sphinx-build
************


Synopsis
========

**sphinx-build** [*options*] <*sourcedir*> <*outputdir*> [*filenames*
...]


Description
===========

**sphinx-build** generates documentation from the files in
"<sourcedir>" and places it in the "<outputdir>".

**sphinx-build** looks for "<sourcedir>/conf.py" for the configuration
settings.  *sphinx-quickstart(1)* may be used to generate template
files, including "conf.py".

**sphinx-build** can create documentation in different formats.  A
format is selected by specifying the builder name on the command line;
it defaults to HTML.  Builders can also perform other tasks related to
documentation processing.  For a list of available builders, refer to
"sphinx-build -b".

By default, everything that is outdated is built.  Output only for
selected files can be built by specifying individual filenames.


Options
=======

-b buildername

   The most important option: it selects a builder.  The most common
   builders are:

   **html**
      Build HTML pages.  This is the default builder.

   **dirhtml**
      Build HTML pages, but with a single directory per document.
      Makes for prettier URLs (no ".html") if served from a webserver.

   **singlehtml**
      Build a single HTML with the whole content.

   **htmlhelp**, **qthelp**, **devhelp**, **epub**
      Build HTML files with additional information for building a
      documentation collection in one of these formats.

   **applehelp**
      Build an Apple Help Book.  Requires **hiutil** and **codesign**,
      which are not Open Source and presently only available on Mac OS
      X 10.6 and higher.

   **latex**
      Build LaTeX sources that can be compiled to a PDF document using
      **pdflatex**.

   **man**
      Build manual pages in groff format for UNIX systems.

   **texinfo**
      Build Texinfo files that can be processed into Info files using
      **makeinfo**.

   **text**
      Build plain text files.

   **gettext**
      Build gettext-style message catalogs (".pot" files).

   **doctest**
      Run all doctests in the documentation, if the "doctest"
      extension is enabled.

   **linkcheck**
      Check the integrity of all external links.

   **xml**
      Build Docutils-native XML files.

   **pseudoxml**
      Build compact pretty-printed "pseudo-XML" files displaying the
      internal structure of the intermediate document trees.

   See Builders for a list of all builders shipped with Sphinx.
   Extensions can add their own builders.

-M buildername

   Alternative to "-b". Uses the Sphinx **make_mode** module, which
   provides the same build functionality as a default Makefile or
   Make.bat. In addition to all Sphinx Builders, the following build
   pipelines are available:

   **latexpdf**
      Build LaTeX files and run them through **pdflatex**, or as per
      "latex_engine" setting. If "language" is set to "'ja'", will use
      automatically the **platex/dvipdfmx** latex to PDF pipeline.

   **info**
      Build Texinfo files and run them through **makeinfo**.

   Important:

     Sphinx only recognizes the "-M" option if it is placed first.

   New in version 1.2.1.

-a

   If given, always write all output files. The default is to only
   write output files for new and changed source files. (This may not
   apply to all builders.)

-E

   Don't use a saved *environment* (the structure caching all cross-
   references), but rebuild it completely.  The default is to only
   read and parse source files that are new or have changed since the
   last run.

-t tag

   Define the tag *tag*.  This is relevant for "only" directives that
   only include their content if this tag is set.

   New in version 0.6.

-d path

   Since Sphinx has to read and parse all source files before it can
   write an output file, the parsed source files are cached as
   "doctree pickles". Normally, these files are put in a directory
   called ".doctrees" under the build directory; with this option you
   can select a different cache directory (the doctrees can be shared
   between all builders).

-j N, --jobs N

   Distribute the build over *N* processes in parallel, to make
   building on multiprocessor machines more effective.  Note that not
   all parts and not all builders of Sphinx can be parallelized.  If
   "auto" argument is given, Sphinx uses the number of CPUs as *N*.

   New in version 1.2: This option should be considered
   *experimental*.

   Changed in version 1.7: Support "auto" argument.

   Changed in version 6.2: Add "--jobs" long option.

-c path

   Don't look for the "conf.py" in the source directory, but use the
   given configuration directory instead.  Note that various other
   files and paths given by configuration values are expected to be
   relative to the configuration directory, so they will have to be
   present at this location too.

   New in version 0.3.

-C

   Don't look for a configuration file; only take options via the "-D"
   option.

   New in version 0.5.

