The build configuration file

The configuration directory must contain a file named conf.py. This file (containing Python code) is called the “build configuration file” and contains all configuration needed to customize Sphinx input and output behavior.

The configuration file if executed as Python code at build time (using execfile(), and with the current directory set to its containing directory), and therefore can execute arbitrarily complex code. Sphinx then reads simple names from the file’s namespace as its configuration.

Important points to note:

  • If not otherwise documented, values must be strings, and their default is the empty string.
  • The term “fully-qualified name” refers to a string that names an importable Python object inside a module; for example, the FQN "sphinx.builder.Builder" means the Builder class in the sphinx.builder module.
  • Remember that document names use / as the path separator and don’t contain the file name extension.
  • The contents of the config namespace are pickled (so that Sphinx can find out when configuration changes), so it may not contain unpickleable values – delete them from the namespace with del if appropriate. Modules are removed automatically, so you don’t need to del your imports after use.

General configuration

extensions

A list of strings that are module names of Sphinx extensions. These can be extensions coming with Sphinx (named sphinx.addons.*) or custom ones.

Note that you can extend sys.path within the conf file if your extensions live in another directory – but make sure you use absolute paths. If your extension path is relative to the configuration directory, use os.path.abspath() like so:

import sys, os

sys.path.append(os.path.abspath('sphinxext'))

extensions = ['extname']

That way, you can load an extension called extname from the subdirectory sphinxext.

The configuration file itself can be an extension; for that, you only need to provide a setup() function in it.

source_suffix
The file name extension of source files. Only files with this suffix will be read as sources. Default is .rst.
master_doc
The document name of the “master” document, that is, the document that contains the root toctree directive. Default is 'contents'.
project
The documented project’s name.
A copyright statement in the style '2008, Author Name'.
version
The major project version, used as the replacement for |version|. For example, for the Python documentation, this may be something like 2.6.
release

The full project version, used as the replacement for |release| and e.g. in the HTML templates. For example, for the Python documentation, this may be something like 2.6.0rc1.

If you don’t need the separation provided between version and release, just set them both to the same value.

today
today_fmt

These values determine how to format the current date, used as the replacement for |today|.

  • If you set today to a non-empty value, it is used.
  • Otherwise, the current time is formatted using time.strftime() and the format given in today_fmt.

The default is no today and a today_fmt of '%B %d, %Y'.

unused_docs
A list of document names that are present, but not currently included in the toctree. Use this setting to suppress the warning that is normally emitted in that case.
exclude_dirs

A list of directory names, relative to the source directory, that are to be excluded from the search for source files.

New in version 0.3.

pygments_style

The style name to use for Pygments highlighting of source code. Default is 'sphinx', which is a builtin style designed to match Sphinx’ default style.

Changed in version 0.3: If the value is a fully-qualified name of a custom Pygments style class, this is then used as custom style.

templates_path
A list of paths that contain extra templates (or templates that overwrite builtin templates). Relative paths are taken as relative to the configuration directory.
template_bridge
A string with the fully-qualified name of a callable (or simply a class) that returns an instance of TemplateBridge. This instance is then used to render HTML documents, and possibly the output of other builders (currently the changes builder).
add_function_parentheses
A boolean that decides whether parentheses are appended to function and method role text (e.g. the content of :func:`input`) to signify that the name is callable. Default is True.
add_module_names
A boolean that decides whether module names are prepended to all description unit titles, e.g. for function directives. Default is True.
show_authors
A boolean that decides whether moduleauthor and sectionauthor directives produce any output in the built files.

