multimark

name	multimark
description	Python bindings to cmark-gfm: CommonMark/GFM parsing and rendering (HTML, LaTeX, man, XML, CommonMark). Use when writing Python code that converts Markdown to other formats using the multimark package.
license	MIT
compatibility	Requires Python >=3.9.

multimark

Fast Python bindings to the cmark-gfm C library for parsing CommonMark and GitHub Flavored Markdown (GFM) into HTML, LaTeX, groff man pages, XML, or normalized CommonMark.

Installation

pip install multimark

Decision Table

Need	Use
Convert Markdown to HTML	markdown_to_html(text)
Convert Markdown to LaTeX	markdown_to_latex(text)
Convert Markdown to groff man page	markdown_to_man(text)
Convert Markdown to XML AST	markdown_to_xml(text)
Normalize/reformat Markdown	markdown_to_commonmark(text)
Enable GFM tables	markdown_to_html(text, extensions=["table"])
Enable strikethrough	markdown_to_html(text, extensions=["strikethrough"])
Enable autolinks	markdown_to_html(text, extensions=["autolink"])
Enable task lists	markdown_to_html(text, extensions=["tasklist"])
Combine multiple options	markdown_to_html(text, options=Options.SMART | Options.UNSAFE)
Check bundled cmark-gfm version	cmark_version()

API

All renderer functions share the same signature pattern:

from multimark import markdown_to_html, markdown_to_latex, markdown_to_man, markdown_to_xml, markdown_to_commonmark

# Basic usage: all renderers accept the same keyword arguments
html = markdown_to_html(text, smart=True, unsafe=True, extensions=["table", "autolink"])

Common keyword arguments (all renderers)

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
hardbreaks	bool	False	Render soft newlines as <br />
smart	bool	False	Typographic quotes, en/em-dashes, ellipses
normalize	bool	False	Consolidate adjacent text nodes
sourcepos	bool	False	Add source position attributes (HTML/XML only)
unsafe	bool	False	Allow raw HTML passthrough
footnotes	bool	False	Enable [^label] footnote syntax
extensions	Sequence[str]	()	GFM extensions to enable
options	int	0	Bitmask of Options flags

Additional parameter (LaTeX, man, CommonMark renderers only)

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
width	int	0	Line wrap column (0 = no wrapping)

Options bitmask

from multimark import Options

# Combine flags with |
opts = Options.SMART | Options.UNSAFE | Options.FOOTNOTES

# GFM-specific flags (no keyword shortcut)
opts = Options.GITHUB_PRE_LANG | Options.STRIKETHROUGH_DOUBLE_TILDE | Options.LIBERAL_HTML_TAG

Valid GFM extensions

The only valid extension names are: "table", "strikethrough", "autolink", "tagfilter", "tasklist".

Gotchas

1. The module name is multimark, not multi-mark or multi_mark.
2. Raw HTML is stripped by default (replaced with <!-- raw HTML omitted -->). You must pass unsafe=True to allow HTML passthrough.
3. The extensions parameter takes a sequence of strings, not a single string. Use extensions=["table"], never extensions="table".
4. The sourcepos parameter is silently ignored by markdown_to_latex() and markdown_to_man() (it only affects HTML and XML output).
5. Options flags and keyword arguments are merged via OR. markdown_to_html(text, smart=True, options=Options.UNSAFE) means SMART | UNSAFE.
6. Passing an invalid extension name raises ValueError, not KeyError.
7. All renderers return str, never bytes. Input must also be str.
8. The width parameter is not available on markdown_to_html() or markdown_to_xml().

CLI

The package provides a multimark command (built with Click):

# Markdown from stdin to HTML on stdout (default)
echo "# Hello" | multimark

# File to HTML
multimark README.md

# Choose output format
multimark --to latex README.md
multimark --to man README.md
multimark --to xml README.md
multimark --to commonmark README.md

# Write to a file
multimark -o output.html README.md

# Enable GFM extensions (repeatable -e flag)
multimark -e table -e strikethrough README.md

# Options
multimark --smart --unsafe --hardbreaks --footnotes README.md
multimark --sourcepos README.md          # html/xml only
multimark --to latex --width 72 README.md  # latex/man/commonmark only

# Version
multimark --version

CLI Options Reference

Option	Short	Description
--to FORMAT	-t	Output format: html (default), latex, man, commonmark, xml
--output FILE	-o	Write to FILE instead of stdout
--extension EXT	-e	Enable a GFM extension (repeatable)
--smart		Typographic quotes, dashes, ellipses
--unsafe		Allow raw HTML passthrough
--hardbreaks		Render soft newlines as hard line breaks
--sourcepos		Add source position attributes (html/xml only)
--footnotes		Enable footnote parsing
--width N		Wrap at column N (latex/man/commonmark only; 0 = no wrap)
--version		Show version and exit
--help		Show help and exit

Best Practices

• Prefer keyword arguments (smart=True) over the Options bitmask for common flags.
• Use the Options bitmask only for GFM-specific flags that lack keyword shortcuts (GITHUB_PRE_LANG, STRIKETHROUGH_DOUBLE_TILDE, LIBERAL_HTML_TAG).
• Enable only the GFM extensions you need: each adds parsing overhead.
• For security-sensitive contexts, never set unsafe=True. The default safe mode strips all raw HTML.
• The library is thread-safe: you can call renderers from multiple threads concurrently.

Resources

• Full documentation
• llms.txt: Indexed API reference for LLMs
• llms-full.txt: Comprehensive documentation for LLMs