Inline Code Highlighting

By default, Sphinx does utilize Pygments to highlight code snippets, when used in the code-block directive.

For very small snippets, code can also be written inline, utilizing syntax the same syntax highlighting as in regular code blocks, like here:

Printing to console in Python is easy as print("Hello World").

Follow these steps:

1. Within root directory (where conf.py is located) create a new file named docutils.conf. Add this content:

   [restructuredtext parser]
   syntax_highlight = short
   

2. In the conf.py define the Pygment theme used for the syntax highlighting, e.g.:

   pygments_style = "default"
   

   Hint

   To get a list of all available themes, execute:

   >>> from pygments.styles import get_all_styles
   >>> print(*get_all_styles(), sep = "\n")
   

   You may preview the styles at https://pygments.org/demo/.

3. When using sphinx-rtd-theme the default color for inline code snippets is set to red (color code #e74c3c). This leads to all elements whose color is not defined by the Pygments style to stay red, when in fact it should be black.

   To overcome this, add the following snippet to your _static/css/custom.css file:

   code.code.highlight span.p {
       color: black;
   }
   

4. Define a new role within the file that you want to use inline code syntax highlighting with (e.g. on the very top of the document). Here is an example for python:

   .. role:: python
       :language: python
       :class: highlight
   

   Hint

   You may define roles for all supported languages.

5. Use the role to add code snippets into your text, e.g.:

   Printing to console in Python is easy as :python:`print("Hello World")`.
   

   which will output to:

   Printing to console in Python is easy as print("Hello World").