Developing extensions for Sphinx

Since many projects will need special features in their documentation, Sphinx is designed to be extensible on several levels.

This is what you can do in an extension: First, you can add new builders to support new output formats or actions on the parsed documents. Then, it is possible to register custom reStructuredText roles and directives, extending the markup. And finally, there are so-called “hook points” at strategic places throughout the build process, where an extension can register a hook and run specialized code.

An extension is simply a Python module. When an extension is loaded, Sphinx imports this module and executes its setup() function, which in turn notifies Sphinx of everything the extension offers – see the extension tutorial for examples.

The configuration file itself can be treated as an extension if it contains a setup() function. All other extensions to load must be listed in the extensions configuration value.

Discovery of builders by entry point

New in version 1.6.

Builder extensions can be discovered by means of entry points so that they do not have to be listed in the extensions configuration value.

Builder extensions should define an entry point in the sphinx.builders group. The name of the entry point needs to match your builder’s name attribute, which is the name passed to the sphinx-build -b option. The entry point value should equal the dotted name of the extension module. Here is an example of how an entry point for ‘mybuilder’ can be defined in the extension’s setup.py:

setup(
    # ...
    entry_points={
        'sphinx.builders': [
            'mybuilder = my.extension.module',
        ],
    }
)

Note that it is still necessary to register the builder using add_builder() in the extension’s setup() function.

Extension metadata

New in version 1.3.

The setup() function can return a dictionary. This is treated by Sphinx as metadata of the extension. Metadata keys currently recognized are:

  • 'version': a string that identifies the extension version. It is used for extension version requirement checking (see needs_extensions) and informational purposes. If not given, "unknown version" is substituted.
  • 'env_version': an integer that identifies the version of env data structure if the extension stores any data to environment. It is used to detect the data structure has been changed from last build. The extensions have to increment the version when data structure has changed. If not given, Sphinx considers the extension does not stores any data to environment.
  • 'parallel_read_safe': a boolean that specifies if parallel reading of source files can be used when the extension is loaded. It defaults to False, i.e. you have to explicitly specify your extension to be parallel-read-safe after checking that it is.
  • 'parallel_write_safe': a boolean that specifies if parallel writing of output files can be used when the extension is loaded. Since extensions usually don’t negatively influence the process, this defaults to True.

Deprecated APIs

On developing Sphinx, we are always careful to the compatibility of our APIs. But, sometimes, the change of interface are needed for some reasons. In such cases, we’ve marked them as deprecated. And they are kept during the two major versions (for more details, please see Deprecation policy).

The following is a list of deprecated interfaces.

