# include.html
> learn how to use the literal shortcode
Inline code samples are great — but code samples that are pulled from source files can be even better! This {{%include%}} shortcode is inspired by Sphinx’s .. literalinclude:: functionality.
This document is going to be a bit meta. How it works # The {{%include%}} shortcode accepts 3 positional args: lang, start, and stop. All are optional.
Don't forget to use % This shortcode relies on Hugo’s markdown rendering to automatically handle code syntax highlighting. If you surround this shortcode with < > instead, it will break. Examples # This file # md Python file with comments # python def demo_function(arg1, arg2): """Demo Function This function takes two arguments and returns their sum. Args: arg1 (int): The first argument. arg2 (int): The second argument. Returns: int: The sum of arg1 and arg2. """ return arg1 + arg2 Source code # go {{ $path := .Get 0 }} {{ $lang := .Get 1 | default "s" }} {{ $start := .Get 2 | default nil }} {{ $stop := .Get 3 | default nil}} {{ $content := readFile $path }} {{/* Optional: Log warning for missing files */}} {{ if and $path (not $content) }} {{ warnf "Include shortcode: File not found '%s' on page %s" $path .Page.RelPermalink }} {{ end }} {{/* Original processing logic - unchanged */}} {{ $chunked := split $content "\n" }} {{ $snippet := "" }} {{ $capture := false }} {{if eq $start nil }} {{ $capture = true }} {{end}} {{- range $chunked }} {{ if and (not $capture) (in . $start) }} {{ $capture = true }} {{ else if and $capture (in . $stop) }} {{ $capture = false }} {{ else if $capture }} {{ $snippet = print $snippet . "\n" }} {{ end }} {{- end }} {{ printf "```%s\n%s\n```" $lang $snippet | safeHTML }} 

## Metadata

- **Section**: features
- **Type**: features
- **Author**: Lawrence Lane
- **Parent**: [include.html](/features/shortcodes/index.txt)

## Navigation
- **Current Section**: [include.html](/features/shortcodes/index.txt)