Markdown To Document
A Markdown CLI to easily generate HTML documents from Markdown files.
The original purpose of this tool was to provide an alternative to using Microsoft Word to write and send technical documents.
Use cases: replace
docxand
Install
Install the CLI globally using NPM (Node.js >= 16):
npm install markdown-to-document -gLinux users:
EACCESpermissions errors when installing packages globally?
→ Follow this guide to resolve them.
Usage
Compile Markdown files (path) into HTML documents.
mdtodoc [options] <path...>Read usage examples to learn how to use the CLI.
Options
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
-V, --version |
Output the version number |
-d, --dest [value] |
Destination path (default: next to .md files) |
-j, --join |
Concatenate all files before compilation |
-l, --layout [value] |
HTML layout |
-t, --theme [value] |
CSS theme |
-s, --highlight-style [value] |
Syntax highlighting style |
-n, --numbered-headings |
Enable numbered headings |
-c, --code-copy |
Enable copy code button |
-m, --mermaid |
Enable mermaid |
-e, --embed-mode [value] |
Embed external resources (default: default) |
-w, --watch |
Watch input files and compile on change |
-h, --help |
Output usage information |
Destination (--dest)
The destination path can be used to change where output HTML files are written.
Join (--join)
The --join option concatenates all Markdown source files in one (MERGED.md)
before running the compilation (→ MERGED.html) :
- Sorting:
README.mdandindex.mdfiles first, other.mdfiles and sub-directories next - Front matter: remove YAML (
---), TOML (+++) or JSON (;;;) front matter from source files - Titles: refactor titles level (
#syntax only) to reflect path depth - Paths: refactor relative paths (
[<...>](./<...>)) to reflect the directory structure - Table of contents: remove table of contents tokens from child pages
This feature, experimental and not very configurable for the moment, can be very useful to export a multi-files documentation into a single HTML file.
Layout (--layout)
A layout is an HTML template used as a base for the output HTML file, e.g.:
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<!-- ⬐ Markdown document title included here -->
<title>{{ title }}</title>
{{ styles }} <!-- ← CSS styles (theme, highlight styles, etc.) included here -->
</head>
<body>
{{ body }} <!-- ← Compiled Markdown included here -->
</body>
{{ scripts }} <!-- ← JS scripts included here -->
</html>The --layout option can receive the name of a preset
(e.g. page for page.html) or the path to a custom layout file
(path/to/my-layout.html or a HTTP URL).
Theme (--theme)
A theme is a CSS stylesheet included in the HTML layout.
The --theme option can receive the name of a preset (e.g. github)
or the path to a custom theme file (path/to/my-theme.css or a HTTP URL).
Highlight style (--highlight-style)
A highlight style is a CSS stylesheet included in the HTML layout to add a style to code blocks.
The --highlight-style option can receive the name of a
Hightlight.js style
(file name without extension, e.g. solarized-dark) or the path to a custom
style file (a local path or a HTTP URL).
Additional features
Markdown To Document includes additional features:
- Numbered headings (
--numbered-headings): enable automatic headings numbering (h2toh6, e.g.1.1.1.) - Code copy (
--code-copy): add a button Copy in each code block to easily copy the block content - Mermaid (
--mermaid): add support for mermaid diagrams using fenced code blocks (```mermaid), e.g.:
graph LR
Markdown -- mdtodoc --> HTML
Embed mode (--embed-mode)
The --embed-mode option allows to inline externally referenced resources
(JS, CSS and images) to output a single HTML file without external dependencies
(it can lead to a large output file).
3 modes are available:
light: inline light scripts (< 16 KB), stylesheets and light images (< 16 KB)default: inline light scripts (< 16 KB), stylesheets and all images (default)full: inline everything
Examples
Compile a single Markdown file (doc.md) into HTML (doc.html)
mdtodoc doc.mdWatch and compile multiple Markdown files using glob syntax
mdtodoc *.md --watchCompile multiple Markdown files into a single HTML file (MERGED.html)
mdtodoc *.md --joinImprove the HTML output with a layout, a theme and a highlight style
mdtodoc doc.md --layout "page" --theme "github" --highlight-style "atom-one-light"The compiled Markdown is now included into the predefined layout page
and some CSS styling is added directly into the HTML file.
