root: intro
options:
caption: Subtree Caption
hidden: False
maxdepth: 1
numbered: True
reversed: False
titlesonly: True
entries:
- file: doc1
options:
titlesonly: True
entries:
- file: doc2
You can also use the top-level defaults key, to set default options for all subtrees:
root: intro
defaults:
titlesonly: True
options:
caption: Subtree Caption
hidden: False
maxdepth: 1
numbered: True
reversed: False
entries:
- file: doc1
entries:
- file: doc2
WARNING:
numbered should not generally be used as a default, since numbering cannot be changed by nested
subtrees, and sphinx will log a warning.
NOTE:
By default, title numbering restarts for each subtree. If you want want this numbering to be
continuous, check-out the sphinx-multitoc-numbering extension.
Using different key-mappings
For certain use-cases, it is helpful to map the subtrees/entries keys to mirror e.g. an output LaTeX
structure.
The format key can be used to provide such mappings (and also initial defaults). Currently available:
• jb-article:
• Maps entries -> sections
• Sets the default of titlesonly to true
• jb-book:
• Maps the top-level subtrees to parts
• Maps the top-level entries to chapters
• Maps other levels of entries to sections
• Sets the default of titlesonly to true
For example:
defaults:
titlesonly: true
root: index
subtrees:
- entries:
- file: doc1
entries:
- file: doc2
is equivalent to:
format: jb-book
root: index
parts:
- chapters:
- file: doc1
sections:
- file: doc2
IMPORTANT:
These change in key names do not change the output site-map structure.
Excluding files not in ToC
By default, Sphinx will build all document files, regardless of whether they are specified in the Table
of Contents, if they:
1. Have a file extension relating to a loaded parser (e.g. .rst or .md)
2. Do not match a pattern in exclude_patterns
To automatically add any document files that do not match a file or glob in the ToC to the
exclude_patterns list, add to your conf.py:
external_toc_exclude_missing = True
Note that, for performance, files that are in hidden folders (e.g. in .tox or .venv) will not be added to
exclude_patterns even if they are not specified in the ToC. You should exclude these folders explicitly.
IMPORTANT:
This feature is not currently compatible with orphan files.
COMMAND-LINE
This package comes with the sphinx-etoc command-line program, with some additional tools.
To see all options:
$ sphinx-etoc --help
Usage: sphinx-etoc [OPTIONS] COMMAND [ARGS]...
Command-line for sphinx-external-toc.
Options:
--version Show the version and exit.
-h, --help Show this message and exit.
Commands:
from-project Create a ToC file from a project directory.
migrate Migrate a ToC from a previous revision.
parse Parse a ToC file to a site-map YAML.
to-project Create a project directory from a ToC file.
To build a template project from only a ToC file:
$ sphinx-etoc to-project -p path/to/site -e rst path/to/_toc.yml
Note, you can also add additional files in meta/create_files amd append text to the end of files with
meta/create_append, e.g.
root: intro
entries:
- glob: doc*
meta:
create_append:
intro: |
This is some
appended text
create_files:
- doc1
- doc2
- doc3
To build a ToC file from an existing site:
$ sphinx-etoc from-project path/to/folder
Some rules used:
• Files/folders will be skipped if they match a pattern added by -s (based on fnmatch Unix shell-style
wildcards)
• Sub-folders with no content files inside will be skipped
• File and folder names will be sorted by natural order
• If there is a file called index (or the name set by -i) in any folder, it will be treated as the index
file, otherwise the first file by ordering will be used.
The command can also guess a title for each file, based on its path:
• The folder name is used for index files, otherwise the file name
• Words are split by _
• The first "word" is removed if it is an integer
For example, for a project with files:
index.rst
1_a_title.rst
11_another_title.rst
.hidden_file.rst
.hidden_folder/index.rst
1_a_subfolder/index.rst
2_another_subfolder/index.rst
2_another_subfolder/other.rst
3_subfolder/1_no_index.rst
3_subfolder/2_no_index.rst
14_subfolder/index.rst
14_subfolder/subsubfolder/index.rst
14_subfolder/subsubfolder/other.rst
will create the ToC:
$ sphinx-etoc from-project path/to/folder -i index -s ".*" -e ".rst" -t
root: index
entries:
- file: 1_a_title
title: A title
- file: 11_another_title
title: Another title
- file: 1_a_subfolder/index
title: A subfolder
- file: 2_another_subfolder/index
title: Another subfolder
entries:
- file: 2_another_subfolder/other
title: Other
- file: 3_subfolder/1_no_index
title: No index
entries:
- file: 3_subfolder/2_no_index
title: No index
- file: 14_subfolder/index
title: Subfolder
entries:
- file: 14_subfolder/subsubfolder/index
title: Subsubfolder
entries:
- file: 14_subfolder/subsubfolder/other
title: Other
API
The ToC file is parsed to a SiteMap, which is a MutableMapping subclass, with keys representing docnames
mapping to a Document that stores information on the toctrees it should contain:
import yaml
from sphinx_external_toc.parsing import parse_toc_yaml
path = "path/to/_toc.yml"
site_map = parse_toc_yaml(path)
yaml.dump(site_map.as_json())
Would produce e.g.
root: intro
documents:
doc1:
docname: doc1
subtrees: []
title: null
intro:
docname: intro
subtrees:
- caption: Subtree Caption
numbered: true
reversed: false
items:
- doc1
titlesonly: true
title: null
meta: {}
EXAMPLE PROJECT
These pages provide an example of different aspects of the ToC. See this project's _toc.yml for how they
are added.
Sub-section Page
This is a page of a subsection.
Sub-section Glob Page 1
A page added via globbing.
Sub-section Glob Page 2
Another page added via globbing.
AUTHOR
Executable Book Project
COPYRIGHT
2021, Executable Book Project
Apr 06, 2025 SPHINXEXTERNALTOC(1)