AsciiDoc
Offering: GitLab.com, Self-managed, GitLab Dedicated
GitLab uses the Asciidoctor gem to convert AsciiDoc content to HTML5. Consult the Asciidoctor User Manual for a complete Asciidoctor reference.
You can use AsciiDoc in the following areas:
- Wiki pages
- AsciiDoc documents (
.adoc
or.asciidoc
) inside repositories
Syntax
Here’s a brief reference of the most commonly used AsciiDoc syntax. You can find the full documentation for the AsciiDoc syntax at https://asciidoctor.org/docs/.
Paragraphs
A normal paragraph.
Line breaks are not preserved.
Line comments, which are lines that start with //
, are skipped:
// this is a comment
A blank line separates paragraphs.
A paragraph with the [%hardbreaks]
option preserves line breaks:
[%hardbreaks]
This paragraph carries the `hardbreaks` option.
Notice how line breaks are now preserved.
An indented (literal) paragraph disables text formatting, preserves spaces and line breaks, and is displayed in a fixed-width font:
This literal paragraph is indented with one space.
As a consequence, *text formatting*, spaces,
and lines breaks will be preserved.
Admonition paragraphs grab the reader’s attention:
NOTE: This is a brief reference, please read the full documentation at https://asciidoctor.org/docs/.
TIP: Lists can be indented. Leading whitespace is not significant.
Text Formatting
Constrained (applied at word boundaries)
*strong importance* (aka bold)
_stress emphasis_ (aka italic)
`monospaced` (aka typewriter text)
"`double`" and '`single`' typographic quotes
+passthrough text+ (substitutions disabled)
`+literal text+` (monospaced with substitutions disabled)
Unconstrained (applied anywhere)
**C**reate+**R**ead+**U**pdate+**D**elete
fan__freakin__tastic
``mono``culture
Replacements
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...
(C) 1976 Arty Artisan
I believe I shall--no, actually I won't.
Macros
// where c=specialchars, q=quotes, a=attributes, r=replacements, m=macros, p=post_replacements
The European icon:flag[role=blue] is blue & contains pass:[************] arranged in a icon:circle-o[role=yellow].
The pass:c[->] operator is often referred to as the stabby lambda.
Since `pass:[++]` has strong priority in AsciiDoc, you can rewrite pass:c,a,r[C++ => C{pp}].
// activate stem support by adding `:stem:` to the document header
stem:[sqrt(4) = 2]
Attributes
User-defined attributes
// define attributes in the document header
:name: value
:url-gem: https://rubygems.org/gems/asciidoctor
You can download and install Asciidoctor {asciidoctor-version} from {url-gem}.
C{pp} is not required, only Ruby.
Use a leading backslash to output a word enclosed in curly braces, like \{name}.
Environment attributes
GitLab sets the following environment attributes:
Attribute | Description |
---|---|
docname
| Root name of the source document (no leading path or file extension). |
outfilesuffix
| File extension corresponding to the backend output (defaults to .adoc to make inter-document cross references work).
|
Links
https://example.org/page[A webpage]
link:../path/to/file.txt[A local file]
xref:document.adoc[A sibling document]
mailto:hello@example.org[Email to say hello!]
Anchors
[[idname,reference text]]
// or written using normal block attributes as `[#idname,reftext=reference text]`
A paragraph (or any block) with an anchor (aka ID) and reftext.
See <<idname>> or <<idname,optional text of internal link>>.
xref:document.adoc#idname[Jumps to anchor in another document].
This paragraph has a footnote.footnote:[This is the text of the footnote.]
Lists
Unordered
* level 1
** level 2
*** level 3
**** level 4
***** level 5
* back at level 1
+
Attach a block or paragraph to a list item using a list continuation (which you can enclose in an open block).
.Some Authors
[circle]
- Edgar Allen Poe
- Sheri S. Tepper
- Bill Bryson
Ordered
. Step 1
. Step 2
.. Step 2a
.. Step 2b
. Step 3
.Remember your Roman numerals?
[upperroman]
. is one
. is two
. is three
Checklist
* [x] checked
* [ ] not checked
Callout
// enable callout bubbles by adding `:icons: font` to the document header
[,ruby]
----
puts 'Hello, World!' # <1>
----
<1> Prints `Hello, World!` to the console.
Description
first term:: description of first term
second term::
description of second term
Document Structure
Header
= Document Title
Author Name <author@example.org>
v1.0, 2019-01-01
Sections
= Document Title (Level 0)
== Level 1
=== Level 2
==== Level 3
===== Level 4
====== Level 5
== Back at Level 1
Includes
.asciidoc
. When working with AsciiDoc wiki
pages, change the filename from .adoc
to .asciidoc
.include::basics.adoc[]
To guarantee good system performance and prevent malicious documents from causing
problems, GitLab enforces a maximum limit on the number of include directives
processed in any one document. By default, a document can have up to 32 include directives, which is
inclusive of transitive dependencies. To customize the number of processed includes directives, change
the application setting asciidoc_max_includes
with the
application settings API.
asciidoc_max_includes
is 64. If the value is
too high might cause performance issues in some situations.To use includes from separate pages or external URLs, enable the allow-uri-read
in application settings.
