doctoc

What is doctoc?

The doctoc npm package is a tool that automatically generates a table of contents for markdown files. It is particularly useful for projects with extensive documentation, as it helps in organizing and navigating through the content efficiently.

What are doctoc's main functionalities?

Generate Table of Contents

This command generates a table of contents for the specified markdown file (e.g., README.md). It scans the file for headers and creates a structured list with links to each section, which is then inserted at the top of the file.

doctoc README.md

Recursive Directory Processing

By running this command in a directory, doctoc will recursively process all markdown files within that directory, generating and updating tables of contents for each file. This is useful for projects with multiple documentation files.

doctoc .

Customizable TOC Title

This feature allows users to specify a custom title for the table of contents. By using the --title option, you can define how the TOC header should appear in the markdown file.

doctoc README.md --title '## Table of Contents'

Other packages similar to doctoc

markdown-toc

The markdown-toc package is another tool for generating tables of contents for markdown files. It offers similar functionality to doctoc, such as generating TOCs based on headers. However, markdown-toc provides more customization options for the format and style of the TOC, making it a good choice for users who need more control over the output.

markdown-it-toc-done-right

This package is a plugin for the markdown-it parser, which generates a table of contents for markdown files. It is designed to be used in environments where markdown-it is already in use, providing seamless integration. Compared to doctoc, it is more suitable for dynamic content generation scenarios, such as web applications that render markdown on the fly.

README

DocToc

Generates table of contents for markdown files inside local git repository. Links are compatible with anchors generated by github or other sites via a command line flag.

Table of Contents generated with DocToc

• Installation
• Usage
  • Adding toc to all files in a directory and sub directories
  • Update existing doctoc TOCs effortlessly
  • Adding toc to individual files
    • Examples
  • Using doctoc to generate links compatible with other sites
    • Example
  • Specifying location of toc
  • Specifying a custom TOC title
  • Specifying a maximum heading level for TOC entries
  • Printing to stdout
  • Usage as a git hook
  • Docker image

Installation

npm install -g doctoc

Usage

In its simplest usage, you can pass one or more files or folders to the doctoc command. This will update the TOCs of each file specified as well as of each markdown file found by recursively searching each folder. Below are some examples.

Adding toc to all files in a directory and sub directories

Go into the directory that contains you local git project and type:

doctoc .

This will update all markdown files in the current directory and all its subdirectories with a table of content that will point at the anchors generated by the markdown parser. Doctoc defaults to using the GitHub parser, but other modes can be specified.

Ignoring individual files

In order to ignore a specific file when running doctoc on an entire directory, just add <!-- DOCTOC SKIP --> to the top of the file you wish to ignore.

Update existing doctoc TOCs effortlessly

If you already have a TOC inserted by doctoc, it will automatically be updated by running the command (rather than inserting a duplicate toc). Doctoc locates the TOC by the <!-- START doctoc --> and <!-- END doctoc --> comments, so you can also move a generated TOC to any other portion of your document and it will be updated there.

Adding toc to individual files

If you want to convert only specific files, do:

doctoc /path/to/file [...]

Examples

doctoc README.md

doctoc CONTRIBUTING.md LICENSE.md

Using doctoc to generate links compatible with other sites

In order to add a table of contents whose links are compatible other sites add the appropriate mode flag:

Available modes are:

--bitbucket bitbucket.org
--nodejs    nodejs.org
--github    github.com
--gitlab    gitlab.com
--ghost     ghost.org

Example

doctoc README.md --bitbucket

Specifying location of toc

By default, doctoc places the toc at the top of the file. You can indicate to have it placed elsewhere with the following format:

<!-- START doctoc -->
<!-- END doctoc -->

You place this code directly in your .md file. For example:

// my_new_post.md
Here we are, introducing the post. It's going to be great!
But first: a TOC for easy reference.

<!-- START doctoc -->
<!-- END doctoc -->

# Section One

Here we'll discuss...

Running doctoc will insert the toc at that location.

Specifying a custom TOC title

Use the --title option to specify a (Markdown-formatted) custom TOC title; e.g., doctoc --title '**Contents**' . From then on, you can simply run doctoc <file> and doctoc will will keep the title you specified.

Alternatively, to blank out the title, use the --notitle option. This will simply remove the title from the TOC.

Specifying a maximum heading level for TOC entries

Use the --maxlevel option to limit TOC entries to headings only up to the specified level; e.g., doctoc --maxlevel 3 .

By default,

• no limit is placed on Markdown-formatted headings,
• whereas headings from embedded HTML are limited to 4 levels.

Printing to stdout

You can print to stdout by using the -s or --stdout option.

Only update existing ToC

Use --update-only or -u to only update the existing ToC. That is, the Markdown files without ToC will be left untouched. It is good if you want to use doctoc with lint-staged.

Usage as a git hook

doctoc can be used as a pre-commit hook by using the following configuration:

repos:
-   repo: https://github.com/thlorenz/doctoc
    rev: ...  # substitute a tagged version
    hooks:
    -   id: doctoc

This will run doctoc against markdown files when committing to ensure the TOC stays up-to-date.

Docker image

There's an unofficial Docker image project for doctoc, if you'd like to use doctoc via Docker or other container based CI/CD pipeline, you can take a look at PeterDaveHello/docker-doctoc