docs/content/code-security/code-scanning/using-the-codeql-cli/testing-query-help-files.md

title, intro, product, versions, topics

title	intro	product	versions	topics
Testing query help files	You can use the {% data variables.product.prodname_codeql_cli %} to preview your query help files as Markdown and ensure they are valid.	{% data reusables.gated-features.codeql %}	fpt ghes ghae ghec * * * *	Advanced Security Code scanning CodeQL

{% data reusables.codeql-cli.codeql-site-migration-note %}

About testing query help files

Test query help files by rendering them as Markdown to ensure they are valid before uploading them to the {% data variables.product.prodname_codeql %} repository or using them in code scanning.

Query help is documentation that accompanies a query to explain how the query works, as well as providing information about the potential problem that the query identifies. It is good practice to write query help for all new queries. For more information, see Contributing to {% data variables.product.prodname_codeql %} in the {% data variables.product.prodname_codeql %} repository.

The {% data variables.product.prodname_codeql_cli %} includes a command to test query help and render the content as markdown, so that you can easily preview the content in your IDE. Use the command to validate query help files before uploading them to the {% data variables.product.prodname_codeql %} repository or sharing them with other users. From {% data variables.product.prodname_codeql_cli %} 2.7.1 onwards, you can also include the markdown-rendered query help in SARIF files generated during {% data variables.product.prodname_codeql %} analyses so that the query help can be displayed in the code scanning UI. For more information, see “Analyzing databases with the {% data variables.product.prodname_codeql_cli %}.”

Prerequisites

• The query help (.qhelp) file must have an accompanying query (.ql) file with an identical base name.
• The query help file should follow the standard structure and style for query help documentation. For more information, see the Query help style guide in the {% data variables.product.prodname_codeql %} repository.

Running codeql generate query-help

You can test query help files by running the following command:

codeql generate query-help <qhelp|query|dir|suite> --format=<format> [--output=<dir|file>]

where <qhelp|query|dir|suite> is one of:

• the path to a .qhelp file.
• the path to a .ql file.
• the path to a directory containing queries and query help files.
• the path to a query suite, or the name of a well-known query suite for a {% data variables.product.prodname_codeql %} pack. For more information, see “Creating {% data variables.product.prodname_codeql %} query suites.”

You must specify a --format option, which defines how the query help is rendered. Currently, you must specify markdown to render the query help as markdown.

The --output option defines a file path where the rendered query help will be saved.

• For directories containing .qhelp files or a query suites defining one or more .qhelp files, you must specify an --output directory. Filenames within the output directory will be derived from the .qhelp file names.
• For single .qhelp or .ql files, you may specify an --output option. If you don’t specify an output path, the rendered query help is written to stdout.

For full details of all the options you can use when testing query help files, see the generate query-help reference documentation.

Results

When you run the command, {% data variables.product.prodname_codeql %} attempts to render each .qhelp file that has an accompanying .ql file. For single files, the rendered content will be printed to stdout if you don’t specify an --output option. For all other use cases, the rendered content is saved to the specified output path.

By default, the {% data variables.product.prodname_codeql_cli %} will print a warning message if:

• Any of the query help is invalid, along with a description of the invalid query help elements
• Any .qhelp files specified in the command don’t have the same base name as an accompanying .ql file
• Any .ql files specified in the command don’t have the same base name as an accompanying .qhelp file

You can tell the {% data variables.product.prodname_codeql_cli %} how to handle these warnings by including a --warnings option in your command. For more information, see the generate query-help reference documentation.

Further reading

• “Query help files”