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https://github.com/joeyespo/grip

Preview GitHub README.md files locally before committing them.
https://github.com/joeyespo/grip

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Preview GitHub README.md files locally before committing them.

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README 

        
Grip -- GitHub Readme Instant Preview

=====================================



[![Current version on PyPI](http://img.shields.io/pypi/v/grip.svg)][pypi]

[![Say Thanks!](https://img.shields.io/badge/Say%20Thanks-!-1EAEDB.svg)](https://saythanks.io/to/joeyespo)



Render local readme files before sending off to GitHub.



Grip is a command-line server application written in Python that uses the

[GitHub markdown API][markdown] to render a local readme file. The styles

and rendering come directly from GitHub, so you'll know exactly how it will appear.

Changes you make to the Readme will be instantly reflected in the browser without

requiring a page refresh.



Motivation

----------



Sometimes you just want to see the exact readme

result before committing and pushing to GitHub.



Especially when doing [Readme-driven development][rdd].



Installation

------------



To install grip, simply:



```console

$ pip install grip

```



On OS X, you can also install with Homebrew:



```console

$ brew install grip

```



Usage

-----



To render the readme of a repository:



```console

$ cd myrepo

$ grip

 * Running on http://localhost:6419/

```



Now open a browser and visit [http://localhost:6419](http://localhost:6419/).

Or run with `-b` and Grip will open a new browser tab for you.



You can also specify a port:



```console

$ grip 80

 * Running on http://localhost:80/

```



Or an explicit file:



```console

$ grip AUTHORS.md

 * Running on http://localhost:6419/

```



Alternatively, you could just run `grip` and visit [localhost:6419/AUTHORS.md][AUTHORS.md]

since grip supports relative URLs.



You can combine the previous examples. Or specify a hostname instead of a port. Or provide both.



```console

$ grip AUTHORS.md 80

 * Running on http://localhost:80/

```



```console

$ grip CHANGES.md 0.0.0.0

 * Running on http://0.0.0.0:6419/

```



```console

$ grip . 0.0.0.0:80

 * Running on http://0.0.0.0:80/

```



You can even bypass the server and **export** to a single HTML file, with all the styles and assets inlined:



```console

$ grip --export

Exporting to README.html

```



Control the output name with the second argument:



```console

$ grip README.md --export index.html

Exporting to index.html

```



If you're exporting a bunch of files, you can prevent styles from being inlining to save space with `--no-inline`:



```console

$ grip README.md --export --no-inline introduction.html

Exporting to introduction.html

```



Reading and writing from **stdin** and **stdout** is also supported, allowing you to use Grip with other programs:



```console

$ cat README.md | grip -

 * Running on http://localhost:6419/

```



```console

$ grip AUTHORS.md --export - | bcat

```



```console

$ cat README.md | grip --export - | less

```



This allows you to quickly test how things look by entering Markdown directly in your terminal:



```console

$ grip -

Hello **world**!

^D

 * Running on http://localhost:6419/

```



*Note: `^D` means `Ctrl+D`, which works on Linux and OS X. On Windows you'll have to use `Ctrl+Z`.*



Rendering as user-content like **comments** and **issues** is also supported, with an optional repository context for linking to issues:



```console

$ grip --user-content --context=joeyespo/grip

 * Running on http://localhost:6419/

```



For more details and additional options, see the help:



```console

$ grip -h

```



Access

------



Grip strives to be as close to GitHub as possible. To accomplish this, grip

uses [GitHub's Markdown API][markdown] so that changes to their rendering

engine are reflected immediately without requiring you to upgrade grip.

However, because of this you may hit the API's hourly rate limit. If this

happens, grip offers a way to access the API using your credentials

to unlock a much higher rate limit.



```console

$ grip --user  --pass 

```



Or use a [personal access token][] with an empty scope (note that a token is

*required* if your GitHub account is set up with two-factor authentication):



```console

$ grip --pass 

```



You can persist these options [in your local configuration](#configuration).

For security purposes, it's highly recommended that you **use an access token

over a password**. (You could also keep your password safe by configuring

Grip to [grab your password from a password manager][keychain-access].)



There's also a [work-in-progress branch][offline-renderer] to provide

**offline rendering**. Once this resembles GitHub more precisely, it'll

be exposed in the CLI, and will ultimately be used as a seamless fallback

engine for when the API can't be accessed.



Grip always accesses GitHub over HTTPS,

so your README and credentials are protected.



