# Using Python-Markdown on the Command Line

While Python-Markdown is primarily a python library, a command line script is included as well. While there are many other command line implementations of Markdown, you may not have them installed, or you may prefer to use Python-Markdown’s various extensions.

Generally, you will want to have the Markdown library fully installed on your system to run the command line script. See the Installation instructions for details.

Python-Markdown’s command line script takes advantage of Python’s `-m` flag. Therefore, assuming the python executable is on your system path, use the following format:

    python -m markdown [options] [args]

That will run the module as a script with the options and arguments provided.

At its most basic usage, one would simply pass in a file name as the only argument:

    python -m markdown input_file.txt

Piping input and output (on `STDIN` and `STDOUT`) is fully supported as well. For example:

    echo "Some **Markdown** text." | python -m markdown > output.html

Use the `--help` option for a list all available options and arguments:

    python -m markdown --help

If you don’t want to call the python executable directly (using the `-m` flag), follow the instructions below to use a wrapper script:

## Setup

Upon installation, the `markdown_py` script will have been copied to your Python “Scripts” directory. Different systems require different methods to ensure that any files in the Python “Scripts” directory are on your system path.

- Windows:

  Assuming a default install of Python on Windows, your “Scripts” directory is most likely something like `C:\\Python37\Scripts`. Verify the location of your “Scripts” directory and add it to you system path.

  Calling `markdown_py` from the command line will call the wrapper batch file `markdown_py.bat` in the `"Scripts"` directory created during install.

- *nix (Linux, OSX, BSD, Unix, etc.):

  As each *nix distribution is different and we can’t possibly document all of them here, we’ll provide a few helpful pointers:

  - Some systems will automatically install the script on your path. Try it and see if it works. Just run `markdown_py` from the command line.

  - Other systems may maintain a separate “Scripts” (“bin”) directory which you need to add to your path. Find it (check with your distribution) and either add it to your path or make a symbolic link to it from your path.

  - If you are sure `markdown_py` is on your path, but it still is not being found, check the permissions of the file and make sure it is executable.

  As an alternative, you could just `cd` into the directory which contains the source distribution, and run it from there. However, remember that your markdown text files will not likely be in that directory, so it is much more convenient to have `markdown_py` on your path.

Note

Python-Markdown uses `"markdown_py"` as a script name because the Perl implementation has already taken the more obvious name “markdown”. Additionally, the default Python configuration on some systems would cause a script named `"markdown.py"` to fail by importing itself rather than the markdown library. Therefore, the script has been named `"markdown_py"` as a compromise. If you prefer a different name for the script on your system, it is suggested that you create a symbolic link to `markdown_py` with your preferred name.

## Usage

To use `markdown_py` from the command line, run it as

    markdown_py input_file.txt

or

    markdown_py input_file.txt > output_file.html

For a complete list of options, run

    markdown_py --help

## Using Extensions

To load a Python-Markdown extension from the command line use the `-x` (or `--extension`) option. The extension module must be on your `PYTHONPATH` (see the Extension API for details). The extension can then be invoked by the name assigned to an entry point or using Python’s dot notation to point to an extension

For example, to load an extension with the assigned entry point name `myext`, run the following command:

    python -m markdown -x myext input.txt

And to load an extension with Python’s dot notation:

    python -m markdown -x path.to.module:MyExtClass input.txt

To load multiple extensions, specify an `-x` option for each extension:

    python -m markdown -x myext -x path.to.module:MyExtClass input.txt

If the extension supports configuration options (see the documentation for the extension you are using to determine what settings it supports, if any), you can pass them in as well:

    python -m markdown -x myext -c config.yml input.txt

The `-c` (or `--extension_configs`) option accepts a file name. The file must be in either the YAML or JSON format and contain YAML or JSON data that would map to a Python Dictionary in the format required by the `extension_configs` keyword of the `markdown.Markdown` class. Therefore, the file `config.yaml` referenced in the above example might look like this:

    myext:
        option1: 'value1'
        option2: True

Similarly, a JSON configuration file might look like this:

    {
      "myext":
      {
        "option1": "value1",
        "option2": "value2"
      }
    }

Note that while the `--extension_configs` option does specify the `myext` extension, you still need to load the extension with the `-x` option, or the configuration for that extension will be ignored. Further, if an extension requires a value that cannot be parsed in JSON (for example a reference to a function), one has to use a YAML configuration file.

The `--extension_configs` option will only support YAML configuration files if PyYAML is installed on your system. JSON should work with no additional dependencies. The format of your configuration file is automatically detected.