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github-markdown-toc

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This is a golang based implementation of the github-markdown-toc tool.

The advantages of this implementation:

  • no dependencies (no need curl, wget, awk, etc.)
  • cross-platform (support for Windows, Mac OS, etc.)
  • regexp for parsing TOC
  • parallel processing of multiple documents

Attention: gh-md-toc is able to work properly only if your machine is connected to the Internet.

Table of Contents

Created by gh-md-toc

Installation

Precompiled binaries

See the releases page, "Downloads" section:

For example:

$ wget https://github.com/ekalinin/github-markdown-toc.go/releases/download/1.1.0/gh-md-toc.linux.amd64.tgz
$ tar xzvf gh-md-toc.linux.amd64.tgz
gh-md-toc
$ ./gh-md-toc --version
2.0.1

os:   linux
arch: amd64
go:   go1.26.5

The first line is the bare version number, so scripts that parse gh-md-toc --version will continue to work.

Compiling from source

You need Go 1.26 or newer installed in your OS:

$ make build
$ ./gh-md-toc --help
usage: gh-md-toc [<flags>] [<path>...]

Flags:
  --help           Show context-sensitive help (also try --help-long and --help-man).
  --serial         Grab TOCs in the serial mode
  --hide-header    Hide TOC header
  --hide-footer    Hide TOC footer
  --start-depth=0  Start including from this level. Defaults to 0 (include all levels)
  --depth=0        How many levels of headings to include. Defaults to 0 (all)
  --no-escape      Do not escape chars in sections
  --token=TOKEN    GitHub personal token
  --indent=2       Indent space of generated list
  --debug          Show debug info
  --github-url="https://api.github.com"
                   GitHub URL. Default: https://api.github.com
  --re-version=2024-03
                   RegExp version. Default: 2024-03
  --insert         Insert the TOC into the file, between <!--ts--> and <!--te-->. Local files only
  --no-backup      Do not keep a backup copy of the file. Requires --insert
  --skip-header    Ignore everything up to <!--te--> when building the TOC
  --version        Show application version.

Args:
  [<path>]  Local path or URL of the document to grab TOC. Read MD from stdin if not entered.

Go Install

You need Go 1.26 or newer installed in your OS:

go install "github.com/ekalinin/github-markdown-toc.go/cmd/gh-md-toc@latest"

Homebew (Mac only)

$ brew install github-markdown-toc

Tests

$ make test
coverage: 28.8% of statements
ok      _~/projects/my/github-toc.go    0.003s

Usage

STDIN

Here's an example of TOC creating for markdown from STDIN:

➥ cat ~/projects/Dockerfile.vim/README.md | ./gh-md-toc
  * [Dockerfile.vim](#dockerfilevim)
  * [Screenshot](#screenshot)
  * [Installation](#installation)
        * [OR using Pathogen:](#or-using-pathogen)
        * [OR using Vundle:](#or-using-vundle)
  * [License](#license)

Local files

Here's an example of TOC creating for a local README.md:

➥ ./gh-md-toc ~/projects/Dockerfile.vim/README.md                                                                                                                                                Вс. марта 22 22:51:46 MSK 2015

Table of Contents
=================

  * [Dockerfile.vim](#dockerfilevim)
  * [Screenshot](#screenshot)
  * [Installation](#installation)
        * [OR using Pathogen:](#or-using-pathogen)
        * [OR using Vundle:](#or-using-vundle)
  * [License](#license)

Remote files

And here's an example, when you have a README.md like this:

And you want to generate TOC for it.

There is nothing easier:

