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# The TOC tree

Since reST does not have facilities to interconnect several documents, or split documents into multiple output files, Sphinx uses a custom directive to add relations between the single files the documentation is made of, as well as tables of contents. The `toctree` directive is the central element.

Note

Simple “inclusion” of one file in another can be done with the include directive.

`.. toctree::`

  This directive inserts a “TOC tree” at the current location, using the individual TOCs (including “sub-TOC trees”) of the documents given in the directive body. Relative document names (not beginning with a slash) are relative to the document the directive occurs in, absolute names are relative to the source directory. A numeric `maxdepth` option may be given to indicate the depth of the tree; by default, all levels are included. [1]

  Consider this example (taken from the Python docs’ library reference index):

      .. toctree::
         :maxdepth: 2

         intro
         strings
         datatypes
         numeric
         (many more documents listed here)

  This accomplishes two things:

  - Tables of contents from all those documents are inserted, with a maximum depth of two, that means one nested heading. `toctree` directives in those documents are also taken into account.
  - Sphinx knows the relative order of the documents `intro`, `strings` and so forth, and it knows that they are children of the shown document, the library index. From this information it generates “next chapter”, “previous chapter” and “parent chapter” links.

  Entries

  Document titles in the `toctree` will be automatically read from the title of the referenced document. If that isn’t what you want, you can specify an explicit title and target using a similar syntax to reST hyperlinks (and Sphinx’s cross-referencing syntax). This looks like:

      .. toctree::

         intro
         All about strings <strings>
         datatypes

  The second line above will link to the `strings` document, but will use the title “All about strings” instead of the title of the `strings` document.

  You can also add external links, by giving an HTTP URL instead of a document name.

  Section numbering

  If you want to have section numbers even in HTML output, give the toplevel toctree a `numbered` option. For example:

      .. toctree::
         :numbered:

         foo
         bar

  Numbering then starts at the heading of `foo`. Sub-toctrees are automatically numbered (don’t give the `numbered` flag to those).

  Numbering up to a specific depth is also possible, by giving the depth as a numeric argument to `numbered`.

  Additional options

  You can use `caption` option to provide a toctree caption and you can use `name` option to provide implicit target name that can be referenced by using `ref`:

      .. toctree::
         :caption: Table of Contents
         :name: mastertoc

         foo

  If you want only the titles of documents in the tree to show up, not other headings of the same level, you can use the `titlesonly` option:

      .. toctree::
         :titlesonly:

         foo
         bar

  You can use “globbing” in toctree directives, by giving the `glob` flag option. All entries are then matched against the list of available documents, and matches are inserted into the list alphabetically. Example:

      .. toctree::
         :glob:

         intro*
         recipe/*
         *

  This includes first all documents whose names start with `intro`, then all documents in the `recipe` folder, then all remaining documents (except the one containing the directive, of course.) [2]

  The special entry name `self` stands for the document containing the toctree directive. This is useful if you want to generate a “sitemap” from the toctree.

  You can use the `reversed` flag option to reverse the order of the entries in the list. This can be useful when using the `glob` flag option to reverse the ordering of the files. Example:

      .. toctree::
         :glob:
         :reversed:

         recipe/*

  You can also give a “hidden” option to the directive, like this:

      .. toctree::
         :hidden:

         doc_1
         doc_2

  This will still notify Sphinx of the document hierarchy, but not insert links into the document at the location of the directive – this makes sense if you intend to insert these links yourself, in a different style, or in the HTML sidebar.

  In cases where you want to have only one top-level toctree and hide all other lower level toctrees you can add the “includehidden” option to the top-level toctree entry:

      .. toctree::
         :includehidden:

         doc_1
         doc_2

  All other toctree entries can then be eliminated by the “hidden” option.

  In the end, all documents in the source directory (or subdirectories) must occur in some `toctree` directive; Sphinx will emit a warning if it finds a file that is not included, because that means that this file will not be reachable through standard navigation.

  Use `exclude_patterns` to explicitly exclude documents or directories from building completely. Use the “orphan” metadata to let a document be built, but notify Sphinx that it is not reachable via a toctree.

  The “master document” (selected by `master_doc`) is the “root” of the TOC tree hierarchy. It can be used as the documentation’s main page, or as a “full table of contents” if you don’t give a `maxdepth` option.

  Changed in version 0.3: Added “globbing” option.

  Changed in version 0.6: Added “numbered” and “hidden” options as well as external links and support for “self” references.

  Changed in version 1.0: Added “titlesonly” option.

  Changed in version 1.1: Added numeric argument to “numbered”.

  Changed in version 1.2: Added “includehidden” option.

  Changed in version 1.3: Added “caption” and “name” option.

## Special names

Sphinx reserves some document names for its own use; you should not try to create documents with these names – it will cause problems.

The special document names (and pages generated for them) are:

- `genindex`, `modindex`, `search`

  These are used for the general index, the Python module index, and the search page, respectively.

  The general index is populated with entries from modules, all index-generating object descriptions, and from `index` directives.

  The Python module index contains one entry per `py:module` directive.

  The search page contains a form that uses the generated JSON search index and JavaScript to full-text search the generated documents for search words; it should work on every major browser that supports modern JavaScript.

- every name beginning with `_`

  Though only few such names are currently used by Sphinx, you should not create documents or document-containing directories with such names. (Using `_` as a prefix for a custom template directory is fine.)

Warning

Be careful with unusual characters in filenames. Some formats may interpret these characters in unexpected ways:

- Do not use the colon `:` for HTML based formats. Links to other parts may not work.
- Do not use the plus `+` for the ePub format. Some resources may not be found.

Footnotes

[1] | The LaTeX writer only refers the `maxdepth` option of first toctree directive in the document.

[2] | A note on available globbing syntax: you can use the standard shell constructs `*`, `?`, `[...]` and `[!...]` with the feature that these all don’t match slashes. A double star `**` can be used to match any sequence of characters including slashes.