Enable additional extensions
mdtodoc doc.md -l "page" -t "github" -s "atom-one-light" --numbered-headings --code-copy --mermaidHTML headings are now automatically numbered, a button Copy
is added in each code block <pre> to copy the content and diagrams
are generated from mermaid code blocks (```mermaid).
Embed all externally referenced resources
mdtodoc doc.md -l "page" -t "github" -s "atom-one-light" -n -c --embed-mode "full"All external resources (CSS, JS and images) referenced in the Markdown file are now embedded into the output HTML file.
Use a custom layout (local file) and a custom highlight style (URL)
mdtodoc doc.md -l "./assets/layouts/page.html" -t "github" -s "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/highlightjs/highlight.js/master/src/styles/monokai.css" -n -cRead options documentation for more information on how to use
--layout, --theme and --highlight-style options.
Export a Markdown documentation in a GitLab CI pipeline
In a GitLab repository with Markdown files inside the docs/ folder,
the following job can be defined (in .gitlab-ci.yml) to export all the
documentation as a single HTML file:
export-doc:
stage: doc
image: node:lts
before_script:
- npm i markdown-to-document -g --only=prod
script:
- mdtodoc "docs/**/*.md" --join -l "page" -t "github" -s "atom-one-light" -n -c
- mv docs/MERGED.html ./docs.html
artifacts:
paths:
- docs.htmlResources
Useful apps, packages & more
Code editors
Although Markdown documents are simple text files and can be written using basic text editors, most code editors provide features and extensions to make writing these documents easier, e.g.:
- Markdown All in One (Visual Studio Code)
- Markdown-Writer (Atom)
- MarkdownEditing (Sublime Text)
Formatting
Markdown files can be easily formatted with code editors using built-in features or additional extensions but code formatters like Prettier also do a good job:
npm install --global prettier
prettier --check "*.md"
prettier --write "*.md"Markdown compiler
Markdown To Document uses the Markdown.it compiler and the following plugins to generate HTML code from Markdown:
markdown-it-abbr- Abbreviation (<abbr>) tag supportmarkdown-it-anchor- Header anchors (permalinks) supportmarkdown-it-container- Custom block containers (:::) supportmarkdown-it-deflist- Definition list (<dl>) tag supportmarkdown-it-emoji- Emoji syntax (:memo:→📝 ) supportmarkdown-it-footnote- Footnotes ([^1]) supportmarkdown-it-ins- Inserted (<ins>) tag supportmarkdown-it-mark- Marked (<mark>) tag supportmarkdown-it-sub- Subscript (<sub>) tag supportmarkdown-it-sup- Superscript (<sup>) tag supportmarkdown-it-toc-done-right- Table of contents ([[toc]]) support
Additional features also use the following packages:
- highlight.js - Javascript syntax highlighter
- web-resource-inliner - Brings externally referenced resources, such as js, css and images, into a single file
- html-minifier - Javascript-based HTML compressor/minifier
- clipboard.js - A modern approach to copy text to clipboard
- cheerio - Fast, flexible, and lean implementation of core jQuery designed specifically for the server
- chokidar - A neat wrapper around node.js fs.watch / fs.watchFile / FSEvents
- mermaid - Generation of diagram and flowchart from text in a similar manner as markdown
Open package.json to see the full list of dependencies.
Useful links
- A guide to creating a NodeJS command-line package
- Building a Node JS interactive CLI
- Numbered Headings in Markdown via CSS
Development
- Link the
mdtodoccommand for development:npm link- Unlink:
npm unlink
- Unlink:
- Format code with Prettier:
npm run format[:check] - Lint code with ESLint:
npm run lint - Build assets:
npm run build:assets - Run tests:
npm run test[:coverage] - Upgrade dependencies:
npx npm-check-updates -u
License
Markdown To Document is licensed under the GNU General Public License.