➥ ./gh-md-toc https://github.com/ekalinin/envirius/blob/master/README.md

Table of Contents
=================

  * [envirius](#envirius)
    * [Idea](#idea)
    * [Features](#features)
  * [Installation](#installation)
  * [Uninstallation](#uninstallation)
  * [Available plugins](#available-plugins)
  * [Usage](#usage)
    * [Check available plugins](#check-available-plugins)
    * [Check available versions for each plugin](#check-available-versions-for-each-plugin)
    * [Create an environment](#create-an-environment)
    * [Activate/deactivate environment](#activatedeactivate-environment)
      * [Activating in a new shell](#activating-in-a-new-shell)
      * [Activating in the same shell](#activating-in-the-same-shell)
    * [Get list of environments](#get-list-of-environments)
    * [Get current activated environment](#get-current-activated-environment)
    * [Do something in environment without enabling it](#do-something-in-environment-without-enabling-it)
    * [Get help](#get-help)
    * [Get help for a command](#get-help-for-a-command)
  * [How to add a plugin?](#how-to-add-a-plugin)
    * [Mandatory elements](#mandatory-elements)
      * [plug_list_versions](#plug_list_versions)
      * [plug_url_for_download](#plug_url_for_download)
      * [plug_build](#plug_build)
    * [Optional elements](#optional-elements)
      * [Variables](#variables)
      * [Functions](#functions)
    * [Examples](#examples)
  * [Example of the usage](#example-of-the-usage)
  * [Dependencies](#dependencies)
  * [Supported OS](#supported-os)
  * [Tests](#tests)
  * [Version History](#version-history)
  * [License](#license)
  * [README in another language](#readme-in-another-language)

That's all! Now all you need — is copy/paste result from console into original README.md.

And here is a result:

Multiple files

It supports multiple files as well:

➥ ./gh-md-toc \
    https://github.com/aminb/rust-for-c/blob/master/hello_world/README.md \
    https://github.com/aminb/rust-for-c/blob/master/control_flow/README.md \
    https://github.com/aminb/rust-for-c/blob/master/primitive_types_and_operators/README.md \
    https://github.com/aminb/rust-for-c/blob/master/unique_pointers/README.md

  * [Hello world](https://github.com/aminb/rust-for-c/blob/master/hello_world/README.md#hello-world)

  * [Control Flow](https://github.com/aminb/rust-for-c/blob/master/control_flow/README.md#control-flow)
    * [If](https://github.com/aminb/rust-for-c/blob/master/control_flow/README.md#if)
    * [Loops](https://github.com/aminb/rust-for-c/blob/master/control_flow/README.md#loops)
    * [For loops](https://github.com/aminb/rust-for-c/blob/master/control_flow/README.md#for-loops)
    * [Switch/Match](https://github.com/aminb/rust-for-c/blob/master/control_flow/README.md#switchmatch)
    * [Method call](https://github.com/aminb/rust-for-c/blob/master/control_flow/README.md#method-call)

  * [Primitive Types and Operators](https://github.com/aminb/rust-for-c/blob/master/primitive_types_and_operators/README.md#primitive-types-and-operators)

  * [Unique Pointers](https://github.com/aminb/rust-for-c/blob/master/unique_pointers/README.md#unique-pointers)

Processing of multiple documents is in parallel mode since version 0.4.0 You can use (old) serial mode by passing option --serial in the console:

$ ./gh-md-toc --serial ...

Timings:

time (./gh-md-toc --serial README.md ../envirius/README.ru.md ../github-toc/README.md > /dev/null)

real    0m1.200s
user    0m0.040s
sys     0m0.004s
time (./gh-md-toc README.md ../envirius/README.ru.md ../github-toc/README.md > /dev/null)

real    0m0.784s
user    0m0.036s
sys     0m0.004s

Combo

You can easily combine both ways:

➥ ./gh-md-toc \
    ~/projects/Dockerfile.vim/README.md \
    https://github.com/ekalinin/sitemap.s/blob/master/README.md

  * [Dockerfile.vim](~/projects/Dockerfile.vim/README.md#dockerfilevim)
  * [Screenshot](~/projects/Dockerfile.vim/README.md#screenshot)
  * [Installation](~/projects/Dockerfile.vim/README.md#installation)
        * [OR using Pathogen:](~/projects/Dockerfile.vim/README.md#or-using-pathogen)
        * [OR using Vundle:](~/projects/Dockerfile.vim/README.md#or-using-vundle)
  * [License](~/projects/Dockerfile.vim/README.md#license)

  * [sitemap.js](https://github.com/ekalinin/sitemap.js/blob/master/README.md#sitemapjs)
    * [Installation](https://github.com/ekalinin/sitemap.js/blob/master/README.md#installation)
    * [Usage](https://github.com/ekalinin/sitemap.js/blob/master/README.md#usage)
    * [License](https://github.com/ekalinin/sitemap.js/blob/master/README.md#license)

Created by [gh-md-toc](https://github.com/ekalinin/github-markdown-toc)

Insert into a file

gh-md-toc can write the TOC directly into a document instead of only printing it. Add a marker line containing <!--ts--> where the TOC should start, and below it a marker line containing <!--te--> where it should end - each marker needs its own line, with nothing else on it besides surrounding whitespace. Then run:

$ ./gh-md-toc --insert README.md

Everything between the two markers is replaced with the generated TOC; the markers themselves and the rest of the document are left untouched. The Table of Contents heading is not written into the file, only the list itself.

