---
name: "sphinx-autogen"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "python-sphinx"
version: "9.1.0-1"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/sphinx-autogen"
---

# sphinx-autogen(1)

Generate autodoc stub pages

## NAME

sphinx-autogen - Generate autodoc stub pages

## SYNOPSIS

**sphinx-autogen** \[*options*\] \<sourcefile\> ...

## DESCRIPTION

**sphinx-autogen** is a tool for automatic generation of Sphinx sources that, using the **autodoc** \<#module-sphinx.ext.autodoc\> extension, document items included in **autosummary** \<#directive-autosummary\> listing(s).

*sourcefile* is the path to one or more reStructuredText documents containing **autosummary** \<#directive-autosummary\> entries with the **:toctree:** option set. *sourcefile* can be an **fnmatch** \<https://docs.python.org/3/library/fnmatch.html#module-fnmatch\>-style pattern.

## OPTIONS

- **-o \<outputdir\>**

  Directory to place the output file. If it does not exist, it is created. Defaults to the value passed to the **:toctree:** option.

- **-s \<suffix\>, --suffix \<suffix\>**

  Default suffix to use for generated files. Defaults to **rst**.

- **-t \<templates\>, --templates \<templates\>**

  Custom template directory. Defaults to **None**.

- **-i, --imported-members**

  Document imported members.

- **-a, --respect-module-all**

  Document exactly the members in a module's **\_\_all\_\_** attribute.

- **--remove-old**

  Remove existing files in the output directory that are not generated anymore.

## EXAMPLE

Given the following directory structure:

```
docs
├── index.rst
└── ...
foobar
├── foo
│   └── __init__.py
└── bar
    ├── __init__.py
    └── baz
        └── __init__.py
```

and assuming **docs/index.rst** contained the following:

```
Modules
=======
.. autosummary::
   :toctree: modules
   foobar.foo
   foobar.bar
   foobar.bar.baz
```

If you run the following:

```
$ PYTHONPATH=. sphinx-autogen docs/index.rst
```

then the following stub files will be created in **docs**:

```
docs
├── index.rst
└── modules
    ├── foobar.bar.rst
    ├── foobar.bar.baz.rst
    └── foobar.foo.rst
```

and each of those files will contain a **autodoc** \<#module-sphinx.ext.autodoc\> directive and some other information.

## SEE ALSO

**[sphinx-build(1)](/sphinx-build/1.md)**, **[sphinx-apidoc(1)](/sphinx-apidoc/1.md)**

## Copyright

2007-2026, the Sphinx developers