title: Command Line
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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](install.html) 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:\\Python26\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](extensions/api.html) for details). The extension can 
then be invoked by the name of that module using Python's dot syntax:

	$ python -m markdown -x path.to.module input.txt

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

	$ python -m markdown -x markdown.extensions.footnotes -x markdown.extensions.codehilite 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 markdown.extensions.footnotes -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`][ec] keyword 
of the `markdown.Markdown` class. Therefore, the file `config.yaml` referenced in the 
above example might look like this:

	markdown.extensions.footnotes:
		PLACE_MARKER: ~~~~~~~~
		UNIQUE_IDS: True

Note that while the `--extension_configs` option does specify the "markdown.extensions.footnotes" 
extension, you still need to load the extension with the `-x` option, or the configuration for that
extension will be ignored.

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.

!!!warning
	The previously documented method of appending the extension configuration options as a string to the 
	extension name will be deprecated in Python-Markdown version 2.6. The `--extension_configs` 
	option should be used instead. See the [2.5 release notes] for more information.

[ec]: reference.html#extension_configs
[YAML]: http://yaml.org/
[JSON]: http://json.org/
[PyYAML]: http://pyyaml.org/
[2.5 release notes]: release-2.5.txt

