md-toc

Generate a table of contents (TOC) for any Markdown file by extracting its ATX headings (# ..

Generates a Markdown table of contents from the ATX headings in a file.

When to use

• Building a TOC for a README or long notes file.
• Getting a quick outline of a document before editing or summarizing.
• Verifying heading structure during a doc review.

Prerequisites

• The target file must be UTF-8 text with ATX headings (#, ##, ...).
• A POSIX shell (bash/sh) and awk must be available.

Usage

bash

bash scripts/md-toc.sh path/to/file.md
bash scripts/md-toc.sh path/to/file.md --max 3   # cap heading depth

Output is a Markdown list with relative anchor links, printed to stdout.

Notes

• Headings inside fenced code blocks are skipped.
• The script exits non-zero if the file is missing or unreadable.