# clap-markdown
[](https://crates.io/crates/clap-markdown)

[](https://docs.rs/clap-markdown)
#### [API Documentation](https://docs.rs/clap-markdown) | [Changelog](./docs/CHANGELOG.md) | [Contributing](#contributing)
Automatically generate Markdown documentation for
[`clap`](https://crates.io/crates/clap) command-line tools.
## Examples
Generate Markdown text for a basic `clap` app:
```rust
#[derive(clap::Parser)]
struct Cli {
#[arg()]
name: String,
}
let markdown: String = clap_markdown_dfir::help_markdown::<Cli>();
```
**Generated Markdown Examples:**
See `clap` example programs and the corresponding Markdown generated by
`clap-markdown`:
| [`./complex_app.rs`](./docs/examples/complex_app.rs) | [complex-app.md](./docs/examples/complex-app.md) |
### Usage Convention: `CommandLineHelp.md`
This section describes a suggested convention for using `clap-markdown` to
generate a `CommandLineHelp.md` file, which can be committed to source control
and viewed as online documentation.
1. Add a hidden `--markdown-help` option to your `clap` application:
```rust
use clap::Parser;
use clap_markdown_dfir::MarkdownOptions;
#[derive(Parser)]
struct Cli {
#[arg(long, hide = true)]
markdown_help: bool,
}
fn main() {
let args = Cli::parse();
if args.markdown_help {
clap_markdown_dfir::print_help_markdown::<Cli>(MarkdownOptions::default());
}
}
```
2. Invoke `--markdown-help` to generate a `CommandLineHelp.md` file:
```shell
$ cargo run -- --markdown-help > docs/CommandLineHelp.md
```
3. Save `CommandLineHelp.md` in git, and link to it from the project's README.md
or other relevant documentation.
> For projects that have multiple associated executables, consider using the
> command name as a suffix. For example: `CommandLineHelp-your-app.md`,
> `CommandLineHelp-other-app.md`.
> Comitting `CommandLineHelp.md` to version control makes it easy to track
> user-visible changes to the command-line interface.
#### Projects using `clap-markdown`
The following projects use `clap-markdown` to generate a `CommandLineHelp.md`
reference document:
* [`wolfram-app-discovery`](https://crates.io/crates/wolfram-app-discovery)
— [`CommandLineHelp.md`](https://github.com/WolframResearch/wolfram-app-discovery-rs/blob/master/docs/CommandLineHelp.md)
* [`wolfram-cli`](https://github.com/ConnorGray/wolfram-cli)
— [`CommandLineHelp.md`](https://github.com/ConnorGray/wolfram-cli/blob/main/docs/CommandLineHelp.md)
<small><i>
To request the addition of a project to this list, please file an issue.
</i></small>
## Compatibility with clap
When this crate adds support for a new MAJOR version of `clap`, the MAJOR
version number of `clap-markdown` will be changed.
**Compability History:**
| v0.0.1 – v0.1.3 | `"4.*.*"` |
## License
Licensed under either of
* Apache License, Version 2.0
([LICENSE-APACHE](./LICENSE-APACHE) or <http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0>)
* MIT license
([LICENSE-MIT](./LICENSE-MIT) or <http://opensource.org/licenses/MIT>)
at your option.
## Contributing
Unless you explicitly state otherwise, any contribution intentionally submitted
for inclusion in the work by you, as defined in the Apache-2.0 license, shall be
dual licensed as above, without any additional terms or conditions.
See [**Development.md**](./docs/Development.md) for instructions on how to
perform common development tasks.
See [*Maintenance.md*](./docs/Maintenance.md) for instructions on how to
maintain this project.