Provided by: docutils-common_0.21.2+dfsg-2_all 
NAME
rst2html - convert reST documents to XHTML
SYNOPSIS
rst2html [options] [<source> [<destination>]]
DESCRIPTION
Generate HTML documents from standalone reStructuredText sources <
<https://docutils.sourceforge.io/docs/user/html.html#html> >. Reads from <source> (default is stdin) and
writes to <destination> (default is stdout). See
<https://docutils.sourceforge.io/docs/user/config.html> for a detailed settings reference.
OPTIONS
General Docutils Options
--output=<destination>
Output destination name. Obsoletes the <destination> positional argument. Default: None (stdout).
--title=<title>
Specify the document title as metadata.
--generator, -g
Include a "Generated by Docutils" credit and link.
--no-generator
Do not include a generator credit.
--date, -d
Include the date at the end of the document (UTC).
--time, -t
Include the time & date (UTC).
--no-datestamp
Do not include a datestamp of any kind.
--root-prefix=<path>
Base directory for absolute paths when reading from the local filesystem. Default "/".
--source-link, -s
Include a "View document source" link.
--source-url=<URL>
Use <URL> for a source link; implies --source-link.
--no-source-link
Do not include a "View document source" link.
--toc-entry-backlinks
Link from section headers to TOC entries. (default)
--toc-top-backlinks
Link from section headers to the top of the TOC.
--no-toc-backlinks
Disable backlinks to the table of contents.
--footnote-backlinks
Link from footnotes/citations to references. (default)
--no-footnote-backlinks
Disable backlinks from footnotes and citations.
--section-numbering
Enable section numbering by Docutils. (default)
--no-section-numbering
Disable section numbering by Docutils.
--strip-comments
Remove comment elements from the document tree.
--leave-comments
Leave comment elements in the document tree. (default)
--strip-elements-with-class=<class>
Remove all elements with classes="<class>" from the document tree. Warning: potentially dangerous;
use with caution. (Multiple-use option.)
--strip-class=<class>
Remove all classes="<class>" attributes from elements in the document tree. Warning: potentially
dangerous; use with caution. (Multiple-use option.)
--report=<level>, -r <level>
Report system messages at or higher than <level>: "info" or "1", "warning"/"2" (default),
"error"/"3", "severe"/"4", "none"/"5"
--verbose, -v
Report all system messages. (Same as "--report=1".)
--quiet, -q
Report no system messages. (Same as "--report=5".)
--halt=<level>
Halt execution at system messages at or above <level>. Levels as in --report. Default: 4
(severe).
--strict
Halt at the slightest problem. Same as "--halt=info".
--exit-status=<level>
Enable a non-zero exit status for non-halting system messages at or above <level>. Default: 5
(disabled).
--debug
Enable debug-level system messages and diagnostics.
--no-debug
Disable debug output. (default)
--warnings=<file>
Send the output of system messages to <file>.
--traceback
Enable Python tracebacks when Docutils is halted.
--no-traceback
Disable Python tracebacks. (default)
--input-encoding=<name[:handler]>, -i <name[:handler]>
Specify the encoding and optionally the error handler of input text. Default:
<auto-detect>:strict.
--input-encoding-error-handler=INPUT_ENCODING_ERROR_HANDLER
Specify the error handler for undecodable characters. Choices: "strict" (default), "ignore", and
"replace".
--output-encoding=<name[:handler]>, -o <name[:handler]>
Specify the text encoding and optionally the error handler for output. Default: utf-8:strict.
--output-encoding-error-handler=OUTPUT_ENCODING_ERROR_HANDLER
Specify error handler for unencodable output characters; "strict" (default), "ignore", "replace",
"xmlcharrefreplace", "backslashreplace".
--error-encoding=<name[:handler]>, -e <name[:handler]>
Specify text encoding and optionally error handler for error output. Default text encoding:
system encoding. Default error handler: backslashreplace.
--error-encoding-error-handler=ERROR_ENCODING_ERROR_HANDLER
Specify the error handler for unencodable characters in error output. Default: backslashreplace.
--language=<name>, -l <name>
Specify the language (as BCP 47 language tag). Default: en.
--record-dependencies=<file>
Write output file dependencies to <file>.
--config=<file>
Read configuration settings from <file>, if it exists.
--version, -V
Show this program's version number and exit.
--help, -h
Show this help message and exit.
Generic Parser Options
--no-file-insertion
Disable directives that insert the contents of an external file; replaced with a "warning" system
message.
--file-insertion-enabled
Enable directives that insert the contents of an external file. (default)
--no-raw
Disable the "raw" directive; replaced with a "warning" system message.
