Provided by: docutils-common_0.22.3+dfsg-1_all 
Name
docutils - generic command line interface for the docutils package
Synopsis
docutils [options] [<source> [<destination>]]
Description
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
--output-path=<destination>, --output=<destination>
Output destination name. Obsoletes the <destination> positional argument. Default: None (stdout).
--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.
--root-prefix=<path>
Base directory for absolute paths when reading from the local filesystem. Default "".
--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]>
Specify the encoding and optionally the error handler of input text. Default: utf-8.
--output-encoding=<name[:handler]>
Specify the text encoding and optionally the error handler for output. Default: utf-8.
--error-encoding=<name[:handler]>, -e <name[:handler]>
Specify text encoding and optionally the error handler for error output. Default: system
encoding.
--language=<tag>, -l <tag>
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.
--validate
Validate the document tree after parsing.
--no-validation
Do not validate the document tree. (default)
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: "/usr/share/do
cutils/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: ".,/usr/share/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=<style>
Class value(s) assigned to all tables. Defined styles: borderless, booktabs, align-left,
align-center, align- right, colwidths-auto, colwidths-grid.
--math-output=<format[option(s)]>
Math output format (one of "MathML", "HTML", "MathJax", or "LaTeX") and option(s). (default:
"MathML")
--xml-declaration
Prepend an XML declaration.
--no-xml-declaration
Omit the XML declaration (default).
--cloak-email-addresses
Obfuscate email addresses to confuse harvesters while still keeping email links usable with
standards- compliant browsers.
HTML5 Writer Options
--image-loading=<strategy>
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").
docutils(1)