# Command-Line Interface

Multimark includes a command-line tool for quick Markdown conversions without writing Python code. It reads from a file or stdin and writes the rendered output to stdout or a file.


# Basic Usage

The simplest invocation converts Markdown to HTML:

``` bash
echo '# Hello **world**' | multimark
```

``` html
<h1>Hello <strong>world</strong></h1>
```

You can also pass a filename directly:

``` bash
multimark README.md
```


# Choosing an Output Format

Use the `-t` / `--to` flag to select the output format. The available formats are `html` (the default), `latex`, `man`, `commonmark`, and `xml`.

``` bash
echo '# Hello' | multimark --to latex
```

``` latex
\section{Hello}
```

``` bash
echo '**bold** and *italic*' | multimark --to xml
```

``` xml
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE document SYSTEM "CommonMark.dtd">
<document xmlns="http://commonmark.org/xml/1.0">
  <paragraph>
    <strong>
      <text xml:space="preserve">bold</text>
    </strong>
    <text xml:space="preserve"> and </text>
    <emph>
      <text xml:space="preserve">italic</text>
    </emph>
  </paragraph>
</document>
```


# Writing to a File

Use `-o` / `--output` to write results to a file instead of stdout:

``` bash
multimark README.md --to html -o README.html
```


# Enabling GFM Extensions

GFM extensions are enabled with the `-e` / `--extension` flag. It can be repeated to enable multiple extensions at once.

``` bash
echo '| A | B |\n|---|---|\n| 1 | 2 |' | multimark -e table
```

The available extensions are `autolink`, `strikethrough`, `table`, `tagfilter`, and `tasklist`.

``` bash
multimark doc.md -e table -e strikethrough -e autolink
```


# Rendering Options

Several flags control how the Markdown is parsed and rendered:

| Flag | Effect |
|----|----|
| `--smart` | Convert straight quotes to curly, `--` to en-dash, `---` to em-dash, `...` to ellipsis |
| `--unsafe` | Allow raw HTML and potentially dangerous URLs to pass through |
| `--hardbreaks` | Render soft line breaks as hard breaks |
| `--sourcepos` | Add source position attributes (html and xml only) |
| `--footnotes` | Enable footnote syntax |

These can be combined freely:

``` bash
echo '"Hello" -- world...' | multimark --smart
```

``` html
<p>\u201cHello\u201d \u2013 world\u2026</p>
```

``` bash
echo '<div>raw</div>' | multimark --unsafe
```

``` html
<div>raw</div>
```


# Reading from stdin

When no file argument is provided, multimark reads from stdin. This makes it easy to use in shell pipelines:

``` bash
curl -s https://example.com/README.md | multimark --to html > output.html
```

``` bash
cat doc.md | multimark --smart --to latex | tee output.tex
```


# Version

Check the installed version with:

``` bash
multimark --version
```


# Full Help

``` bash
multimark --help
```

    Usage: multimark [OPTIONS] [FILE]

      Convert CommonMark/GFM Markdown to various output formats.

      Reads Markdown from FILE (or stdin if omitted) and writes the converted
      output to stdout or the file specified by --output.

    Options:
      -t, --to [html|latex|man|commonmark|xml]
                                      Output format.
      -o, --output FILENAME           Output file (stdout if omitted).
      -e, --extension [autolink|strikethrough|table|tagfilter|tasklist]
                                      Enable a GFM extension (repeatable).
      --smart                         Use smart punctuation.
      --unsafe                        Allow raw HTML and dangerous URLs.
      --hardbreaks                    Render softbreaks as hard line breaks.
      --sourcepos                     Include source position attributes (html/xml
                                      only).
      --footnotes                     Enable footnote parsing.
      --version                       Show the version and exit.
      --help                          Show this message and exit.