Sphinx

1. Sphinx#

1.1. Configuration#

Add to your conf.py:

extensions = ["sphinx_external_toc"]
external_toc_path = "_toc.yml"  # optional, default: _toc.yml
external_toc_exclude_missing = False  # optional, default: False

Note the external_toc_path is always read as a Unix path, and can either be specified relative to the source directory (recommended) or as an absolute path.

1.2. Basic Structure#

A minimal ToC defines the top level root key, for a single root document file:

root: intro

The value of the root key will be a path to a file, in Unix format (folders split by /), relative to the source directory, and can be with or without the file extension.

Note

This root file will be set as the master_doc.

Document files can then have a subtrees key - denoting a list of individual toctrees for that document - and in-turn each subtree should have a entries key - denoting a list of children links, that are one of:

  • file: path to a single document file in Unix format, with or without the file extension (as for root)

  • glob: path to one or more document files via Unix shell-style wildcards (similar to fnmatch, but single stars don’t match slashes.)

  • url: path for an external URL (starting e.g. http or https)

Important

Each document file can only occur once in the ToC!

This can proceed recursively to any depth.

root: intro
subtrees:
- entries:
  - file: doc1
    subtrees:
    - entries:
      - file: doc2
        subtrees:
        - entries:
          - file: doc3
  - url: https://example.com
  - glob: subfolder/other*

This is equivalent to having a single toctree directive in intro, containing doc1, and a single toctree directive in doc1, with the :glob: flag and containing doc2, https://example.com and subfolder/other*.

As a shorthand, the entries key can be at the same level as the file, which denotes a document with a single subtree. For example, this file is exactly equivalent to the one above:

root: intro
entries:
- file: doc1
  entries:
  - file: doc2
    entries:
    - file: doc3
- url: https://example.com
- glob: subfolder/other*

1.3. File and URL titles#

By default, the initial header within a file document will be used as its title in generated Table of Contents. With the title key you can set an alternative title for a document. and also for url:

root: intro
subtrees:
- entries:
  - file: doc1
    title: Document 1 Title
  - url: https://example.com
    title: Example URL Title

1.4. ToC tree options#

Each subtree can be configured with a number of options (see also sphinx toctree options):

  • caption (string): A title for the whole the subtree, e.g. shown above the subtree in ToCs

  • hidden (boolean): Whether to show the ToC within (inline of) the document (default False). By default it is appended to the end of the document, but see also the tableofcontents directive for positioning of the ToC.

  • maxdepth (integer): A maximum nesting depth to use when showing the ToC within the document (default -1, meaning infinite).

  • numbered (boolean or integer): Automatically add numbers to all documents within a subtree (default False). If set to True, all sub-trees will also be numbered based on nesting (e.g. with 1.1 or 1.1.1), or if set to an integer then the numbering will only be applied to that depth.

  • reversed (boolean): If True then the entries in the subtree will be listed in reverse order (default False). This can be useful when using glob entries.

  • titlesonly (boolean): If True then only the first heading in the document will be shown in the ToC, not other headings of the same level (default False).

These options can be set at the level of the subtree:

root: intro
subtrees:
- caption: Subtree Caption
  hidden: False
  maxdepth: 1
  numbered: True
  reversed: False
  titlesonly: True
  entries:
  - file: doc1
    subtrees:
    - titlesonly: True
      entries:
      - file: doc2

or, if you are using the shorthand for a single subtree, set options under an options key:

root: intro
options:
  caption: Subtree Caption
  hidden: False
  maxdepth: 1
  numbered: True
  reversed: False
  titlesonly: True
entries:
- file: doc1
  options:
    titlesonly: True
  entries:
  - file: doc2

You can also use the top-level defaults key, to set default options for all subtrees:

root: intro
defaults:
  titlesonly: True
options:
  caption: Subtree Caption
  hidden: False
  maxdepth: 1
  numbered: True
  reversed: False
entries:
- file: doc1
  entries:
  - file: doc2

Warning

numbered should not generally be used as a default, since numbering cannot be changed by nested subtrees, and sphinx will log a warning.

Note

By default, title numbering restarts for each subtree. If you want want this numbering to be continuous, check-out the sphinx-multitoc-numbering extension.

1.5. Using different key-mappings#

For certain use-cases, it is helpful to map the subtrees/entries keys to mirror e.g. an output LaTeX structure.

The format key can be used to provide such mappings (and also initial defaults). Currently available:

  • jb-article:

    • Maps entries -> sections

    • Sets the default of titlesonly to true

  • jb-book:

    • Maps the top-level subtrees to parts

    • Maps the top-level entries to chapters

    • Maps other levels of entries to sections

    • Sets the default of titlesonly to true

For example:

defaults:
  titlesonly: true
root: index
subtrees:
- entries:
  - file: doc1
    entries:
    - file: doc2

is equivalent to:

format: jb-book
root: index
parts:
- chapters:
  - file: doc1
    sections:
    - file: doc2

Important

These change in key names do not change the output site-map structure.

1.6. Excluding files not in ToC#

By default, Sphinx will build all document files, regardless of whether they are specified in the Table of Contents, if they:

  1. Have a file extension relating to a loaded parser (e.g. .rst or .md)

  2. Do not match a pattern in exclude_patterns

To automatically add any document files that do not match a file or glob in the ToC to the exclude_patterns list, add to your conf.py:

external_toc_exclude_missing = True

Note that, for performance, files that are in hidden folders (e.g. in .tox or .venv) will not be added to exclude_patterns even if they are not specified in the ToC. You should exclude these folders explicitly.

Important

This feature is not currently compatible with orphan files.