Documentation

Table of Contents

Overview
Advanced configuration
Features
Options
Mixins
Examples
Contributing
Authors
License

Overview

In general, the conventions used by this task are as follows:

Templates

Files with extension .tmpl.md are generally templates that will be compiled one-to-one into documents
Files with extension .md are generally intended to be used as includes.
{%= _.doc("foo") %} is used to included files from your project's ./docs directory
{%= _.include("foo") %} is used to include boilerplate files from grunt-readme

Advanced configuration

To change the plugin's defaults, add a section to your project's Gruntfile named readme to the data object passed into grunt.initConfig():

grunt.initConfig({
  // The "repos" task
  repos: {
    options: {}
  },

  // The "readme" task
  readme: {
    options: {
      metadata: {}
    }
  }
});
grunt.loadNpmTasks('grunt-readme');
grunt.registerTask('default', ['readme']);

Features

YAML Front Matter

Add YAML front matter to documents to extend the metadata that is supplied to your project's templates.

---
username: jonschlinkert
---

This is probably most useful when:

You need to use the same or similar templates on a number of different projects
You want to supply data to the templates that won't typically be found in package.json

Code Comments

Code comments may be used in markdown templates, and they will be stripped from the rendered README as long as they adhere to the following syntax:

{{!-- foo --}}
{{! foo }}
{{!foo}}

Escaping

Escaping hashes

This task automatically adjusts heading levels in included templates. For example, # is adjusted to ##, so that heading levels "line up" properly after the README is built.

This can cause problems if you're using hashes for a reason other than headings, such as CSS Id's in code comments. So to prevent grunt-readme from converting #id {} to ##id {}, just add a single backtick before the hash: `#id {}.

Escaping Lo-Dash templates

To prevent Lo-Dash from attempting to evaluat templates that shouldn't be (as with code examples), just use square brackets instead of curly braces in any templates that have similar patterns to these: {%= .. %}, {%- .. %}, and {% .. %}. The square brackets will be replaced with curly braces in the rendered output.

Options

Overview of available options

Also see examples →

readme: {
  options: {
    readme: '',
    templates: '',
    metadata: '',
    sep: '\n',
    prefixes: [],
    contributing: true
  }
}

readme

Type: String Default: ./node_modules/grunt-readme/tasks/templates/README.tmpl.md

By default, if no options are specified the task will look for a README.md.tmpl template to use, if none is found the task will use the "starter" file supplied by grunt-readme (more detail below). Example:

readme: {
  options: {
    readme: 'path/to/custom/README.md.tmpl'
  }
}

If the readme options is defined, the task will use that custom template.
If (1) is undefined, the task uses the directory defined by options: { docs: ''}
If (2) is undefined, the task checks if README.tmpl.md exists in the ./docs directory (without having to define it in the options)
if (3) is undefined, options: { resolve: { readme: ''}} attempts to automagically use a README.tmpl.md template from node_modules. The module must must be defined in devDependencies. Note that for a README template to resolve properly from node_modules, the main property in the package.json of the module being referenced must specify the path to the template. This option is probably most useful when you plan to use the same README template on a number of projects.
If (4) is undefined, the task uses the "starter" README template from grunt-readme.

metadata

Type: Object Default: package.json

Optional source of metadata to extend the data object that is passed as context into the templates. Context of the data object is the value of this, and properties in package.json will be ignored when matching properties are defined on the metadata object. Example:

readme: {
  options: {
    metadata: {
      name: 'Foo',
      description: 'This is foo.'
    }
  }
}

data files

Or specify the path or paths to any .json or .yml files to use. Any of the following formats will work:

readme: {
  options: {
    metadata: 'docs/metadata.json'
  }
}

Array of files:

readme: {
  options: {
    metadata: ['docs/one.json', 'docs/two.yml'],
  }
}

minimatch (wilcard/globbing) patterns:

readme: {
  options: {
    metadata: ['docs/*.{json,yml}', 'foo.json']
  }
}

Since context is the value of "this", the metadata path is not required in templates, only property names:

{%= name %} (e.g. not {%= metadata.name %}) => Foo
{%= description %} => This is foo.

docs

Type: String Default: ./docs/

Override the default directory for files included using {%= _.doc('foo.md') %}. This defaults to the ./docs directory in the root of your project.

readme: {
  options: {
    docs: 'foo/'
  }
}

templates

Type: String Default: ./node_modules/grunt-readme/tasks/templates/ (relative to your project)

Override the default cwd for files included by using {%= _.include('foo.md') %}. By default, the include mixin will look for files in ./node_modules/grunt-readme/tasks/templates directory, where some starter templates are stored. (Also see examples →)

readme: {
  options: {
    templates: 'bar/'
  }
}

remove

Type: Array Default: grunt|helper|mixin

Any string defined in the remove will be removed from the content passed in using the {%= _.shortname() %} template. Example:

readme: {
  options: {
    remove: ["foo", "bar", "baz"]
  }
}

Given a package.json with the following property:

{
  "name": "foo-module"
}

when referenced in a template like this:

## {%= _.titleize(_.shortname(name)) %}

will renders to:

## Module

contributing

Type: Boolean Default: True

By default, the README task copies a basic CONTRIBUTING.md file to the root of your project. If one exists, the task will skip this. If you wish to prevent the task from adding this file to your project, set the contributing option to false.

sep

Type: String Default: \n

Separator to use between sections of content that is included using the include or doc mixins (more about these in the "Mixins" section below). This option is more useful when you use minimatch patterns to specify the files to include.

The sep option can either be defined in the task options:

readme: {
  options: {
    sep: '\n***\n'
  }
}

or as a second parameter in the include or doc mixins.

{%= _.include("docs-*.md", "***") %} (more below...)
{%= _.doc("*.md", "\n***\n") %} (more below...)

Mixins

Mixins use the following formats:

_.mixin(): when used in JavaScript
{%= _.mixin() %}: when used in templates

"include" mixins

Three different mixins are built into the task for including "external" content: include, doc and resolve. Each is used for a different purpose.

Here is a summary of what they do (settings for the include and doc mixins can be customized in the task options):

{%= _.include("file.md") %}: include a file (or files using minimatch patterns) from the ./templates/ directory of the grunt-readme task.
{%= _.doc("file.md") %}: include a file (or files using minimatch patterns) from the ./docs/ directory of your project.
{%= _.resolve("file.md") %}: include a specific file from node_modules`.
{%= _.contrib("file.md") %}: include a file (or files using minimatch patterns) from the ./contrib/ directory of the grunt-readme task. This mixin is for the Assemble.

_.include()

Use the include mixin in templates to pull in content from other files:

{%= _.include("examples.md") %}

Minimatch patterns may also be used:

{%= _.include("docs-*.md") %}

Unless overridden in the templates option, the include mixin will use the ./node_modules/grunt-readme/tasks/templates/ directory (from the root of your project) as the cwd for templates.

_.doc()

Same as the include mixin but is hard-coded to use the docs/ folder of your project as the cwd for templates.

_.resolve()

Use the resolve mixin in templates to include content from named NPM modules listed in devDependencies:

{%= _.resolve("my-boilerplate-readme") %}

where my-boilerplate-readme is the name of a devDependency currently installed in node_modules.

For the resolve mixin to work:

The referenced file must be listed in the devDependencies of your project's package.json,
It must be installed in node_modules, and
The referenced project must have the file defined in the main property of that project's package.json.
Last, in your templates make sure you use the name of the module, not the name of the file to "include".

example In the package.json of the project that will store your templates, you might do something like:

{
  "name": "my-boilerplate-readme",
  "main": "README.tmpl.md"
}

convenience mixins

_.meta()

Get the value of any property in package.json. Example:

{%= _.meta('name') %}
{%= _.meta('version') %}
{%= _.meta('contributors') %}
{%= _.meta('keywords') %}

A second paramter can be passed in to set the indentation on returned JSON: {%= _.meta('contributors', 4) %}. This only works for stringified objects.

