content-file-present (TN006)#

Group

Default severity

Structural

Error

A Sphinx technote must have a content file: index.rst, index.md, or index.ipynb. That file is the technote’s single document, so without it there is nothing to build.

This rule only applies to Sphinx technotes. A directory with no content file and no conf.py is treated as a non-Sphinx technote — one built by a custom command through the shared technote CI — and this rule is skipped for it. A directory that does have a conf.py but no content file is a broken Sphinx technote, which is exactly what this rule reports.

Illustration of a failing repository#

This is a repository/filesystem condition. The content file may have been renamed (for example to the technote’s serial number) or never committed:

sqr-000/
├── technote.toml
├── conf.py
├── requirements.txt
└── sqr-000.rst        # should be index.rst
[TN006] No content file found in /path/to/sqr-000: a technote needs an index.rst, index.md, or index.ipynb file.

How to fix it#

Name the technote’s document index.rst, index.md, or index.ipynb at the repository root:

git mv sqr-000.rst index.rst

If you are starting a fresh technote, create the content file from the template — see Start a new technote.

See also#

  • TN201 — the content file exists but declares no abstract.

  • Start a new technote — creating a new technote from the template.