How are anchors generated?

Headings are slugified using GitHub's algorithm — lowercased, punctuation stripped, and spaces converted to dashes — so the links work on github.com out of the box.

Can I limit the depth of the TOC?

Yes. Configure which heading levels (H1–H6) are included so the TOC matches the document's intended structure.

Does it handle duplicate headings?

Yes. Repeated headings get -1, -2 suffixes following GitHub's disambiguation rules.

Is my document uploaded?

No. The TOC is built locally in your browser tab.

GitHub-style anchors · depth filter · 3 markers

Generate a Table of Contents

Scans headings, builds GitHub-compatible anchor links, indents by depth. Skips headings inside code fences.

Markdown TOC Generator

Markdown

260 B

31 lines

Headings

h2-h3

TOC

191 B

7 entries

Marker

bullet

input · markdown

output · toc

- [Overview](#overview)
- [Getting Started](#getting-started)
  - [Installation](#installation)
  - [Configuration](#configuration)
- [API](#api)
  - [Methods](#methods)
- [License](#license)

Quick Start

How to build a TOC

Reads every heading (skipping those in fenced code), converts to GitHub-style anchor slugs, and renders an indented list.

01
Paste Markdown
Long docs with headings work best.
Parsing runs through marked with GFM extensions enabled — tables, task lists, strikethrough, and fenced code blocks all match GitHub’s rendering.
mdGFMmarkedCommonMarklive
input · markdownmd · GFM
```
# Title
## A
## B
```
loaded · GFMGFM · ready
02
Set depth range
Min 2 / Max 3 captures ## and ### only — usually what you want.
Soft-break behaviour is configurable: by default a single newline becomes a space (CommonMark), toggle on for chat-style <br> insertion.
depthsoft-breaksoptionsconfiglive
depth · options2-3 · live
```
## ✓ ### ✓ #### ✗
```
options applied · livelive
03
Pick marker
- (dash), * (star), or 1. (numbered).
The preview is scoped under a .mde class so its CSS doesn’t bleed into the rest of the page. Output HTML is whitespace-controlled for clean diffs.
markerpreviewscoped CSSrenderstable
marker · rendered- · ready
```
- [A](#a)
```
rendered · liverendered
04
Copy TOC
Paste below your title heading. Anchors work on GitHub natively.
Export covers both raw Markdown and rendered HTML; downloads stream as text/markdown or text/html via Blob + object URL.
exportclipboard.md.htmlblob
✓ · exportedready · done
```
✓ Copied TOC
```
shipped · ready to shipsuccess

Pro tips

Author Markdown that renders everywhere

GFM is the safe default

GitHub-Flavored Markdown is the de-facto baseline (tables, task lists, strikethrough). CommonMark is stricter but ubiquitous as a fallback.

Soft-break behaviour varies

A single newline is a space in CommonMark, a <br> in GFM. Toggle soft breaks when source matters.

Escape inside code fences

Backticks inside fenced blocks need a longer fence — three becomes four. Use ~~~ if your content has many backticks.

Anchors are slugified

GitHub lowercases, strips punctuation, and joins with hyphens. Duplicate headings get -1, -2 suffixes.

Tables need a header row

The dash row sets alignment (:---, :-:, ---:). Use Table Aligner for diff-friendly columns.

Front matter is YAML

Triple-dash blocks at the top of files are parsed by static-site generators. Use the Front-Matter Validator to catch syntax errors.

Use Cases

When to add a TOC

Long docs, READMEs, design docs.

README jumps

Long READMEs benefit from a TOC at the top. Render path uses marked with GFM extensions enabled (tables, task lists, strikethrough, autolinks), so what you preview matches what GitHub publishes bit-for-bit. Soft-break behaviour is configurable for chat-style vs prose Markdown.

GFM-compliant

RFC navigation

Long design docs need section jumps. Pairs cleanly with the Markdown Cheatsheet for syntax you can't quite remember — callout blocks, footnotes, definition lists. Output stays diff-friendly so style-only changes don't drown out real edits in PRs.

GitHub-perfect

Wiki pages

GitHub wiki anchors work the same way. Cross-platform safe: anchors, code fences, and tables behave identically on GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, and Gitea. Heading-anchor slugs follow GitHub's lowercase-and-hyphenate rules so deep links survive a docs migration.

diff-friendly

Tutorial docs

Lessons with many subsections. No server roundtrip — perfect for proprietary content you can't paste into a public tool. The full marked + GFM bundle ships with the page, so it works offline once loaded.

render-stable

Reference manuals

API references — jump to any method. Front matter (YAML / TOML / JSON) passes through unchanged so static-site pipelines (Jekyll, Hugo, Astro, Eleventy) read it correctly. Pair with the Front-Matter Validator to catch syntax errors before deploy.

cross-platform

Audit pass

Catch missing or misformatted headings. Output is reproducible: identical input always produces identical Markdown, so doc-generation scripts can rely on it for snapshot tests and embedded into release workflows.

SEO-friendly

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

How are slugs generated?

GitHub style — lowercase, spaces → hyphens, drop punctuation. Duplicates get a numeric suffix.

Headings in code fences?

Skipped — they aren't real headings even if they look like them.

Why a minimum depth?

Most TOCs skip the H1 title (which is usually the doc title). Default min = 2.

Inline code in heading?

Backticks are stripped from slug generation to match GitHub.

Is anything sent to a server?

No. The TOC is built locally.

Suggest a tool

Something missing?

Tell us what you need. We ship the top requests every two weeks.

47 in queue·8 shipped this month

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