deprecated APIs
Target Deprecated (will be) Removed Alternatives
highlightlang 1.8 4.0 highlight
add_stylesheet() 1.8 4.0 add_css_file()
add_javascript() 1.8 4.0 add_js_file()
autodoc_default_flags 1.8 4.0 autodoc_default_options
content arguments of sphinx.util.image.guess_mimetype() 1.8 3.0 N/A
gettext_compact arguments of sphinx.util.i18n.find_catalog_source_files() 1.8 3.0 N/A
sphinx.io.SphinxI18nReader.set_lineno_for_reporter() 1.8 3.0 N/A
sphinx.io.SphinxI18nReader.line 1.8 3.0 N/A
sphinx.directives.other.VersionChanges 1.8 3.0 sphinx.domains.changeset.VersionChanges
sphinx.highlighting.PygmentsBridge.unhighlight() 1.8 3.0 N/A
trim_doctest_flags arguments of sphinx.highlighting.PygmentsBridge 1.8 3.0 N/A
sphinx.ext.mathbase 1.8 3.0 N/A
sphinx.ext.mathbase.MathDomain 1.8 3.0 sphinx.domains.math.MathDomain
sphinx.ext.mathbase.MathDirective 1.8 3.0 sphinx.directives.patches.MathDirective
sphinx.ext.mathbase.math_role() 1.8 3.0 docutils.parsers.rst.roles.math_role()
sphinx.ext.mathbase.setup_math() 1.8 3.0 add_html_math_renderer()
sphinx.ext.mathbase.is_in_section_title() 1.8 3.0 N/A
sphinx.ext.mathbase.get_node_equation_number() 1.8 3.0 sphinx.util.math.get_node_equation_number()
sphinx.ext.mathbase.wrap_displaymath() 1.8 3.0 sphinx.util.math.wrap_displaymath()
sphinx.ext.mathbase.math (node) 1.8 3.0 docutils.nodes.math
sphinx.ext.mathbase.displaymath (node) 1.8 3.0 docutils.nodes.math_block
sphinx.ext.mathbase.eqref (node) 1.8 3.0 sphinx.builders.latex.nodes.math_reference
viewcode_import (config value) 1.8 3.0 viewcode_follow_imported_members
sphinx.writers.latex.Table.caption_footnotetexts 1.8 3.0 N/A
sphinx.writers.latex.Table.header_footnotetexts 1.8 3.0 N/A
sphinx.writers.latex.LaTeXTranslator.footnotestack 1.8 3.0 N/A
sphinx.writers.latex.LaTeXTranslator.in_container_literal_block 1.8 3.0 N/A
sphinx.writers.latex.LaTeXTranslator.next_section_ids 1.8 3.0 N/A
sphinx.writers.latex.LaTeXTranslator.next_hyperlink_ids 1.8 3.0 N/A
sphinx.writers.latex.LaTeXTranslator.restrict_footnote() 1.8 3.0 N/A
sphinx.writers.latex.LaTeXTranslator.unrestrict_footnote() 1.8 3.0 N/A
sphinx.writers.latex.LaTeXTranslator.push_hyperlink_ids() 1.8 3.0 N/A
sphinx.writers.latex.LaTeXTranslator.pop_hyperlink_ids() 1.8 3.0 N/A
sphinx.writers.latex.LaTeXTranslator.bibitems 1.8 3.0 N/A
sphinx.writers.latex.LaTeXTranslator.hlsettingstack 1.8 3.0 N/A
sphinx.writers.latex.ExtBabel.get_shorthandoff() 1.8 3.0 N/A
sphinx.writers.html.HTMLTranslator.highlightlang() 1.8 3.0 N/A
sphinx.writers.html.HTMLTranslator.highlightlang_base() 1.8 3.0 N/A
sphinx.writers.html.HTMLTranslator.highlightlangopts() 1.8 3.0 N/A
sphinx.writers.html.HTMLTranslator.highlightlinenothreshold() 1.8 3.0 N/A
sphinx.writers.html5.HTMLTranslator.highlightlang() 1.8 3.0 N/A
sphinx.writers.html5.HTMLTranslator.highlightlang_base() 1.8 3.0 N/A
sphinx.writers.html5.HTMLTranslator.highlightlangopts() 1.8 3.0 N/A
sphinx.writers.html5.HTMLTranslator.highlightlinenothreshold() 1.8 3.0 N/A
sphinx.writers.latex.LaTeXTranslator.check_latex_elements() 1.8 3.0 Nothing
sphinx.application.CONFIG_FILENAME 1.8 3.0 sphinx.config.CONFIG_FILENAME
Config.check_unicode() 1.8 3.0 sphinx.config.check_unicode()
Config.check_types() 1.8 3.0 sphinx.config.check_confval_types()
dirname, filename and tags arguments of Config.__init__() 1.8 3.0 Config.read()
