AsciiDoc

GitLab uses the Asciidoctor gem to convert AsciiDoc content to HTML5. Consult the Asciidoctor User Manual for a complete Asciidoctor reference.

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 will preserve 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 monospaced font:

 This literal paragraph is indented with one space.
 As a consequence, *text formatting*, spaces,
 and lines breaks will be preserved.

An admonition paragraph grabs 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, etc.
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
***** etc.
* 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

include::basics.adoc[]

// define -a allow-uri-read to allow content to be read from URI
include::https://example.org/installation.adoc[]

To guarantee good system performance and prevent malicious documents causing problems, GitLab enforces a maximum limit on the number of include directives processed in any one document. Currently a total of 32 documents can be included, a number that is inclusive of transitive dependencies.

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
|===

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]

video::aHjpOzsQ9YI[youtube]

video::300817511[vimeo]

Breaks

// thematic break (aka horizontal rule)
---

// page break
<<<