Also, if left undefined ({%= _.meta() %}) the mixin will return the entire metadata object (by default, this is the entire contents of package.json):

_.jsdocs()

Parse and extract comments from specified JavaScript files to generate output for each code comment block encountered.

{%= _.jsdocs("tasks/readme.js") %}

Currently, only the block is output and a link to the block in the source code is provided. This needs to be updated to only generate the markdown for jsdoc comments and to do something to make them more readable.

_.copyright()

Add a copyright statement, including the name of the author and the year, or range of years, the copyright is in effect. The primary advantage of using this is to ensure that the copyright dates are correct.

Parameters:

Number: Optionally define the start year of the project.

Examples:

{%= _.copyright() %}
// => Copyright (c) 2013 Jeffrey Herb, contributors.

{%= _.copyright('2011') %}
// => Copyright (c) 2011-2013 Jeffrey Herb, contributors.

_.license()

Add a "license statement" to the README, using the license(s) specified in package.json. If you maintain a number of projects, some of which might have more than one license, while others only have one, you can use the _.license() mixin to automate the process of adding license info.

Examples:

{%= _.license() %}

Released under the MIT license

Customize the output:

{%= _.license('Licensed under the ') %}

Licensed under the MIT license

_.contributors()

Render contributors listed in the project's package.json.

_.username()

Extract the username or org from URLs in the project's package.json. The mixin will extract the username from the homepage property if it exists. If not, it will try to extract the username from the git.url property.

_.homepage()

Extract the homepage URL from the project's package.json. If a homepage property doesn't exist, the mixin will create a homepage URL using the value defined in the git.url property.

Examples

Template Examples

Copy/paste any of these examples into your templates as a starting point.

Name

{%= name %}

grunt-readme

Version

{%= version %}
v{%= version %}
{%= version ? " v" + version : "" %}
{%= version ? " * @version " + version + "\\n" : "" %}

0.1.3 v0.1.3 v0.1.3

@version 0.1.3\n

Description

{%= description %}
{%= description ? " * " + description + "\\n" : "" %}

Generate your README from a template. If you already use Grunt, this is a no brainer.

Generate your README from a template. If you already use Grunt, this is a no brainer.\n

Homepage

{%= homepage ? " | " + homepage : "" %}
{%= homepage ? " * " + homepage + "\n" : "" %}
{%= homepage ? " * @docs " + homepage + "\\n" : "" %}

| https:/assemble/grunt-readme

https:/assemble/grunt-readme

@docs https:/assemble/grunt-readme\n

[AUTHORS](NPM https://npmjs.org/doc/json.html)

If there is an AUTHORS file in the root of your package, npm will treat each line as a Name <email> (url) format, where email and url are optional. Lines which start with a # or are blank, will be ignored. [-- NPM]((NPM https://npmjs.org/doc/json.html)

To use author data from package.json:

[{%= author.name %}]({%= author.url %})

Jon schlinkert

{%= author.name ? " * @author " + author.name + "\\n" : "" %}
{%= author.url ? " * @link " + author.url + "\\n" : "" %}

@author Jon Schlinkert\n

@link https:/jonschlinkert\n

Or, if you prefer to use an AUTHORS file in the root of the project:

[{%= authors[0].name %}]({%= authors[0].url %})

Jon schlinkert Brian Woodward

Time and date

{%= grunt.template.today() %}

Tue Sep 17 2013 18:38:42

{%= grunt.template.today("yyyy") %}

2013

{%= grunt.template.today("yyyy-mm-dd") %}

2013-09-17

_This file was generated on {%= grunt.template.date("fullDate") %}._

This file was generated on Monday, September 30, 2013.

Banner

/*!
 * {%= name %} v{%= version %},  {%= grunt.template.today("yyyy-mm-dd") %}
 * {%= homepage %}
 * Copyright (c) {%= grunt.template.today("yyyy") %} {%= author %}, contributors.
 * {%= _.license() %}.
 */

/*!

grunt-readme v0.1.3, 2013-09-22
https:/assemble/grunt-readme
Released under the MIT license. */

Changelog / Release History

{%= _.include("docs-changelog.md") %}

2013-09-21 v0.1.3 Completely refactored. Adds a lot of documentation.

