asciidoc

Convert an AsciiDoc file to HTML

$ asciidoc [document.txt]

$ asciidoc -b html5 [document.txt]

$ asciidoc -b docbook [document.txt]

$ asciidoc -b html5 -d manpage [command.1.txt]

$ asciidoc -a toc -a icons [document.txt]

$ asciidoc -o [output.html] [document.txt]

$ asciidoc --section-numbers [document.txt]

asciidoc [options] FILE

asciidoc converts plain text documents written in AsciiDoc markup to HTML, DocBook, and other formats. AsciiDoc is a lightweight markup language designed for writing documentation, articles, books, and man pages.
The default backend is HTML (xhtml11). DocBook output can be further processed with tools like dblatex for PDF generation or xmlto for various formats. The tool reads configuration from /etc/asciidoc/ and ~/.asciidoc/.
Document attributes control output features like table of contents (-a toc), embedded images (-a data-uri), icons (-a icons), and maximum width (-a max-width=55em). Attributes can also be set within the document itself.
If FILE is -, input is read from standard input, enabling pipeline processing.

-b backend, --backend=backend

Output format: html, html5, xhtml11, html4, docbook, docbook45, docbook5, slidy, wordpress, latex

Document type: article (default), book, manpage

Write output to file (default: input filename with new extension)

Set a document attribute

Use additional configuration file

Auto-number section titles

Output document body only (no HTML head/body tags)

Enable safe mode (disable potentially dangerous features)

Print processing information to stderr

Print help (topics: syntax, manpage)

Print version number

/etc/asciidoc/

System-wide configuration files, filters, and backend templates.

User-specific configuration files and custom backends.

The original Python-based asciidoc is considered legacy. Asciidoctor (written in Ruby) is the actively maintained implementation with more features and faster processing. Some advanced features may differ between implementations.

AsciiDoc was created by Stuart Rackham in 2002 as a more readable alternative to DocBook XML. The format was designed to be human-readable while still capable of producing professional documentation. Asciidoctor, a modern reimplementation, was started in 2012 by Dan Allen and has become the primary implementation, used by projects like GitHub, GitLab, and the Eclipse Foundation.

asciidoctor(1), pandoc(1), markdown(1), rst2html(1)