--raw-enabled
Enable the "raw" directive. (default)
--line-length-limit=<length>
Maximal number of characters in an input line. Default 10 000.
reStructuredText Parser Options
--pep-references
Recognize and link to standalone PEP references (like "PEP 258").
--pep-base-url=<URL>
Base URL for PEP references (default " <https://peps.python.org/> ").
--pep-file-url-template=<URL>
Template for PEP file part of URL. (default "pep-%04d")
--rfc-references
Recognize and link to standalone RFC references (like "RFC 822").
--rfc-base-url=<URL>
Base URL for RFC references (default " <https://tools.ietf.org/html/> ").
--tab-width=<width>
Set number of spaces for tab expansion (default 8).
--trim-footnote-reference-space
Remove spaces before footnote references.
--leave-footnote-reference-space
Leave spaces before footnote references.
--syntax-highlight=<format>
Token name set for parsing code with Pygments: one of "long", "short", or "none" (no parsing).
Default is "long".
--smart-quotes=<yes/no/alt>
Change straight quotation marks to typographic form: one of "yes", "no", "alt[ernative]" (default
"no").
--smartquotes-locales=<language:quotes[,language:quotes,...]>
Characters to use as "smart quotes" for <language>.
--word-level-inline-markup
Inline markup recognized at word boundaries only (adjacent to punctuation or whitespace). Force
character-level inline markup recognition with "" (backslash + space). Default.
--character-level-inline-markup
Inline markup recognized anywhere, regardless of surrounding characters. Backslash-escapes must be
used to avoid unwanted markup recognition. Useful for East Asian languages. Experimental.
Standalone Reader Options
--no-doc-title
Disable the promotion of a lone top-level section title to document title (and subsequent section
title to document subtitle promotion; enabled by default).
--no-doc-info
Disable the bibliographic field list transform (enabled by default).
--section-subtitles
Activate the promotion of lone subsection titles to section subtitles (disabled by default).
--no-section-subtitles
Deactivate the promotion of lone subsection titles.
HTML Writer Options
--template=<file>
Template file. (UTF-8 encoded, default: "/usr/share/docutils/writers/html4css1/template.txt")
--stylesheet=<URL[,URL,...]>
Comma separated list of stylesheet URLs. Overrides previous --stylesheet and --stylesheet-path
settings.
--stylesheet-path=<file[,file,...]>
Comma separated list of stylesheet paths. Relative paths are expanded if a matching file is found
in the --stylesheet-dirs. With --link-stylesheet, the path is rewritten relative to the output
HTML file. (default: "html4css1.css")
--stylesheet-dirs=<dir[,dir,...]>
Comma-separated list of directories where stylesheets are found. Used by --stylesheet-path when
expanding relative path arguments. (default: ".,/usr/share/docut
ils/writers/html4css1,/usr/share/docutils/writers/html 5_polyglot")
--embed-stylesheet
Embed the stylesheet(s) in the output HTML file. The stylesheet files must be accessible during
processing. (default)
--link-stylesheet
Link to the stylesheet(s) in the output HTML file.
--initial-header-level=<level>
Specify the initial header level. Does not affect document title & subtitle (see --no-doc-title).
(default: 1 for "<h1>")
--footnote-references=<format>
Format for footnote references: one of "superscript" or "brackets". (default: "brackets")
--attribution=<format>
Format for block quote attributions: one of "dash" (em-dash prefix), "parentheses"/"parens", or
"none". (default: "dash")
--compact-lists
Remove extra vertical whitespace between items of "simple" bullet lists and enumerated lists.
(default)
--no-compact-lists
Disable compact simple bullet and enumerated lists.
--compact-field-lists
Remove extra vertical whitespace between items of simple field lists. (default)
--no-compact-field-lists
Disable compact simple field lists.
--table-style=TABLE_STYLE
Added to standard table classes. Defined styles: borderless, booktabs, align-left, align-center,
align- right, colwidths-auto, colwidths-grid.
--math-output=MATH_OUTPUT
Math output format (one of "MathML", "HTML", "MathJax", or "LaTeX") and option(s). (default: "HTML
math.css")
--xml-declaration
Prepend an XML declaration (default).
--no-xml-declaration
Omit the XML declaration.
--cloak-email-addresses
Obfuscate email addresses to confuse harvesters while still keeping email links usable with
standards- compliant browsers.
HTML4 Writer Options
--field-name-limit=<level>
Specify the maximum width (in characters) for one- column field names. Longer field names will
span an entire row of the table used to render the field list. Default is 14 characters. Use 0
for "no limit".
--option-limit=<level>
Specify the maximum width (in characters) for options in option lists. Longer options will span
an entire row of the table used to render the option list. Default is 14 characters. Use 0 for
"no limit".
RST2HTML(1)