Tips

----



Here's how others from the community are using Grip.



Want to share your own? [Say hello @joeyespo][twitter] or [submit a pull request](#contributing).



#### Create a local mirror of a Github Wiki



```console

$ git clone https://github.com/YOUR_USERNAME/YOUR_REPOSITORY.wiki.git

$ cd YOUR_REPOSITORY.wiki

$ grip

```



*By [Joshua Gourneau](https://twitter.com/gourneau/status/636329126643658753).*



#### Generate HTML documentation from a collection of linked README files



1. Enter the directory:



   ```console

   $ cd YOUR_DIR

   $ export GRIPURL=$(pwd)

   ```



2. Include all assets by setting the `CACHE_DIRECTORY` [config variable](#configuration):



   ```console

   $ echo "CACHE_DIRECTORY = '$(pwd)/assets'" >> ~/.grip/settings.py

   ```



3. Export all your Markdown files with Grip and replace absolute asset paths with relative paths:



   ```console

   $ for f in *.md; do grip --export $f --no-inline; done

   $ for f in *.html; do sed -i '' "s?$GRIPURL/??g" $f; done

   ```



You can optionally compress the set of HTML files to `docs.tgz` with:



   ```console

   $ tar -czvf docs.tgz `ls | grep [\.]html$` assets

   ```



Looking for a cross platform solution? Here's an equivalent [Python script](https://gist.github.com/mrexmelle/659abc02ae1295d60647).



*By [Matthew R. Tanudjaja](https://github.com/mrexmelle).*



Configuration

-------------



To customize Grip, create `~/.grip/settings.py`, then add one or more of the following variables:



- `HOST`: The host to use when not provided as a CLI argument, `localhost` by default

- `PORT`: The port to use when not provided as a CLI argument, `6419` by default

- `DEBUG`: Whether to use Flask's debugger when an error happens, `False` by default

- `DEBUG_GRIP`: Prints extended information when an error happens, `False` by default

- `API_URL`: Base URL for the github API, for example that of a Github Enterprise instance. `https://api.github.com` by default

- `CACHE_DIRECTORY`: The directory, relative to `~/.grip`, to place cached assets (this gets run through the following filter: `CACHE_DIRECTORY.format(version=__version__)`), `'cache-{version}'` by default

- `AUTOREFRESH`: Whether to automatically refresh the Readme content when the file changes, `True` by default

- `QUIET`: Do not print extended information, `False` by default

- `STYLE_URLS`: Additional URLs that will be added to the rendered page, `[]` by default

- `USERNAME`: The username to use when not provided as a CLI argument, `None` by default

- `PASSWORD`: The password or [personal access token][] to use when not provided as a CLI argument (*Please don't save your passwords here.* Instead, use an access token or drop in this code [grab your password from a password manager][keychain-access]), `None` by default



Note that this is a Python file. If you see `'X' is not defined` errors, you

may have overlooked some quotes. For example:



```py

USERNAME = 'your-username'

PASSWORD = 'your-personal-access-token'

```



#### Environment variables



- `GRIPHOME`: Specify an alternative `settings.py` location, `~/.grip` by default

- `GRIPURL`: The URL of the Grip server, `/__/grip` by default



#### Advanced



This file is a normal Python script, so you can add more advanced configuration.



For example, to read a setting from the environment and provide a default value

when it's not set:



```python

PORT = os.environ.get('GRIP_PORT', 8080)

```



API

---



You can access the API directly with Python, using it in your own projects:



```python

from grip import serve



serve(port=8080)

 * Running on http://localhost:8080/

```



Run main directly:



```python

from grip import main



main(argv=['-b', '8080'])

 * Running on http://localhost:8080/

```



Or access the underlying Flask application for even more flexibility:



```python

from grip import create_app



grip_app = create_app(user_content=True)

# Use in your own app

```



### Documentation



#### serve



Runs a local server and renders the Readme file located

at `path` when visited in the browser.



```python

serve(path=None, host=None, port=None, user_content=False, context=None, username=None, password=None, render_offline=False, render_wide=False, render_inline=False, api_url=None, title=None, autorefresh=True, browser=False, grip_class=None)

```



- `path`: The filename to render, or the directory containing your Readme file, defaulting to the current working directory

- `host`: The host to listen on, defaulting to the HOST configuration variable

- `port`: The port to listen on, defaulting to the PORT configuration variable

- `user_content`: Whether to render a document as [user-content][] like user comments or issues

- `context`: The project context to use when `user_content` is true, which

             takes the form of `username/project`

- `username`: The user to authenticate with GitHub to extend the API limit

- `password`: The password to authenticate with GitHub to extend the API limit

- `render_offline`: Whether to render locally using [Python-Markdown][] (Note: this is a work in progress)

- `render_wide`: Whether to render a wide page, `False` by default (this has no effect when used with `user_content`)

- `render_inline`: Whether to inline the styles within the HTML file

- `api_url`: A different base URL for the github API, for example that of a Github Enterprise instance. The default is the public API https://api.github.com.

