Tools Reference

doc-utils provides nine specialized CLI tools for maintaining AsciiDoc documentation repositories. Each tool is designed to handle a specific aspect of documentation maintenance.

Available Tools

🔍 validate-links

Validates all links in AsciiDoc documentation, checking for broken URLs and missing references.

Key Features:

  • URL transposition for preview/staging validation
  • Concurrent link checking with caching
  • Resolves AsciiDoc attributes before validation
  • Supports external URLs, internal refs, and images
  • Multiple output formats (text, JSON, JUnit)

Quick Usage:

validate-links --transpose "https://docs.redhat.com--https://preview.docs.redhat.com"

🔗 extract-link-attributes

Extracts link and xref macros containing attributes into reusable attribute definitions.

Key Features:

  • Creates centralized link management in attributes files
  • Handles link text variations intelligently
  • Reuses existing attributes on subsequent runs
  • Interactive and non-interactive modes
  • Preserves macro type (link vs xref)
  • NEW: Validates link attributes for broken URLs

Quick Usage:

extract-link-attributes --dry-run

# With link validation
extract-link-attributes --validate-links --fail-on-broken

🔗 replace-link-attributes

Resolves Vale AsciiDocDITA LinkAttribute issues by replacing attribute references in link URLs with their actual values.

Key Features:

  • Fixes Vale LinkAttribute rule: “DITA 1.3 does not allow references to reusable content in link URLs”
  • Replaces attributes in link: and xref: macros
  • Preserves link text unchanged
  • Interactive attribute file selection
  • Dry-run mode for previewing changes

Quick Usage:

replace-link-attributes --dry-run

📝 format-asciidoc-spacing

Standardizes AsciiDoc formatting by ensuring proper spacing after headings and around include directives.

Key Features:

  • Adds blank lines after headings (=, ==, ===, etc.)
  • Adds blank lines around include:: directives
  • Dry-run mode for previewing changes
  • Verbose mode for detailed output

Quick Usage:

format-asciidoc-spacing --dry-run modules/

🔍 check-scannability

Analyzes document readability by checking sentence and paragraph length against best practices.

Key Features:

  • Configurable sentence length limits (default: 22 words)
  • Configurable paragraph length limits (default: 3 sentences)
  • Detailed reports showing specific issues
  • Support for exclusion lists

Quick Usage:

check-scannability --max-words 25 --max-sentences 4

🗄️ archive-unused-files

Finds and optionally archives unreferenced AsciiDoc files in your documentation repository.

Key Features:

  • Automatic detection of repository type (OpenShift-docs or traditional)
  • Smart directory discovery
  • Preview mode by default (requires –archive flag to delete)
  • Creates timestamped archive with manifest

Quick Usage:

# Preview unused files
archive-unused-files

# Archive and remove unused files
archive-unused-files --archive

🖼️ archive-unused-images

Identifies and archives image files that are no longer referenced in your documentation.

Key Features:

  • Supports multiple image formats (PNG, JPG, GIF, SVG)
  • Scans all AsciiDoc files for image references
  • Preview mode by default
  • Creates organized archive structure

Quick Usage:

# Preview unused images
archive-unused-images

# Archive and remove unused images
archive-unused-images --archive

🏷️ find-unused-attributes

Scans for AsciiDoc attribute definitions that are declared but never used in your documentation.

Key Features:

  • Analyzes attribute definition files
  • Searches entire repository for attribute usage
  • Detailed output showing unused attributes
  • Option to save results to file

Quick Usage:

find-unused-attributes attributes.adoc
find-unused-attributes attributes.adoc --output unused.txt

🔄 convert-callouts-to-deflist

Converts AsciiDoc code blocks with callout-style annotations to cleaner definition list format.

Key Features:

  • Converts callouts (<1>, <2>) to definition lists with “where:” prefix
  • Automatically scans all .adoc files recursively
  • Intelligent value extraction from code and explanations
  • Preserves optional markers and non-sequential callouts
  • Validation ensures callout numbers match
  • Exclusion list support for directories and files
  • Heredoc-aware pattern matching

Quick Usage:

# Process current directory (.vale excluded by default)
convert-callouts-to-deflist --dry-run

# Process specific directory with additional exclusions
convert-callouts-to-deflist --dry-run --exclude-dir archive modules/

Common Options

All tools support these common options for excluding files and directories:

Exclusion Options 

# Exclude specific directories
--exclude-dir ./modules/temp --exclude-dir ./modules/old

# Exclude specific files
--exclude-file ./README.adoc --exclude-file ./test.adoc

# Use an exclusion list file
--exclude-list .docutils-ignore

Exclusion List File Format

Create a .docutils-ignore file:

# Comments are supported
./modules/deprecated/
./assemblies/archive/
./images/temp/
specific-file.adoc

Repository Type Detection

doc-utils automatically detects your repository structure:

OpenShift-docs Style

  • Looks for _topic_maps/*.yml files
  • Parses YAML topic maps for file references
  • Supports nested topic structures

Traditional AsciiDoc

  • Looks for master.adoc files
  • Follows include:: directives
  • Supports standard AsciiDoc structure

Safety Features

All archive tools include built-in safety features:

  1. Preview by Default - Tools show what would be affected without making changes
  2. Explicit Archive Flag - Deletion requires --archive flag
  3. Timestamped Backups - Archives include timestamp and manifest
  4. Clear Warnings - Tools display safety warnings when running

Best Practices

  1. Always work in a git branch before running any tools
  2. Use preview/dry-run modes first to understand what will change
  3. Review changes with git diff before committing
  4. Test your documentation builds after making changes
  5. Keep exclusion lists updated for files that should never be processed

Getting Help

Each tool has a built-in help command:

validate-links --help
extract-link-attributes --help
replace-link-attributes --help
format-asciidoc-spacing --help
check-scannability --help
archive-unused-files --help
archive-unused-images --help
find-unused-attributes --help
convert-callouts-to-deflist --help