Skip to main content
Pre-release

This release is a pre-release and may not be stable for production use.

= AsciiDoctrine
Michael R. Bernstein <zopemaven@gmail.com>
v0.1.0
:toc: left
:icons: font
:idprefix:
:idseparator: -
:sectanchors:
:sectlinks:
:source-highlighter: highlight.js

image:https://img.shields.io/pypi/v/asciidoctrine.svg[PyPI Version, link=https://pypi.org/project/asciidoctrine/]
image:https://img.shields.io/badge/License-Apache_2.0-blue.svg[License, link=https://opensource.org/licenses/Apache-2.0]
image:https://img.shields.io/badge/python-3.10--3.14-blue.svg[Python Version]
image:https://img.shields.io/badge/coverage-82%25-green.svg[Coverage, link=https://github.com/webmaven/asciidoctrine/actions/workflows/ci.yml]
image:https://img.shields.io/badge/status-alpha-orange.svg[Development Status]
image:https://img.shields.io/badge/docs-GitHub_Pages-blue[Documentation, link=https://webmaven.github.io/asciidoctrine/]

A high-performance, pure-Python AsciiDoc parser built with Lark, designed for compatibility with the official AsciiDoc specification and the TCK.

* *Documentation*: link:https://webmaven.github.io/asciidoctrine/[https://webmaven.github.io/asciidoctrine/]
* *PyPI Package*: link:https://pypi.org/project/asciidoctrine/[https://pypi.org/project/asciidoctrine/]

== Motivation

The Python ecosystem has long lacked a modern, maintainable, and specification-compliant AsciiDoc parser. Existing tools are often port-based or rely on regex-heavy implementations that struggle with the complex, context-sensitive nature of AsciiDoc.

AsciiDoctrine is built from the ground up to provide:

1. **Spec Alignment**: Strict adherence to the upcoming official AsciiDoc Language Specification.
2. **First-Class AST**: A structured, type-safe Abstract Syntax Tree that makes building renderers and static analysis tools a breeze.
3. **Performance**: Leveraging the Lark parsing engine for efficient processing of large documents.

== Architecture

The parser operates in a multi-pass pipeline to handle the inherent complexity of AsciiDoc:

[source,mermaid]
....
graph LR
A[Source] --> B(Lark Parser)
B --> C[Concrete Syntax Tree]
C --> D(Transformer)
D --> E[Structured AST]
E --> F(Semantic Passes)
F --> G[Resolved ASG]
....

* **AST (Abstract Syntax Tree)**: Represented in `nodes.py`, this is a structural tree of the document elements.
* **ASG (Abstract Semantic Graph)**: The final resolved state where attributes, cross-references, and includes are fully processed.

== Technical Choices

* **Lark Parsing Engine**: We use Lark because it supports multiple parsing algorithms (Earley, LALR) and has an experimental PEG mode. This allow us to handle the context-sensitive nature of AsciiDoc without the maintenance nightmare of large regex collections.
* **Two-Pass Pipeline**: Handling attributes and includes requires knowing the state of the whole document. Our multi-pass approach ensures that we can resolve semantic details (like cross-references) correctly.
* **Pure Python**: Zero C-extensions means easy installation on all platforms including Pyodide and WebAssembly.

== Installation & Setup

End-users can install the official, stable release of AsciiDoctrine from link:https://pypi.org/project/asciidoctrine/[PyPI]:

[source,bash]
----
pip install asciidoctrine
----

For developers and contributors, the recommended "happy path" is to set up a local virtual environment and install AsciiDoctrine in editable development mode:

[source,bash]
----
# 1. Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/webmaven/asciidoctrine.git
cd asciidoctrine

# 2. Create and activate a Python virtual environment
python3 -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate

# 3. Install in development mode with test and documentation dependencies
pip install -e ".[test,docs]"
----

> [!NOTE]
> This package is currently under active development in tandem with the official TCK integration.

== Quick Start

AsciiDoctrine implements a two-pass resolution pipeline. First, parse the raw source to a syntax-level AST. Then, resolve the AST to a semantic, queryable Abstract Semantic Graph (ASG):

[source,python]
----
from asciidoctrine import parse_to_ast
from asciidoctrine.resolver import ASGResolver

source = """
== Section Title
This is a *bold* word in a paragraph.
"""

# 1. Parse raw source to syntax-level AST
ast = parse_to_ast(source)

# 2. Resolve to semantic ASG (resolves attributes, includes, and filters comments)
resolver = ASGResolver(ast)
asg = resolver.resolve(ast)

# Iterate through sections in the ASG blocks list
for block in asg.get("blocks", []):
if block.get("name") == "section":
# The title is a list of inline nodes in the ASG schema
title_nodes = block.get("title", [])
title_text = "".join(node.get("value", "") for node in title_nodes if node.get("name") == "text")
print(f"Found section: {title_text}")
----

=== ASG Representation

Calling `asg.to_dict()` yields a structured, spec-compliant representation matching the official AsciiDoc Language ASG schema:

[source,json]
----
{
"name": "document",
"type": "block",
"blocks": [
{
"name": "section",
"type": "block",
"level": 1,
"title": {
"name": "title",
"type": "inline",
"inlines": [
{ "name": "text", "type": "string", "value": "Section Title" }
]
},
"blocks": [
{
"name": "paragraph",
"type": "block",
"inlines": [
{ "name": "text", "type": "string", "value": "This is a " },
{
"name": "span",
"type": "inline",
"variant": "strong",
"form": "constrained",
"inlines": [
{ "name": "text", "type": "string", "value": "bold" }
]
},
{ "name": "text", "type": "string", "value": " word in a paragraph." }
]
}
]
}
],
"attributes": {}
}
----