- `title`: The page title, derived from `path` by default

- `autorefresh`: Automatically update the rendered content when the Readme file changes, `True` by default

- `browser`: Open a tab in the browser after the server starts., `False` by default

- `grip_class`: Use a custom [Grip class](#class-gripflask)



#### export



Writes the specified Readme file to an HTML file with styles and assets inlined.



```python

export(path=None, user_content=False, context=None, username=None, password=None, render_offline=False, render_wide=False, render_inline=True, out_filename=None, api_url=None, title=None, quiet=None, theme='light', grip_class=None)

```



- `path`: The filename to render, or the directory containing your Readme file, defaulting to the current working directory

- `user_content`: Whether to render a document as [user-content][] like user comments or issues

- `context`: The project context to use when `user_content` is true, which

             takes the form of `username/project`

- `username`: The user to authenticate with GitHub to extend the API limit

- `password`: The password to authenticate with GitHub to extend the API limit

- `render_offline`: Whether to render locally using [Python-Markdown][] (Note: this is a work in progress)

- `render_wide`: Whether to render a wide page, `False` by default (this has no effect when used with `user_content`)

- `render_inline`: Whether to inline the styles within the HTML file (Note: unlike the other API functions, this defaults to `True`)

- `out_filename`: The filename to write to, `.html` by default

- `api_url`: A different base URL for the github API, for example that of a Github Enterprise instance. The default is the public API https://api.github.com.

- `title`: The page title, derived from `path` by default

- `quiet`: Do not print to the terminal

- `theme`: Theme to view markdown file (light mode or dark mode). Valid options ("light", "dark"). Default: "light".

- `grip_class`: Use a custom [Grip class](#class-gripflask)



#### create_app



Creates a Flask application you can use to render and serve the Readme files.

This is the same app used by `serve` and `export` and initializes the cache,

using the cached styles when available.



```python

create_app(path=None, user_content=False, context=None, username=None, password=None, render_offline=False, render_wide=False, render_inline=False, api_url=None, title=None, text=None, grip_class=None)

```



- `path`: The filename to render, or the directory containing your Readme file, defaulting to the current working directory

- `user_content`: Whether to render a document as [user-content][] like user comments or issues

- `context`: The project context to use when `user_content` is true, which

             takes the form of `username/project`

- `username`: The user to authenticate with GitHub to extend the API limit

- `password`: The password to authenticate with GitHub to extend the API limit

- `render_offline`: Whether to render locally using [Python-Markdown][] (Note: this is a work in progress)

- `render_wide`: Whether to render a wide page, `False` by default (this has no effect when used with `user_content`)

- `render_inline`: Whether to inline the styles within the HTML file

- `api_url`: A different base URL for the github API, for example that of a Github Enterprise instance. The default is the public API https://api.github.com.

- `title`: The page title, derived from `path` by default

- `text`: A string or stream of Markdown text to render instead of being loaded from `path` (Note: `path` can be used to set the page title)

- `grip_class`: Use a custom [Grip class](#class-gripflask)



#### render_app



Renders the application created by `create_app` and returns the HTML that would

normally appear when visiting that route.



```python

render_app(app, route='/')

```



- `app`: The Flask application to render

- `route`: The route to render, '/' by default



#### render_content



Renders the specified markdown text without caching.



```python

render_content(text, user_content=False, context=None, username=None, password=None, render_offline=False, api_url=None, title=None)

```



- `text`: The Markdown text to render

- `user_content`: Whether to render a document as [user-content][] like user comments or issues

- `context`: The project context to use when `user_content` is true, which

             takes the form of `username/project`

- `username`: The user to authenticate with GitHub to extend the API limit

- `password`: The password to authenticate with GitHub to extend the API limit

- `render_offline`: Whether to render locally using [Python-Markdown][] (Note: this is a work in progress)

- `api_url`: A different base URL for the github API, for example that of a Github Enterprise instance. This is required when not using the offline renderer.

