# Command-line arguments

Here's the list of arguments you can pass to `rustdoc`:

## `-h`/`--help`: help

Using this flag looks like this:

```bash
$ rustdoc -h
$ rustdoc --help
```

This will show `rustdoc`'s built-in help, which largely consists of
a list of possible command-line flags.

Some of `rustdoc`'s flags are unstable; this page only shows stable
options, `--help` will show them all.

## `-V`/`--version`: version information

Using this flag looks like this:

```bash
$ rustdoc -V
$ rustdoc --version
```

This will show `rustdoc`'s version, which will look something
like this:

```text
rustdoc 1.17.0 (56124baa9 2017-04-24)
```

## `-v`/`--verbose`: more verbose output

Using this flag looks like this:

```bash
$ rustdoc -v src/lib.rs
$ rustdoc --verbose src/lib.rs
```

This enables "verbose mode", which means that more information will be written
to standard out. What is written depends on the other flags you've passed in.
For example, with `--version`:

```text
$ rustdoc --verbose --version
rustdoc 1.17.0 (56124baa9 2017-04-24)
binary: rustdoc
commit-hash: hash
commit-date: date
host: host-triple
release: 1.17.0
LLVM version: 3.9
```

## `-r`/`--input-format`: input format

This flag is currently ignored; the idea is that `rustdoc` would support various
input formats, and you could specify them via this flag.

Rustdoc only supports Rust source code and Markdown input formats. If the
file ends in `.md` or `.markdown`, `rustdoc` treats it as a Markdown file.
Otherwise, it assumes that the input file is Rust.


## `-w`/`--output-format`: output format

This flag is currently ignored; the idea is that `rustdoc` would support
various output formats, and you could specify them via this flag.

Rustdoc only supports HTML output, and so this flag is redundant today.

## `-o`/`--output`: output path

Using this flag looks like this:

```bash
$ rustdoc src/lib.rs -o target\\doc
$ rustdoc src/lib.rs --output target\\doc
```

By default, `rustdoc`'s output appears in a directory named `doc` in
the current working directory. With this flag, it will place all output
into the directory you specify.


## `--crate-name`: controlling the name of the crate

Using this flag looks like this:

```bash
$ rustdoc src/lib.rs --crate-name mycrate
```

By default, `rustdoc` assumes that the name of your crate is the same name
as the `.rs` file. `--crate-name` lets you override this assumption with
whatever name you choose.

## `-L`/`--library-path`: where to look for dependencies

Using this flag looks like this:

```bash
$ rustdoc src/lib.rs -L target/debug/deps
$ rustdoc src/lib.rs --library-path target/debug/deps
```

If your crate has dependencies, `rustdoc` needs to know where to find them.
Passing `--library-path` gives `rustdoc` a list of places to look for these
dependencies.

This flag takes any number of directories as its argument, and will use all of
them when searching.


## `--cfg`: passing configuration flags

Using this flag looks like this:

```bash
$ rustdoc src/lib.rs --cfg feature="foo"
```

This flag accepts the same values as `rustc --cfg`, and uses it to configure
compilation. The example above uses `feature`, but any of the `cfg` values
are acceptable.

## `--extern`: specify a dependency's location

Using this flag looks like this:

```bash
$ rustdoc src/lib.rs --extern lazy-static=/path/to/lazy-static
```

Similar to `--library-path`, `--extern` is about specifying the location
of a dependency. `--library-path` provides directories to search in, `--extern`
instead lets you specify exactly which dependency is located where.

## `--passes`: add more rustdoc passes

Using this flag looks like this:

```bash
$ rustdoc --passes list
$ rustdoc src/lib.rs --passes strip-priv-imports
```

An argument of "list" will print a list of possible "rustdoc passes", and other
arguments will be the name of which passes to run in addition to the defaults.

For more details on passes, see [the chapter on them](passes.html).

See also `--no-defaults`.

## `--no-defaults`: don't run default passes

Using this flag looks like this:

```bash
$ rustdoc src/lib.rs --no-defaults
```

By default, `rustdoc` will run several passes over your code. This
removes those defaults, allowing you to use `--passes` to specify
exactly which passes you want.

For more details on passes, see [the chapter on them](passes.html).

See also `--passes`.

## `--test`: run code examples as tests

Using this flag looks like this:

```bash
$ rustdoc src/lib.rs --test
```

This flag will run your code examples as tests. For more, see [the chapter
on documentation tests](documentation-tests.html).

See also `--test-args`.

## `--test-args`: pass options to test runner

Using this flag looks like this:

```bash
$ rustdoc src/lib.rs --test --test-args ignored
```

This flag will pass options to the test runner when running documentation tests.
For more, see [the chapter on documentation tests](documentation-tests.html).

See also `--test`.

## `--target`: generate documentation for the specified target triple

Using this flag looks like this:

```bash
$ rustdoc src/lib.rs --target x86_64-pc-windows-gnu
```

Similar to the `--target` flag for `rustc`, this generates documentation
for a target triple that's different than your host triple.

All of the usual caveats of cross-compiling code apply.

## `--markdown-css`: include more CSS files when rendering markdown

Using this flag looks like this:

```bash
$ rustdoc README.md --markdown-css foo.css
```

When rendering Markdown files, this will create a `<link>` element in the
`<head>` section of the generated HTML. For example, with the invocation above,

```html
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="foo.css">
```

will be added.

When rendering Rust files, this flag is ignored.

## `--html-in-header`: include more HTML in <head>

Using this flag looks like this:

```bash
$ rustdoc src/lib.rs --html-in-header header.html
$ rustdoc README.md --html-in-header header.html
```

This flag takes a list of files, and inserts them into the `<head>` section of
the rendered documentation.

## `--html-before-content`: include more HTML before the content

Using this flag looks like this:

```bash
$ rustdoc src/lib.rs --html-before-content extra.html
$ rustdoc README.md --html-before-content extra.html
```

This flag takes a list of files, and inserts them inside the `<body>` tag but
before the other content `rustdoc` would normally produce in the rendered
documentation.

## `--html-after-content`: include more HTML after the content

Using this flag looks like this:

```bash
$ rustdoc src/lib.rs --html-after-content extra.html
$ rustdoc README.md --html-after-content extra.html
```

This flag takes a list of files, and inserts them before the `</body>` tag but
after the other content `rustdoc` would normally produce in the rendered
documentation.


## `--markdown-playground-url`: control the location of the playground

Using this flag looks like this:

```bash
$ rustdoc README.md --markdown-playground-url https://play.rust-lang.org/
```

When rendering a Markdown file, this flag gives the base URL of the Rust
Playground, to use for generating `Run` buttons.


## `--markdown-no-toc`: don't generate a table of contents

Using this flag looks like this:

```bash
$ rustdoc README.md --markdown-no-toc
```

When generating documentation from a Markdown file, by default, `rustdoc` will
generate a table of contents. This flag suppresses that, and no TOC will be
generated.


## `-e`/`--extend-css`: extend rustdoc's CSS

Using this flag looks like this:

```bash
$ rustdoc src/lib.rs -e extra.css
$ rustdoc src/lib.rs --extend-css extra.css
```

With this flag, the contents of the files you pass are included at the bottom
of Rustdoc's `theme.css` file.

While this flag is stable, the contents of `theme.css` are not, so be careful!
Updates may break your theme extensions.

## `--sysroot`: override the system root

Using this flag looks like this:

```bash
$ rustdoc src/lib.rs --sysroot /path/to/sysroot
```

Similar to `rustc --sysroot`, this lets you change the sysroot `rustdoc` uses
when compiling your code.
