Command Line Interface

showdown makehtml [options]

-i, --input [file]              # Input source (file path or stdin)
-o, --output [file]             # Output target (file path or stdout)
-u, --encoding <encoding>       # Input encoding (default: utf8)
-y, --output-encoding <encoding> # Output encoding (default: utf8)
-a, --append                    # Append to output file instead of overwriting

-p, --flavor <flavor>           # Use predefined flavor (vanilla, github, ghost, original)
-c, --config <config...>        # Enable parser options
-e, --extensions <extensions...> # Load extensions (file paths)

--config-help                   # Show available configuration options
-q, --quiet                     # Quiet mode (only print errors)
-m, --mute                      # Mute mode (print nothing)
-h, --help                      # Show help information
-V, --version                   # Show version number

# Convert file to HTML
showdown makehtml -i input.md -o output.html

# Convert from stdin to stdout
echo "# Hello World" | showdown makehtml

# Read from stdin, write to file
showdown makehtml -i -o output.html < input.md

# Use GitHub Flavored Markdown
showdown makehtml -i input.md -o output.html --flavor github

# Use Ghost flavor
showdown makehtml -i input.md --flavor ghost

# Use original Markdown behavior
showdown makehtml -i input.md --flavor original

# Enable specific options
showdown makehtml -i input.md -c tables strikethrough ghCodeBlocks

# Enable options with values
showdown makehtml -i input.md -c prefixHeaderId="section-"

# Combine flavor with custom options
showdown makehtml -i input.md --flavor github -c emoji=false

# Load single extension
showdown makehtml -i input.md -e ./my-extension.js

# Load multiple extensions
showdown makehtml -i input.md -e ./ext1.js ./ext2.js ./ext3.js

# Combine with other options
showdown makehtml -i input.md --flavor github -e ./highlight.js -c tables

# Specify input encoding
showdown makehtml -i input.md -u utf16le

# Specify both input and output encoding
showdown makehtml -i input.md -u utf8 -y ascii

# For Windows users with special characters
showdown makehtml -i input.md -u utf8

# Append to existing file
showdown makehtml -i input.md -o output.html --append

# Quiet mode (only errors)
showdown makehtml -i input.md -o output.html --quiet

# Mute mode (no output)
showdown makehtml -i input.md -o output.html --mute

showdown makehtml --config-help

showdown makehtml -i README.md -o README.html \
  --flavor github \
  -c ghMentionsLink="https://github.com"

showdown makehtml -i post.md -o post.html \
  -c tables \
  -c strikethrough \
  -c headerLevelStart=2 \
  -c prefixHeaderId="post-"

showdown makehtml -i doc.md -o doc.html \
  -e ./syntax-highlight.js \
  -c ghCodeBlocks \
  -c tables

# File not found
showdown makehtml -i nonexistent.md
# ERROR: Could not read from file nonexistent.md, reason: ENOENT: no such file or directory

# Invalid extension
showdown makehtml -i input.md -e ./bad-extension.js
# ERROR: Could not load extension ./bad-extension.js. Reason: [error details]

# Invalid flavor
showdown makehtml -i input.md --flavor invalid
# ERROR: invalid flavor was not found

# Set command line to UTF-8 before running
chcp 65001

# Then run showdown
showdown makehtml -i input.md -o output.html

showdown makehtml -i input.md -o output.html -u utf8

# From curl
curl -s https://raw.githubusercontent.com/user/repo/main/README.md | showdown makehtml

# From echo
echo "**Bold text**" | showdown makehtml

# From cat
cat *.md | showdown makehtml --flavor github

# Pipe to less for viewing
showdown makehtml -i large-doc.md | less

# Pipe to file with additional processing
showdown makehtml -i input.md | sed 's/old/new/g' > output.html

# Count output lines
showdown makehtml -i input.md | wc -l

# Using shell loop
for file in *.md; do
  showdown makehtml -i "$file" -o "${file%.md}.html" --flavor github
done

# Using find and xargs
find . -name "*.md" -exec showdown makehtml -i {} -o {}.html \;