code2md

code2md is a command-line tool that converts code from a specified directory into a Markdown file. It supports multiple programming languages and allows for customization through command-line flags.

Installation

From Released Binaries

For the easiest installation, download a pre-built binary.

Download the Binary:

• Go to the releases page.

• Download the latest binary for your operating system.

• Windows

  • Rename the downloaded file to code2md.exe.
  • Place the binary in a directory that is included in your system's PATH, such as C:\Windows, or add the directory containing code2md.exe to your PATH environment variable.

• Linux/Mac:

  1. Rename the binary based on your architecture:

     mv code2md-linux-amd64 code2md    # For Linux AMD64
     mv code2md-linux-arm64 code2md    # For Linux ARM64
     mv code2md-darwin-amd64 code2md   # For macOS AMD64
     mv code2md-darwin-arm64 code2md   # For macOS ARM64

  2. make the binary executable and move it to /usr/local/bin

     chmod +x code2md
     sudo mv code2md /usr/local/bin/
     sudo chown root:root /usr/local/bin/code2md

From Source

1. Requirements: Install the following dependencies

   • Git to clone this repository
   • Go 1.18 or later
   • Make (for build and installation tasks)

2. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/ahoehne/code2md.git
   cd code2md

3. Build the application:

   make build

4. Install the application:

   sudo make install

Usage

Build the Application

To build the application for multiple platforms, run:

make buildall

Run Tests

To run the tests, use:

make test

Example Command

To convert code from the current directory into a Markdown file named code.md, use the following command:

code2md -i . -o code.md

Command-Line Flags

Flag	Short	Description
--input	-i	Input directory to scan (required)
--output	-o	Output Markdown file (optional, defaults to stdout)
--languages	-l	Comma-separated list of allowed languages (extensions or names)
--ignore	-I	Comma-separated ignore patterns
--max-file-size	-m	Maximum file size in bytes (default: 100MB)
--help	-h	Show help
--version	-v	Show version information

Ignoring Files

Files are excluded in three ways:

1. .gitignore files in the input directory (including nested ones) are respected with gitignore semantics.
2. --ignore patterns use the same syntax and replace the built-in defaults (*.yaml,*.yml,*.xml).
3. The .git directory and the output file itself are always skipped.

Pattern syntax follows .gitignore:

• *.log matches at any depth; * and ? never cross /
• build matches a file or directory named build at any depth
• build/ matches directories only
• /build or src/build are anchored to the input directory root
• ** matches any number of directories (docs/**, a/**/b, **/file.txt)
• !pattern re-includes a previously ignored file; the last matching pattern wins

Language manifest files (pom.xml, package.json, go.mod, ...) of enabled languages bypass the built-in default patterns, but never patterns you pass via --ignore or .gitignore.

Supported Languages

• On by default: php, go, js, mjs, cjs, ts, mts, cts, jsx, tsx, py, sh, java, c, h, cpp, cc, cxx, hpp, hh, cs, rs, Dockerfile
• Opt-in via -l: md, html, scss, css, json, yaml, yml, xml, toml, sql

Hint: getting the generated file into clipboard

These commands copy the contents of code.md into the clipboard.

Linux (xclip)

xclip -sel clip < code.md

macOS (pbcopy)

pbcopy < code.md

Windows (clip)

clip < code.md

Contributing

Contributions are welcome. Please open an issue or submit a pull request.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.