The reStructuredText Cheat Sheet: Syntax Reminders
| Info: | See <https://docutils.sourceforge.io/rst.html> for introductory docs. |
|---|---|
| Author: | David Goodger <goodger@python.org> |
| Date: | 2022-01-20 |
| Revision: | 8956 |
| Description: | This is a "docinfo block", or bibliographic field list |
Note
If you are reading this as HTML, please read cheatsheet.txt instead to see the input syntax examples!
Section Structure
Section titles are underlined or overlined & underlined.
Body Elements
Grid table:
Paragraphs are flush-left, separated by blank lines. Block quotes are indented. |
Literal block, preceded by "::": Indented or: > Quoted |
>>> print 'Doctest block' Doctest block |
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Line blocks preserve line breaks & indents. [new in 0.3.6]
Useful for addresses, verse, and adornment-free lists; long
lines can be wrapped with continuation lines.
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Simple tables:
| List Type | Examples (syntax in the text source) | ||
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| Bullet list |
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| Enumerated list |
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| Definition list |
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| Field list |
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| Option list |
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| Explicit Markup | Examples (visible in the text source) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Footnote |
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| Citation |
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| Hyperlink Target | |||
| Anonymous Target | |||
| Directive ("::") | 
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| Substitution Def | |||
| Comment | |||
| Empty Comment | (".." on a line by itself, with blank lines before & after, used to separate indentation contexts) |
Inline Markup
emphasis; strong emphasis; interpreted text; interpreted text with role; inline literal text; standalone hyperlink, https://docutils.sourceforge.io; named reference, reStructuredText; anonymous reference; footnote reference, [1]; citation reference, [CIT2002]; like an inline directive; inline internal target.
Directive Quick Reference
See <https://docutils.sourceforge.io/docs/ref/rst/directives.html> for full info.
| Directive Name | Description (Docutils version added to, in [brackets]) |
|---|---|
| attention | Specific admonition; also "caution", "danger", "error", "hint", "important", "note", "tip", "warning" |
| admonition | Generic titled admonition: .. admonition:: By The Way |
| image | .. image:: picture.png; many options possible |
| figure | Like "image", but with optional caption and legend |
| topic | .. topic:: Title; like a mini section |
| sidebar | .. sidebar:: Title; like a mini parallel document |
| parsed-literal | A literal block with parsed inline markup |
| rubric | .. rubric:: Informal Heading |
| epigraph | Block quote with class="epigraph" |
| highlights | Block quote with class="highlights" |
| pull-quote | Block quote with class="pull-quote" |
| compound | Compound paragraphs [0.3.6] |
| container | Generic block-level container element [0.3.10] |
| table | Create a titled table [0.3.1] |
| list-table | Create a table from a uniform two-level bullet list [0.3.8] |
| csv-table | Create a table from CSV data [0.3.4] |
| contents | Generate a table of contents |
| sectnum | Automatically number sections, subsections, etc. |
| header, footer | Create document decorations [0.3.8] |
| target-notes | Create an explicit footnote for each external target |
| math | Mathematical notation (input in LaTeX format) |
| meta | Document metadata |
| include | Read an external reST file as if it were inline |
| raw | Non-reST data passed untouched to the Writer |
| replace | Replacement text for substitution definitions |
| unicode | Unicode character code conversion for substitution defs |
| date | Generates today's date; for substitution defs |
| class | Set a "class" attribute on the next element |
| role | Create a custom interpreted text role [0.3.2] |
| default-role | Set the default interpreted text role [0.3.10] |
| title | Set the metadata document title [0.3.10] |
Interpreted Text Role Quick Reference
See <https://docutils.sourceforge.io/docs/ref/rst/roles.html> for full info.
| Role Name | Description |
|---|---|
| emphasis | Equivalent to emphasis |
| literal | Equivalent to literal but processes backslash escapes |
| math | Mathematical notation (input in LaTeX format) |
| PEP | Reference to a numbered Python Enhancement Proposal |
| RFC | Reference to a numbered Internet Request For Comments |
| raw | For non-reST data; cannot be used directly (see docs) [0.3.6] |
| strong | Equivalent to strong |
| sub | Subscript |
| sup | Superscript |
| title | Title reference (book, etc.); standard default role |