- `title`: The page title, derived from `path` by default



#### render_page



Renders the markdown from the specified path or text, without caching,

and returns an HTML page that resembles the GitHub Readme view.



```python

render_page(path=None, user_content=False, context=None, username=None, password=None, render_offline=False, render_wide=False, render_inline=False, api_url=None, title=None, text=None, quiet=None, theme='light', grip_class=None)

```



- `path`: The path to use for the page title, rendering `'README.md'` if None

- `user_content`: Whether to render a document as [user-content][] like user comments or issues

- `context`: The project context to use when `user_content` is true, which

             takes the form of `username/project`

- `username`: The user to authenticate with GitHub to extend the API limit

- `password`: The password to authenticate with GitHub to extend the API limit

- `render_offline`: Whether to render offline using [Python-Markdown][] (Note: this is a work in progress)

- `render_wide`: Whether to render a wide page, `False` by default (this has no effect when used with `user_content`)

- `render_inline`: Whether to inline the styles within the HTML file

- `api_url`: A different base URL for the github API, for example that of a Github Enterprise instance. The default is the public API https://api.github.com.

- `title`: The page title, derived from `path` by default

- `text`: A string or stream of Markdown text to render instead of being loaded from `path` (Note: `path` can be used to set the page title)

- `quiet`: Do not print to the terminal

- `theme`: Theme to view markdown file (light mode or dark mode). Valid options ("light", "dark"). Default: "light".

- `grip_class`: Use a custom [Grip class](#class-gripflask)



#### clear_cache



Clears the cached styles and assets.



```python

clear_cache(grip_class=None)

```



#### main



Runs Grip with the specified arguments.



```python

main(argv=None, force_utf8=True)

```



- `argv`: The arguments to run with, `sys.argv[1:]` by default

- `force_utf8`: Sets the default encoding to `utf-8` in the current Python instance. This has no effect on Python 3 since Unicode is handled by default



### Classes



#### class Grip(Flask)



A Flask application that can serve a file or directory containing a README.



```python

Grip(source=None, auth=None, renderer=None, assets=None, render_wide=None, render_inline=None, title=None, autorefresh=None, quiet=None, theme='light', grip_url=None, static_url_path=None, instance_path=None, **kwargs)

```



##### default_renderer



Returns the default renderer using the current config. This is only used if

renderer is set to None in the constructor.



```python

Grip.default_renderer()

```



##### default_asset_manager



Returns the default asset manager using the current config. This is only used

if asset_manager is set to None in the constructor.



```python

Grip.default_asset_manager()

```



##### add_content_types



Adds the application/x-font-woff and application/octet-stream content types if

they are missing. Override to add additional content types on initialization.



```python

Grip.add_content_types()

```



##### clear_cache



Clears the downloaded assets.



```python

Grip.clear_cache()

```



##### render



Renders the application and returns the HTML unicode that would normally appear

when visiting in the browser.



```python

Grip.render(route=None)

```



- `route`: The route to render, `/` by default



##### run



Starts a server to render the README. This calls [Flask.run][] internally.



```python

Grip.run(host=None, port=None, debug=None, use_reloader=None, open_browser=False)

```



- `host`: The hostname to listen on. Set this to `'0.0.0.0'` to have the server

          available externally as well, `'localhost'` by default

- `port`: The port of the webserver. Defaults to `6419`

- `debug`: If given, enable or disable debug mode. See [Flask.debug][].

- `use_reloader`: Should the server automatically restart the python process

                  if modules were changed? `False` by default unless the

                  `DEBUG_GRIP` setting is specified.

- `open_browser`: Opens the browser to the address when the server starts



#### class AlreadyRunningError(RuntimeError)



Raised when `Grip.run` is called while the server is already running.



```python

AlreadyRunningError()

```



#### class ReadmeNotFoundError(NotFoundError or IOError)



Raised when the specified Readme could not be found.



```python

ReadmeNotFoundError(path=None, message=None)

```



#### class ReadmeAssetManager(object)



Manages the style and font assets rendered with Readme pages. This is an

abstract base class.



```python

ReadmeAssetManager(cache_path, style_urls=None)

```



#### class GitHubAssetManager(ReadmeAssetManager)



Manages the style and font assets rendered with Readme pages. Set cache_path to

None to disable caching.