--insert only works on local files. A remote URL passed alongside --insert is reported as not local and left unmodified, instead of failing the whole run.

Before rewriting the file, a backup copy is kept next to it, named <file>.orig.<timestamp>. Pass --no-backup to skip the backup; that flag requires --insert and is rejected on its own.

Unless --hide-footer is set, an attribution comment and a signature comment (who ran the command, and when) are written right after the TOC, inside the markers. --hide-footer suppresses both.

Status messages - the backup path, or a warning about a non-local input - are printed to stderr, not stdout.

Skip header

Use --skip-header to make gh-md-toc ignore everything up to and including the end marker (<!--te-->) when building the TOC. Only the content after that marker is scanned for headings.

$ ./gh-md-toc --skip-header README.md

The point is to hide the topmost headlines - the document's own title, and any other heading placed above the marker block, are excluded from the generated TOC. Without --skip-header, a document's title heading gets picked up like any other heading and shows up as an entry in its own TOC.

This matters when combined with --insert: place the markers right below your title, e.g. # Project followed by <!--ts-->/<!--te-->, and add --skip-header to keep Project from appearing as the first entry of the TOC sitting right under it.

--skip-header has no effect on documents that don't contain an end marker; the whole document is scanned, exactly as without the flag.

Starting Depth

Use --start-depth=INT to control the starting header level (i.e. include only the levels starting with INT)

➥ ./gh-md-toc --start-depth=1 ~/projects/Dockerfile.vim/README.md

Table of Contents
=================

  * [Or using Pathogen:](#or-using-pathogen)
  * [Or using Vundle:](#or-using-vundle)

Created by [gh-md-toc](https://github.com/ekalinin/github-markdown-toc)

Depth

Use --depth=INT to control how many levels of headers to include in the TOC

➥ ./gh-md-toc --depth=1 ~/projects/Dockerfile.vim/README.md

Table of Contents
=================

  * [Dockerfile\.vim](#dockerfilevim)
  * [Screenshot](#screenshot)
  * [Installation](#installation)
  * [License](#license)

No escape

➥ ./gh-md-toc ~/projects/my/Dockerfile.vim/README.md | grep Docker
* [Dockerfile\.vim](#dockerfilevim)

➥ ./gh-md-toc --no-escape ~/projects/my/Dockerfile.vim/README.md | grep Docker
* [Dockerfile.vim](#dockerfilevim)

GitHub token

Without a GitHub token, the /markdown/raw endpoint allows very few requests per hour; when the rate limit is exceeded, the tool will suggest passing a token via --token, GH_TOC_TOKEN, or token.txt. All your tokents are here.

Example for cli argument:

➥ ./gh-md-toc --depth=1 --token=2a2dabe1f2c2399bd542ba93fe6ce70fe7898563 README.md

Table of Contents
=================

* [github\-markdown\-toc](#github-markdown-toc)
* [Table of Contents](#table-of-contents)
* [Installation](#installation)
* [Tests](#tests)
* [Usage](#usage)
* [LICENSE](#license)

Example for environment variable:

➥ GH_TOC_TOKEN=2a2dabe1f2c2399bd542ba93fe6ce70fe7898563 ./gh-md-toc --depth=1  README.md

Table of Contents
=================

* [github\-markdown\-toc](#github-markdown-toc)
* [Table of Contents](#table-of-contents)
* [Installation](#installation)
* [Tests](#tests)
* [Usage](#usage)
* [LICENSE](#license)

GitHub Enterprise Server

If you're using GitHub Enterprise Server, you can override default URL for API:

➥ GH_TOC_URL=https://api.github.mycompany.com ./gh-md-toc README.md

Bash/ZSH auto-complete

Just add a simple command into your ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc:

# for zsh
eval "$(gh-md-toc --completion-script-zsh)"

# for bash
eval "$(gh-md-toc --completion-script-bash)"

Alpine Linux

Alpine Linux uses musl instead of glibc by default. If you install binutils and run…

apk add binutils && \
readelf -l /path/to/gh-md-toc

…you'll see that it relies on /lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2 as its interpreter. You can solve this by installing libc6-compat alongside downloading the Linux amd64 build.

apk add libc6-compat

LICENSE

See LICENSE file.

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Easy TOC creation for GitHub README.md (in go)

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