The value of html_search_options 1.8 3.0 see html_search_options
sphinx.versioning.prepare() 1.8 3.0 sphinx.versioning.UIDTransform
Sphinx.override_domain() 1.8 3.0 add_domain()
Sphinx.import_object() 1.8 3.0 sphinx.util.import_object()
suffix argument of add_source_parser() 1.8 3.0 add_source_suffix()
BuildEnvironment.load() 1.8 3.0 pickle.load()
BuildEnvironment.loads() 1.8 3.0 pickle.loads()
BuildEnvironment.frompickle() 1.8 3.0 pickle.load()
BuildEnvironment.dump() 1.8 3.0 pickle.dump()
BuildEnvironment.dumps() 1.8 3.0 pickle.dumps()
BuildEnvironment.topickle() 1.8 3.0 pickle.dump()
BuildEnvironment._nitpick_ignore 1.8 3.0 nitpick_ignore
BuildEnvironment.versionchanges 1.8 3.0 N/A
BuildEnvironment.update() 1.8 3.0 Builder.read()
BuildEnvironment.read_doc() 1.8 3.0 Builder.read_doc()
BuildEnvironment._read_serial() 1.8 3.0 Builder.read()
BuildEnvironment._read_parallel() 1.8 3.0 Builder.read()
BuildEnvironment.write_doctree() 1.8 3.0 Builder.write_doctree()
BuildEnvironment.note_versionchange() 1.8 3.0 ChangesDomain.note_changeset()
warn() (template helper function) 1.8 3.0 warning()
source_parsers 1.8 3.0 add_source_parser()
sphinx.util.docutils.directive_helper() 1.8 3.0 Directive class of docutils
sphinx.cmdline 1.8 3.0 sphinx.cmd.build
sphinx.make_mode 1.8 3.0 sphinx.cmd.make_mode
sphinx.locale.l_() 1.8 3.0 sphinx.locale._()
sphinx.locale.lazy_gettext() 1.8 3.0 sphinx.locale._()
sphinx.locale.mygettext() 1.8 3.0 sphinx.locale._()
sphinx.util.copy_static_entry() 1.5 3.0 sphinx.util.fileutil.copy_asset()
sphinx.build_main() 1.7 2.0 sphinx.cmd.build.build_main()
sphinx.ext.intersphinx.debug() 1.7 2.0 sphinx.ext.intersphinx.inspect_main()
sphinx.ext.autodoc.format_annotation() 1.7 2.0 sphinx.util.inspect.Signature
sphinx.ext.autodoc.formatargspec() 1.7 2.0 sphinx.util.inspect.Signature
sphinx.ext.autodoc.AutodocReporter 1.7 2.0 sphinx.util.docutils.switch_source_input()
sphinx.ext.autodoc.add_documenter() 1.7 2.0 add_autodocumenter()
sphinx.ext.autodoc.AutoDirective._register 1.7 2.0 add_autodocumenter()
AutoDirective._special_attrgetters 1.7 2.0 add_autodoc_attrgetter()
Sphinx.warn(), Sphinx.info() 1.6 2.0 Logging API
BuildEnvironment.set_warnfunc() 1.6 2.0 Logging API
BuildEnvironment.note_toctree() 1.6 2.0 Toctree.note() (in sphinx.environment.adapters.toctree)
BuildEnvironment.get_toc_for() 1.6 2.0 Toctree.get_toc_for() (in sphinx.environment.adapters.toctree)
BuildEnvironment.get_toctree_for() 1.6 2.0 Toctree.get_toctree_for() (in sphinx.environment.adapters.toctree)
BuildEnvironment.create_index() 1.6 2.0 IndexEntries.create_index() (in sphinx.environment.adapters.indexentries)
sphinx.websupport 1.6 2.0 sphinxcontrib-websupport
StandaloneHTMLBuilder.css_files 1.6 2.0 add_stylesheet()
document.settings.gettext_compact 1.8 1.8 gettext_compact
Sphinx.status_iterator() 1.6 1.7 sphinx.util.status_iterator()
Sphinx.old_status_iterator() 1.6 1.7 sphinx.util.old_status_iterator()
Sphinx._directive_helper() 1.6 1.7 sphinx.util.docutils.directive_helper()
sphinx.util.compat.Directive 1.6 1.7 docutils.parsers.rst.Directive
sphinx.util.compat.docutils_version 1.6 1.7 sphinx.util.docutils.__version_info__

Note

On deprecating on public APIs (internal functions and classes), we also follow the policy as much as possible.