== Roadmap to Syntax Parity

The path to 1:1 syntactic specification compliance is tracked through the following phases:

[cols="1,3,1"]
|===
| Phase | Focus | Status

| **0** | **Foundations**: PEG/Earley grammar, structured AST, and TCK test harness. | ✅
| **1** | **Advanced Blocks**: Admonitions ✅, Sidebars ✅, Source blocks ✅, Example blocks ✅, and Open blocks ✅. | ✅
| **2** | **Document Infra**: Headers ✅, dynamic attribute resolution ✅, and multi-file includes ✅. | ✅
| **3** | **Tables & Description Lists**: Nested/mixed description lists, checklists ✅, and advanced table formatting/spans ✅. | ✅
| **4** | **Testing & Developer Experience**: Callout stripping, strict AST syntax auditing ✅, and precise source location coordinate tracking ✅. | ✅
| **5** | **Structural Resolution & SSG**: TOC outline extraction ✅, cross-references (`xref`) ✅, and bare URL/email autolinks ✅. | ✅
| **6** | **Sphinx Extension Support**: 100% Docutils node visitor coverage ✅, metadata alignment ✅, and permissive error recovery ✅. | ✅
| **7** | **Spec & TCK Conformance**: Authoring language specification modules, ASG schema convergence, and upstream TCK contributions. | 🔄
|===

== Project Structure

[source,text]
----
asciidoctrine/
├── src/
│ └── asciidoctrine/ # Core parser logic
│ ├── grammar.lark # EBNF Grammar
│ ├── lark_parser.py # Transformer and Parser entry point
│ ├── nodes.py # AST Node definitions
│ └── __init__.py # Public API
├── examples/ # Real-world usage samples
├── tests/ # Unit and integration tests
├── pyproject.toml # Build configuration
└── README.adoc # This file
----

== Testing & Compliance

We prioritize correctness by testing against three fronts:
1. **Unit & Integration Tests**: Granular tests for grammar and semantic components.
2. **External Corpus (DocTest)**: Real-world examples from the `asciidoctor-doctest` corpus.
3. **TCK (Technology Compatibility Kit)**: Direct compliance with the official AsciiDoc Language TCK suite.

Run the stable Pytest suite locally with:
[source,bash]
----
pytest -k "not functional"
----

Run the official TCK test suite with:
[source,bash]
----
./run-tck.sh
----

== Self-Hosted Documentation

This project's documentation is authored entirely in AsciiDoc, compiled using Sphinx along with the dedicated `sphinx_asciidoctrine` plugin, and published online at link:https://webmaven.github.io/asciidoctrine/[https://webmaven.github.io/asciidoctrine/]!

Build and view the documentation locally:
[source,bash]
----
# Compile HTML documentation
sphinx-build -b html docs/ docs/_build/html

# Open in your browser (macOS example)
open docs/_build/html/index.html
----

== Contributing

We welcome contributions! Please see link:CONTRIBUTING.adoc[CONTRIBUTING.adoc] for detailed development workflow guidelines, TCK compliance processes, and code style.

== License

Distributed under the **Apache License 2.0**. See link:LICENSE[LICENSE] for details.

Download files

Download the file for your platform. If you're not sure which to choose, learn more about installing packages.

Source Distribution

asciidoctrine-0.2.0a4.tar.gz (163.3 kB view details)

Uploaded Source

Built Distribution

If you're not sure about the file name format, learn more about wheel file names.

asciidoctrine-0.2.0a4-py3-none-any.whl (76.7 kB view details)

Uploaded Python 3

File details

Details for the file asciidoctrine-0.2.0a4.tar.gz.

File metadata

  • Download URL: asciidoctrine-0.2.0a4.tar.gz
  • Upload date:
  • Size: 163.3 kB
  • Tags: Source
  • Uploaded using Trusted Publishing? No
  • Uploaded via: twine/6.2.0 CPython/3.14.5

File hashes

Hashes for asciidoctrine-0.2.0a4.tar.gz
Algorithm Hash digest
SHA256 acce0ec484b892c137ad7b22fdc92367f3824fff012946a838f29c857506f598
MD5 d53dfa424f377247f1b194f476b70039
BLAKE2b-256 d78f12cc47cfdcd24dc22949b3c12982dcbbd52d90d4ab8423cad1dce71f6169

See more details on using hashes here.

File details

Details for the file asciidoctrine-0.2.0a4-py3-none-any.whl.

File metadata

File hashes

Hashes for asciidoctrine-0.2.0a4-py3-none-any.whl
Algorithm Hash digest
SHA256 717f99cc49aa4b33ac1b677b1982e82a4492a00e123fc04ba67ba97b896bbaab
MD5 cce22c547a870db8c71b844ea486620e
BLAKE2b-256 2cd692986e9cd320e428e2ad68332f0cd915ae4626adc44cab8afdd9665e2ecd

See more details on using hashes here.

Anthropic, PBC Visionary sponsor Bloomberg Visionary sponsor Hudson River Trading Visionary sponsor Meta Visionary sponsor NVIDIA Visionary sponsor Microsoft Sustainability sponsor Depot Continuous Integration AWS Cloud computing and Security Sponsor Datadog Monitoring Fastly CDN Google Download Analytics Sentry Error logging StatusPage Status page