Options for HTML output

These options influence HTML as well as HTML Help output, and other builders that use Sphinx’ HTMLWriter class.

html_title
The “title” for HTML documentation generated with Sphinx’ own templates. This is appended to the <title> tag of individual pages, and used in the navigation bar as the “topmost” element. It defaults to '<project> v<revision> documentation', where the placeholders are replaced by the config values of the same name.
html_style
The style sheet to use for HTML pages. A file of that name must exist either in Sphinx’ static/ path, or in one of the custom paths given in html_static_path. Default is 'default.css'.
If given, this must be the name of an image file (within the static path, see below) that is the logo of the docs. It is placed at the top of the sidebar; its width should therefore not exceed 200 pixels. Default: None.
html_static_path
A list of paths that contain custom static files (such as style sheets or script files). Relative paths are taken as relative to the configuration directory. They are copied to the output directory after the builtin static files, so a file named default.css will overwrite the builtin default.css.
html_last_updated_fmt
If this is not the empty string, a ‘Last updated on:’ timestamp is inserted at every page bottom, using the given strftime() format. Default is '%b %d, %Y'.
html_use_smartypants
If true, SmartyPants will be used to convert quotes and dashes to typographically correct entities. Default: True.
html_sidebars

Custom sidebar templates, must be a dictionary that maps document names to template names. Example:

html_sidebars = {
   'using/windows': 'windowssidebar.html'
}

This will render the template windowssidebar.html within the sidebar of the given document.

html_additional_pages

Additional templates that should be rendered to HTML pages, must be a dictionary that maps document names to template names.

Example:

html_additional_pages = {
    'download': 'customdownload.html',
}

This will render the template customdownload.html as the page download.html.

Note

Earlier versions of Sphinx had a value called html_index which was a clumsy way of controlling the content of the “index” document. If you used this feature, migrate it by adding an 'index' key to this setting, with your custom template as the value, and in your custom template, use

{% extend "defindex.html" %}
{% block tables %}
... old template content ...
{% endblock %}
html_use_modindex
If true, add a module index to the HTML documents. Default is True.
html_copy_source
If true, the reST sources are included in the HTML build as _sources/name. The default is True.
html_use_opensearch
If nonempty, an OpenSearch <http://opensearch.org> description file will be output, and all pages will contain a <link> tag referring to it. Since OpenSearch doesn’t support relative URLs for its search page location, the value of this option must be the base URL from which these documents are served (without trailing slash), e.g. "http://docs.python.org". The default is ''.
html_file_suffix

If nonempty, this is the file name suffix for generated HTML files. The default is ".html".

New in version 0.4.

html_translator_class
A string with the fully-qualified name of a HTML Translator class, that is, a subclass of Sphinx’ HTMLTranslator, that is used to translate document trees to HTML. Default is None (use the builtin translator).
htmlhelp_basename
Output file base name for HTML help builder. Default is 'pydoc'.

Options for LaTeX output

These options influence LaTeX output.

latex_paper_size
The output paper size ('letter' or 'a4'). Default is 'letter'.
latex_font_size
The font size (‘10pt’, ‘11pt’ or ‘12pt’). Default is '10pt'.
latex_documents

This value determines how to group the document tree into LaTeX source files. It must be a list of tuples (startdocname, targetname, title, author, documentclass, toctree_only), where the items are:

  • startdocname: document name that is the “root” of the LaTeX file. All documents referenced by it in TOC trees will be included in the LaTeX file too. (If you want only one LaTeX file, use your master_doc here.)
  • targetname: file name of the LaTeX file in the output directory.
  • title: LaTeX document title. Can be empty to use the title of the startdoc.
  • author: Author for the LaTeX document.
  • documentclass: Must be one of 'manual' or 'howto'. Only “manual” documents will get appendices. Also, howtos will have a simpler title page.
  • toctree_only: Must be True or False. If True, the startdoc document itself is not included in the output, only the documents referenced by it via TOC trees. With this option, you can put extra stuff in the master document that shows up in the HTML, but not the LaTeX output.

New in version 0.3: The 6th item toctree_only. Tuples with 5 items are still accepted.

If given, this must be the name of an image file (relative to the configuration directory) that is the logo of the docs. It is placed at the top of the title page. Default: None.
latex_use_parts

If true, the topmost sectioning unit is parts, else it is chapters. Default: False.

New in version 0.3.

latex_appendices
Documents to append as an appendix to all manuals.
latex_preamble
Additional LaTeX markup for the preamble.
latex_use_modindex
If true, add a module index to LaTeX documents. Default is True.