#### class ReadmeReader(object)



Reads Readme content from a URL subpath. This is an abstract base class.



```python

ReadmeReader()

```



#### class DirectoryReader(ReadmeReader)



Reads Readme files from URL subpaths.



```python

DirectoryReader(path=None, silent=False)

```



#### class TextReader(ReadmeReader)



Reads Readme content from the provided unicode string.



```python

TextReader(text, display_filename=None)

```



#### class StdinReader(TextReader)



Reads Readme text from STDIN.



```python

StdinReader(display_filename=None)

```



#### class ReadmeRenderer(object)



Renders the Readme. This is an abstract base class.



```python

ReadmeRenderer(user_content=None, context=None)

```



#### class GitHubRenderer(ReadmeRenderer)



Renders the specified Readme using the GitHub Markdown API.



```python

GitHubRenderer(user_content=None, context=None, api_url=None, raw=None)

```



#### class OfflineRenderer(ReadmeRenderer)



Renders the specified Readme locally using pure Python. Note: This is currently

an incomplete feature.



```python

OfflineRenderer(user_content=None, context=None)

```



### Constants



#### SUPPORTED_TITLES



The common Markdown file titles on GitHub.



```python

SUPPORTED_TITLES = ['README', 'Home']

```



- `filename`: The UTF-8 file to read.



#### SUPPORTED_EXTENSIONS



The supported extensions, as defined by [GitHub][markdown].



```python

SUPPORTED_EXTENSIONS = ['.md', '.markdown']

```



#### DEFAULT_FILENAMES



This constant contains the names Grip looks for when no file is provided.



```python

DEFAULT_FILENAMES = [title + ext

                     for title in SUPPORTED_TITLES

                     for ext in SUPPORTED_EXTENSIONS]

```



#### DEFAULT_FILENAME



This constant contains the default Readme filename, namely:



```python

DEFAULT_FILENAME = DEFAULT_FILENAMES[0]  # README.md

```



#### DEFAULT_GRIPHOME



This constant points to the default value if the `GRIPHOME`

[environment variable](#environment-variables) is not specified.



```python

DEFAULT_GRIPHOME = '~/.grip'

```



#### DEFAULT_GRIPURL



The default URL of the Grip server and all its assets:



```python

DEFAULT_GRIPURL = '/__/grip'

```



#### DEFAULT_API_URL



The default app_url value:



```python

DEFAULT_API_URL = 'https://api.github.com'

```



Testing

-------



Install the package and test requirements:



```console

$ pip install -e .[tests]

```



Run tests with [pytest][]:



```console

$ pytest

```



Or to re-run tests as you make changes, use [pytest-watch][]:



```console

$ ptw

```



#### External assumption tests



If you're experiencing a problem with Grip, it's likely that an assumption made

about the GitHub API has been broken. To verify this, run:



```console

$ pytest -m assumption

```



Since the external assumptions rely on an internet connection, you may want to skip

them when developing locally. Tighten the cycle even further by stopping on the

first failure with `-x`:



```console

$ pytest -xm "not assumption"

```



Or with [pytest-watch][]:



```console

$ ptw -- -xm "not assumption"

```



Contributing

------------



1. Check the open issues or open a new issue to start a discussion around

   your feature idea or the bug you found

2. Fork the repository and make your changes

3. Open a new pull request



If your PR has been waiting a while, feel free to [ping me on Twitter][twitter].



Use this software often? Say Thanks!

:smiley:



[pypi]: http://pypi.python.org/pypi/grip/

[markdown]: http://developer.github.com/v3/markdown

[rdd]: http://tom.preston-werner.com/2010/08/23/readme-driven-development.html

[authors.md]: AUTHORS.md

[offline-renderer]: http://github.com/joeyespo/grip/tree/offline-renderer

[personal access token]: https://github.com/settings/tokens/new?scopes=

[keychain-access]: https://gist.github.com/klmr/3840aa3c12f947e4064c

[task-lists]: https://github.com/blog/1825-task-lists-in-all-markdown-documents

[user-content]: http://github.github.com/github-flavored-markdown

[python-markdown]: http://github.com/waylan/Python-Markdown

[flask.run]: http://flask.pocoo.org/docs/0.10/api/#flask.Flask.run

[flask.debug]: http://flask.pocoo.org/docs/0.10/api/#flask.Flask.debug

[pytest]: http://pytest.org/

[pytest-watch]: https://github.com/joeyespo/pytest-watch

[twitter]: http://twitter.com/joeyespo