GLYPHSLIB(1)

✨ NAME ✨

glyphsLib — bestie, it's the metapackage for python3-glyphsLib, aka the defcon extras 💅

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🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

okay so, here's how you actually run the thing:

usage: python3 -m glyphsLib glyphs2ufo [-h] [--version] [-m OUTPUT_DIR]
       [-d DESIGNSPACE_PATH] [-n INSTANCE_DIR] [--ufo-module UFO_MODULE]
       [--minimal] [--no-preserve-glyphsapp-metadata]
       [--propagate-anchors | --no-propagate-anchors]
       [--generate-GDEF | --no-generate-GDEF] [-N] [--create-background-layers]
       [--no-store-editor-state] [--write-public-skip-export-glyphs]
       [--expand-includes] [--glyph-data GLYPHDATA] GLYPHS_FILE

that's it, that's the whole vibe check 🫶 now let's break it down piece by piece, no skips.

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🎀 positional arguments 🎀

• GLYPHS_FILE — the Glyphs file you want to convert, babe. hand it over. 🍓

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👑 options 👑

• -h, --help — shows you this help message and then dips out. iconic behavior tbh.
• --version — prints the program's version number and exits, periodt.
• -m, --output-dir OUTPUT_DIR — where the masters get written out to. default? the directory the Glyphs file lives in, obviously 💖
• -d, --designspace-path DESIGNSPACE_PATH — the output path for the designspace file. default is, again, the directory of the Glyphs file 🌈
• -n, --instance-dir INSTANCE_DIR — output directory for the instances. default: output_dir/instance_ufos. and heads up bestie, this sets the file path for instances inside the designspace file. so it's doing double duty. main character energy fr fr. ✨
• --ufo-module UFO_MODULE — picks the default library used for writing UFOs. choose between: ufoLib2, defcon. default is ufoLib2 💅

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🦋 Roundtripping between Glyphs and UFOs 🦋

this whole section is about making the back-and-forth trip not messy, iykyk

• --minimal — makes minimal UFO files, like, only the data you actually need to build fonts. nothing extra, no clutter, we love a clean queen. 🧚
• --no-preserve-glyphsapp-metadata — skips preserving Glyphs metadata in master UFOs and in the designspace file. and like, that metadata was lowkey doing the work of minimizing differences when you roundtrip between Glyphs and UFOs, so heads up that you're giving that up. 💀
• --propagate-anchors — copies anchors from the underlying components onto the actual glyph (Glyphs would do this implicitly on export anyway). here's the tea: by default, if you don't explicitly pass this option, glyphs2ufo checks the 'Propagate Anchors' font custom parameter — and if it's unset or set to 1 (true), then the anchors get propagated. pass this option to enable it, overriding that parameter. 👑
• --no-propagate-anchors — disables anchor propagation, full stop, regardless of whatever custom parameter says. no discussion. 🙈
• --generate-GDEF — writes GDEF categories into the UFO's public.openTypeCatgeories lib key.
• --no-generate-GDEF — skips writing GDEF categories into the UFO's public.openTypeCatgeories lib key. this is the default behavior, for backward compatibility. ⭐
• -N, --normalize-ufos — normalizes UFOs with ufonormalizer, which avoids differences coming from spacing, reordering of keys, etc. yes it's basically a glow-up for your diff. ✨
• --create-background-layers — creates background layers for all glyphs unless they're already present. helpful when you're working with a bunch of tools that might go ahead and create background layers automatically on their own. teamwork 💖
• --no-store-editor-state — skips storing editor state in the UFO, like which glyphs are open in which tab (DisplayStrings). honestly? privacy era. 🫶
• --write-public-skip-export-glyphs — stores the glyph export flag in the public.skipExportGlyphs list instead of in the glyphlevel 'com.schriftgestaltung.Glyphs.Export' lib key. two places, pick your fighter. 💅
• --expand-includes — expands include statements in the .glyphs features and inlines them in the exported UFO features.fea. 🌸

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🌟 Glyph data 🌟

• --glyph-data GLYPHDATA — a custom GlyphData XML file with glyph info (production name, script, category, subCategory, etc.). and the best part? you can use it more than once. stack 'em. 🔥

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no cap, that's every single flag. go forth and convert, bestie 💜

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and that's the whole page, we're done here 🎀 — this was glyphsLib version 6.16.2, dated October 2026, and it's the GLYPHSLIB(1) manual page. slay, bye!! 🌈💖✨