2013-09-19 v0.1.0 First commmit.

Or:

 * {%= grunt.template.today('yyyy') %}   v0.1.0   First commit

2013 v0.1.0 First commit

License

{%= _.license() %}

Released under the MIT license.

Contributors

{%= _.contributors() %}

Jon Schlinkert Brian Woodward

Metadata

You can mix and match formats in the metadata option, all of the following shoulw work:

grunt.initConfig({
  pkg: 'package.json',
  foo: 'package.json',
  bar: grunt.file.readJSON('package.json'),
  qux: grunt.file.readJSON('test/fixtures/data/one.json'),
  baz: ['<%= bar %>'],

  config: {
    one: 'test/fixtures/data/one.json',
    two: 'test/fixtures/data/two.yml',
    three: 'test/fixtures/data/three.json',
    pkg: grunt.file.readJSON('package.json'),
    qux: grunt.file.readJSON('test/fixtures/data/one.json')
  },


  // Obviously you can't have duplicate properties on an
  // object, so this is just for illustrative purposes
  // The point is.. you can get just about as crazy as you want.
  readme: {
    options: {
      metadata: ['<%= pkg %>', '<%= qux %>'],
      metadata: ['<%= config.pkg %>', '<%= config.qux %>'],
      metadata: ['<%= pkg %>', {foo: 'bar'}],
      metadata: ['<%= pkg %>', 'test/fixtures/data/*.{json,yml}'],
      metadata: '<%= config.one %>',
      metadata: 'test/fixtures/data/one.json',
      metadata: ['test/fixtures/data/one.json', 'test/fixtures/data/two.yml'],
      metadata: ['test/fixtures/data/two.yml', {description: 'Foo', name: 'Bar'}, '<%= pkg %>', 'test/fixtures/data/*.json', {alpha: 1, beta: 2 }, {kappa: 3, gamma: 4 }, {zed: {orange: 5, apple: 6 } }, '<%= config.one %>', {name: 'New'}, {quux: '<%= qux %>'}, ['one', {pkg: '<%= config.pkg %>'}, 'three'], {arr: ['one', 'two', 'three']}],
      metadata: ['<%= config.one %>', '<%= config.two %>'], metadata: 'test/fixtures/data/*.{json,yml}',
      metadata: ['test/fixtures/data/*.{json,yml}'],
      metadata: ['test/fixtures/data/*.json', 'test/fixtures/data/*.yml'],
      metadata: ['test/fixtures/data/*.json', '<%= config.two %>'],
      metadata: {
        description: 'Foo',
        name: 'Bar'
      }
    }
  }
}

Contributing

Find a bug? Have a feature request? Please create an Issue.

In lieu of a formal styleguide, take care to maintain the existing coding style. Add unit tests for any new or changed functionality. Lint and test your code using grunt, and build the documentation with grunt-readme.

Pull requests are also encouraged, and if you find this project useful please consider "starring" it to show your support! Thanks!

Authors

Jon Schlinkert

github/jonschlinkert
twitter/jonschlinkert

Brian Woodward

github/doowb
twitter/doowb

License

This file was generated by grunt-readme on Saturday, December 14, 2013.

Files

DOCS.md

Latest commit

History

DOCS.md

File metadata and controls

Documentation

Overview

Advanced configuration

Features

YAML Front Matter

Code Comments

Escaping

Escaping hashes

Escaping Lo-Dash templates

Options

Overview of available options

readme

metadata

data files

docs

templates

remove

contributing

sep

Mixins

"include" mixins

_.include()

_.doc()

_.resolve()

convenience mixins

_.meta()

_.jsdocs()

_.copyright()

_.license()

_.contributors()

_.username()

_.homepage()

Examples

Template Examples

Name

Version

Description

Homepage

[AUTHORS](NPM https://npmjs.org/doc/json.html)

Time and date

Banner

Changelog / Release History

License

Contributors

Metadata

Contributing

Authors

License