// define application setting allow-uri-read to true to allow content to be read from URI
include::https://example.org/installation.adoc[]
Blocks
--
open - a general-purpose content wrapper; useful for enclosing content to attach to a list item
--
// recognized types include CAUTION, IMPORTANT, NOTE, TIP, and WARNING
// enable admonition icons by setting `:icons: font` in the document header
[NOTE]
====
admonition - a notice for the reader, ranging in severity from a tip to an alert
====
====
example - a demonstration of the concept being documented
====
.Toggle Me
[%collapsible]
====
collapsible - these details are revealed by clicking the title
====
****
sidebar - auxiliary content that can be read independently of the main content
****
....
literal - an exhibit that features program output
....
----
listing - an exhibit that features program input, source code, or the contents of a file
----
[,language]
----
source - a listing that is embellished with (colorized) syntax highlighting
----
\```language
fenced code - a shorthand syntax for the source block
\```
[,attribution,citetitle]
____
quote - a quotation or excerpt; attribution with title of source are optional
____
[verse,attribution,citetitle]
____
verse - a literary excerpt, often a poem; attribution with title of source are optional
____
++++
pass - content passed directly to the output document; often raw HTML
++++
// activate stem support by adding `:stem:` to the document header
[stem]
++++
x = y^2
++++
////
comment - content which is not included in the output document
////
Tables
.Table Attributes
[cols=>1h;2d,width=50%,frame=topbot]
|===
| Attribute Name | Values
| options
| header,footer,autowidth
| cols
| colspec[;colspec;...]
| grid
| all \| cols \| rows \| none
| frame
| all \| sides \| topbot \| none
| stripes
| all \| even \| odd \| none
| width
| (0%..100%)
| format
| psv {vbar} csv {vbar} dsv
|===
Colors
It’s possible to have color written in HEX
, RGB
, or HSL
format rendered with a color indicator.
Supported formats (named colors are not supported):
-
HEX
:`#RGB[A]`
or`#RRGGBB[AA]`
-
RGB
:`RGB[A](R, G, B[, A])`
-
HSL
:`HSL[A](H, S, L[, A])`
Color written inside backticks is followed by a color “chip”:
- `#F00`
- `#F00A`
- `#FF0000`
- `#FF0000AA`
- `RGB(0,255,0)`
- `RGB(0%,100%,0%)`
- `RGBA(0,255,0,0.3)`
- `HSL(540,70%,50%)`
- `HSLA(540,70%,50%,0.3)`
Equations and Formulas (STEM)
If you need to include Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM)
expressions, set the stem
attribute in the document’s header to latexmath
.
Equations and formulas are rendered using KaTeX:
:stem: latexmath
latexmath:[C = \alpha + \beta Y^{\gamma} + \epsilon]
[stem]
++++
sqrt(4) = 2
++++
A matrix can be written as stem:[[[a,b\],[c,d\]\]((n),(k))].
Diagrams and flowcharts
It’s possible to generate diagrams and flowcharts from text in GitLab using Mermaid or PlantUML.
Mermaid
- Introduced in GitLab 13.3.
Visit the official page for more details. If you’re new to using Mermaid or need help identifying issues in your Mermaid code, the Mermaid Live Editor is a helpful tool for creating and resolving issues within Mermaid diagrams.
To generate a diagram or flowchart, enter your text in a mermaid
block:
[mermaid]
----
graph LR
A[Square Rect] -- Link text --> B((Circle))
A --> C(Round Rect)
B --> D{Rhombus}
C --> D
----
Kroki
Kroki supports more than a dozen diagram libraries. To make Kroki available in GitLab, a GitLab administrator needs to enable it first. Read more in the Kroki integration page.
After Kroki is enabled, you can create diagrams in AsciiDoc and Markdown documents. Here’s an example using a GraphViz diagram:
AsciiDoc
[graphviz]
....
digraph G {
Hello->World
}
....
Markdown
```graphviz
digraph G {
Hello->World
}
```
PlantUML
PlantUML integration is enabled on GitLab.com. To make PlantUML available in self-managed installation of GitLab, a GitLab administrator must enable it.
After PlantUML is enabled, enter your text in a plantuml
block:
[plantuml]
----
Bob -> Alice : hello
----
Multimedia
image::screenshot.png[block image,800,450]
Press image:reload.svg[reload,16,opts=interactive] to reload the page.
video::movie.mp4[width=640,start=60,end=140,options=autoplay]
GitLab does not support embedding YouTube and Vimeo videos in AsciiDoc content. Use a standard AsciiDoc link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlaZ65-b7y0[Link text for the video]
Breaks
// thematic break (aka horizontal rule)
---
// page break
<<<