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 text encoding: system encoding. Default error handler: 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.

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/docutils/writers/html4css1/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: "html4css1.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/docut ils/writers/html4css1,/usr/share/docutils/writers/html 5_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: 1 for "<h1>")

--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, alignright, 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 (default).

--no-xml-declaration

Omit the XML declaration.

--cloak-email-addresses

Obfuscate email addresses to confuse harvesters while still keeping email links usable with standardscompliant browsers.

HTML4 Writer Options

--field-name-limit=<level>

Specify the maximum width (in characters) for onecolumn field names. Longer field names will span an entire row of the table used to render the field list. Default is 14 characters. Use 0 for "no limit".

--option-limit=<level>

Specify the maximum width (in characters) for options in option lists. Longer options will span an entire row of the table used to render the option list. Default is 14 characters. Use 0 for "no limit".