-D setting=value

   Override a configuration value set in the "conf.py" file.  The
   value must be a number, string, list or dictionary value.

   For lists, you can separate elements with a comma like this: "-D
   html_theme_path=path1,path2".

   For dictionary values, supply the setting name and key like this:
   "-D latex_elements.docclass=scrartcl".

   For boolean values, use "0" or "1" as the value.

   Changed in version 0.6: The value can now be a dictionary value.

   Changed in version 1.3: The value can now also be a list value.

-A name=value

   Make the *name* assigned to *value* in the HTML templates.

   New in version 0.5.

-n

   Run in nit-picky mode.  Currently, this generates warnings for all
   missing references.  See the config value "nitpick_ignore" for a
   way to exclude some references as "known missing".

-N, --no-color

   Do not emit colored output.

   Changed in version 1.6: Add "--no-color" long option.

--color

   Emit colored output. Auto-detected by default.

   New in version 1.6.

-v

   Increase verbosity (loglevel).  This option can be given up to
   three times to get more debug logging output.  It implies "-T".

   New in version 1.2.

-q

   Do not output anything on standard output, only write warnings and
   errors to standard error.

-Q

   Do not output anything on standard output, also suppress warnings.
   Only errors are written to standard error.

-w file

   Write warnings (and errors) to the given file, in addition to
   standard error.

-W

   Turn warnings into errors.  This means that the build stops at the
   first warning and "sphinx-build" exits with exit status 1.

--keep-going

   With -W option, keep going processing when getting warnings to the
   end of build, and "sphinx-build" exits with exit status 1.

   New in version 1.8.

-T

   Display the full traceback when an unhandled exception occurs.
   Otherwise, only a summary is displayed and the traceback
   information is saved to a file for further analysis.

   New in version 1.2.

-P

   (Useful for debugging only.)  Run the Python debugger, "pdb", if an
   unhandled exception occurs while building.

-h, --help, --version

   Display usage summary or Sphinx version.

   New in version 1.2.

You can also give one or more filenames on the command line after the
source and build directories. Sphinx will then try to build only these
output files (and their dependencies).


Environment Variables
=====================

The **sphinx-build** refers following environment variables:

MAKE

   A path to make command.  A command name is also allowed. **sphinx-
   build** uses it to invoke sub-build process on make-mode.

-[ Makefile Options ]-

The "Makefile" and "make.bat" files created by **sphinx-quickstart**
usually run **sphinx-build** only with the "-b" and "-d" options.
However, they support the following variables to customize behavior:

PAPER

   This sets the "'papersize'" key of "latex_elements": i.e.
   "PAPER=a4" sets it to "'a4paper'" and "PAPER=letter" to
   "'letterpaper'".

   Note:

     Usage of this environment variable got broken at Sphinx 1.5 as
     "a4" or "letter" ended up as option to LaTeX document in place of
     the needed "a4paper", resp. "letterpaper".  Fixed at 1.7.7.

SPHINXBUILD

   The command to use instead of "sphinx-build".

BUILDDIR

   The build directory to use instead of the one chosen in **sphinx-
   quickstart**.

SPHINXOPTS

   Additional options for **sphinx-build**. These options can also be
   set via the shortcut variable **O** (capital 'o').

NO_COLOR

   When set (regardless of value), **sphinx-build**  will not use
   color in terminal output. "NO_COLOR" takes precedence over
   "FORCE_COLOR". See no-color.org for other libraries supporting this
   community standard.

   New in version 4.5.0.

FORCE_COLOR

   When set (regardless of value), **sphinx-build** will use color in
   terminal output. "NO_COLOR" takes precedence over "FORCE_COLOR".

   New in version 4.5.0.


Deprecation Warnings
====================

If any deprecation warning like "RemovedInSphinxXXXWarning" are
displayed when building a user's document, some Sphinx extension is
using deprecated features. In that case, please report it to author of
the extension.

To disable the deprecation warnings, please set "PYTHONWARNINGS="
environment variable to your environment. For example:

* "PYTHONWARNINGS= make html" (Linux/Mac)

* "export PYTHONWARNINGS=" and do "make html" (Linux/Mac)

* "set PYTHONWARNINGS=" and do "make html" (Windows)

* modify your Makefile/make.bat and set the environment variable


See also
========

*sphinx-quickstart(1)*
