How does the generator find headings in my markdown?

It parses both ATX headings (lines that start with one to six # characters) and Setext headings (a line of text underlined with === for H1 or --- for H2). Text inside fenced code blocks marked with triple backticks or tildes is ignored, so a commented-out # in a code sample never becomes a fake entry.

What anchor format do the links use?

By default the tool uses GitHub-flavoured slugs: the heading text is lower-cased, punctuation is stripped, and spaces become hyphens. This matches how GitHub, GitLab and most static-site generators auto-assign heading ids. You can also switch to a simpler lower-hyphen mode or keep the original words.

How are duplicate headings handled?

Just like GitHub. The first "Overview" becomes #overview, the second becomes #overview-1, the third #overview-2, and so on. This keeps every link in the table of contents pointing at the right section even when titles repeat.

Can I insert the table of contents back into my document?

Yes. Set an insert marker such as an HTML comment, place it where you want the TOC, and click Insert into document. If no marker is found the tool places the TOC after the first H1, or at the very top if there is no H1. You can also copy the full document with the TOC already merged in.

Will it work for nested or deeply indented headings?

Yes. The TOC indents each entry relative to the shallowest included heading, so an H2/H3/H4 document nests cleanly. You control the number of spaces per indent level and can choose dash, asterisk, numbered or plain (no bullet) lists.

Is my document uploaded anywhere?

No. All parsing and generation happen in your browser with JavaScript. Nothing is sent to a server, and your input is auto-saved only in this browser via local storage so it survives a refresh.

Markdown Table of Contents Generator

A markdown table of contents generator turns the headings in a markdown document into a clean, linked list you can drop at the top of a README, wiki page, or long article. Paste your markdown on the left and a ready-to-use TOC appears on the right, with every entry already pointing at the right anchor. It is built for anyone who maintains documentation: open-source maintainers polishing a README, technical writers assembling a handbook, or anyone who wants a navigable outline without hand-writing dozens of [link](#anchor) lines.

The generator understands real-world markdown, not just the simple cases. It reads ATX headings (the # to ###### style) and Setext headings (text underlined with === or ---), skips anything inside fenced code blocks so a # in a shell example never becomes a phantom entry, and strips inline formatting such as bold, italics, links and inline code from the heading text so the TOC reads cleanly.

How it works

Every line is scanned in order. Lines that open or close a fenced code block (three or more backticks or tildes) toggle a “code” state, and headings found while inside a fence are ignored. Outside fences, a leading run of one to six # characters marks an ATX heading, and a non-blank line followed by === or --- marks a Setext heading. For each heading the tool computes a GitHub-style anchor slug — lower-cased, punctuation removed, spaces turned into hyphens — and de-duplicates repeats by appending -1, -2, and so on, exactly the way GitHub does.

You then choose which heading levels to include (say H2 through H4 to skip the document title and the deepest notes), the bullet style (dash, asterisk, numbered, or plain), how many spaces to indent each nested level, and whether to add a ## Table of Contents heading. The output updates live. When you are happy, copy just the TOC, download it as a .md file, copy the full document with the TOC merged in, or insert it back into the editor — at your chosen marker, after the first H1, or at the very top.

Example

Given a document whose headings are # Project Handbook, ## Getting Started, ### Prerequisites, ### Installation, and ## Architecture, selecting levels H2 to H3 with dash bullets produces:

## Table of Contents

- [Getting Started](#getting-started)
  - [Prerequisites](#prerequisites)
  - [Installation](#installation)
- [Architecture](#architecture)

Switch the style to numbered and the same headings render as 1., 1., 2. nested lists; switch to keep-words slugs and the anchors preserve the original casing. Because every figure is derived from your text in real time, you can experiment with depth and style and watch the outline reshape instantly. Nothing is uploaded — the whole tool runs in your browser.