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1<p align="center">
2 <img src="doc/logo-header.svg" alt="bat - a cat clone with wings"><br>
3 <a href="https://travis-ci.org/sharkdp/bat"><img src="https://travis-ci.org/sharkdp/bat.svg?branch=master" alt="Build Status"></a>
4 <a href="https://ci.appveyor.com/project/sharkdp/bat"><img src="https://ci.appveyor.com/api/projects/status/cptsmtbiwbnr2vhf?svg=true"></a>
5 <img src="https://img.shields.io/crates/l/bat.svg" alt="license">
6 <a href="https://crates.io/crates/bat"><img src="https://img.shields.io/crates/v/bat.svg?colorB=319e8c" alt="Version info"></a><br>
7 A <i>cat(1)</i> clone with syntax highlighting and Git integration.
8</p>
10<p align="center">
11 <a href="#syntax-highlighting">Key Features</a> •
12 <a href="#how-to-use">How To Use</a> •
13 <a href="#installation">Installation</a> •
14 <a href="#customization">Customization</a> •
15 <a href="#project-goals-and-alternatives">Project goals, alternatives</a> •
16 Translation [<a href="https://github.com/chinanf-boy/bat-zh">中文</a>][<a href="doc/README-ja.md">日本文</a>]
17</p>
19### Syntax highlighting
21`bat` supports syntax highlighting for a large number of programming and markup
22languages:
24![Syntax highlighting example](https://imgur.com/rGsdnDe.png)
26### Git integration
28`bat` communicates with `git` to show modifications with respect to the index
29(see left side bar):
31![Git integration example](https://i.imgur.com/2lSW4RE.png)
33### Show non-printable characters
35You can use the `-A`/`--show-all` option to show and highlight non-printable
36characters:
38![Non-printable character example](https://i.imgur.com/WndGp9H.png)
40### Automatic paging
42`bat` can pipe its own output to `less` if the output is too large for one screen.
44### File concatenation
46Oh.. you can also use it to concatenate files :wink:. Whenever
47`bat` detects a non-interactive terminal (i.e. when you pipe into another process
48or into a file), `bat` will act as a drop-in replacement for `cat` and
49fall back to printing the plain file contents.
51## How to use
53Display a single file on the terminal
55```bash
56> bat README.md
57```
59Display multiple files at once
61```bash
62> bat src/*.rs
63```
65Read from stdin, determine the syntax automatically
67```bash
68> curl -s https://sh.rustup.rs | bat
69```
71Read from stdin, specify the language explicitly
73```bash
74> yaml2json .travis.yml | json_pp | bat -l json
75```
77Show and highlight non-printable characters:
78```bash
79> bat -A /etc/hosts
80```
82Use it as a `cat` replacement:
84```bash
85bat > note.md # quickly create a new file
87bat header.md content.md footer.md > document.md
89bat -n main.rs # show line numbers (only)
91bat f - g # output 'f', then stdin, then 'g'.
92```
94### Integration with other tools
96#### `find` or `fd`
98You can use the `-exec` option of `find` to preview all search results with `bat`:
99```bash
100find … -exec bat {} +
101```
103If you happen to use [`fd`](https://github.com/sharkdp/fd), you can use the `-X`/`--exec-batch` option to do the same:
104```bash
105fd … -X bat
106```
108#### `ripgrep`
110With [`batgrep`](https://github.com/eth-p/bat-extras/blob/master/doc/batgrep.md), `bat` can be used as the printer for [`ripgrep`](https://github.com/BurntSushi/ripgrep) search results.
112```bash
113batgrep needle src/
114```
116#### `tail -f`
118`bat` can be combined with `tail -f` to continuously monitor a given file with syntax highlighting.
119```bash
120tail -f /var/log/pacman.log | bat --paging=never -l log
121```
122Note that we have to switch off paging in order for this to work. We have also specified the syntax
123explicitly (`-l log`), as it can not be auto-detected in this case.
125#### `git show`
127You can combine `bat` with `git show` to view an older version of a given file with proper syntax
128highlighting:
129```bash
130git show v0.6.0:src/main.rs | bat -l rs
131```
133#### `xclip`
135The line numbers and Git modification markers in the output of `bat` can make it hard to copy
136the contents of a file. To prevent this, you can call `bat` with the `-p`/`--plain` option or
137simply pipe the output into `xclip`:
138```bash
139bat main.cpp | xclip
140```
141`bat` will detect that the output is being redirected and print the plain file contents.
143#### `man`
145`bat` can be used as a colorizing pager for `man`, by setting the
146`MANPAGER` environment variable:
148```bash
149export MANPAGER="sh -c 'col -bx | bat -l man -p'"
150man 2 select
151```
153It might also be necessary to set `MANROFFOPT="-c"` if you experience
154formatting problems.
156If you prefer to have this bundled in a new command, you can also use [`batman`](https://github.com/eth-p/bat-extras/blob/master/doc/batman.md).
158Note that the [Manpage syntax](assets/syntaxes/Manpage.sublime-syntax) is developed in this repository and still needs some work.
160#### `prettier` / `shfmt` / `rustfmt`
162The [`prettybat`](https://github.com/eth-p/bat-extras/blob/master/doc/prettybat.md) script is a wrapper that will format code and print it with `bat`.
165## Installation
167[![Packaging status](https://repology.org/badge/vertical-allrepos/bat.svg)](https://repology.org/project/bat/versions)
169### On Ubuntu
170*... and other Debian-based Linux distributions.*
172You can install [the Ubuntu `bat` package](https://packages.ubuntu.com/eoan/bat) or [the Debian `bat` package](https://packages.debian.org/sid/bat) since Ubuntu Eoan 19.10 or Debian unstable sid.
174```bash
175apt install bat
176```
178If you want to run the latest release of bat or if you are on older versions of Ubuntu/Debian, download the latest `.deb` package from the [release page](https://github.com/sharkdp/bat/releases)
179and install it via:
180```bash
181sudo dpkg -i bat_0.12.1_amd64.deb # adapt version number and architecture
182```
184### On Alpine Linux
186You can install [the `bat` package](https://pkgs.alpinelinux.org/packages?name=bat)
187from the official sources, provided you have the appropriate repository enabled:
189```bash
190apk add bat
191```
193### On Arch Linux
195You can install [the `bat` package](https://www.archlinux.org/packages/community/x86_64/bat/)
196from the official sources:
198```bash
199pacman -S bat
200```
202### On Fedora
204You can install [the `bat` package](https://koji.fedoraproject.org/koji/packageinfo?packageID=27506) from the official [Fedora Modular](https://docs.fedoraproject.org/en-US/modularity/using-modules/) repository.
206```bash
207dnf install bat
208```
210### On Gentoo Linux
212You can install [the `bat` package](https://packages.gentoo.org/packages/sys-apps/bat)
213from the official sources:
215```bash
216emerge sys-apps/bat
217```
219### On Void Linux
221You can install `bat` via xbps-install:
222```bash
223xbps-install -S bat
224```
226### On FreeBSD
228You can install a precompiled [`bat` package](https://www.freshports.org/textproc/bat) with pkg:
230```bash
231pkg install bat
232```
234or build it on your own from the FreeBSD ports:
236```bash
237cd /usr/ports/textproc/bat
238make install
239```
241### Via nix
243You can install `bat` using the [nix package manager](https://nixos.org/nix):
245```bash
246nix-env -i bat
247```
249### On openSUSE
251You can install `bat` with zypper:
253```bash
254zypper install bat
255```
257### On macOS
259You can install `bat` with [Homebrew](http://braumeister.org/formula/bat):
261```bash
262brew install bat
263```
265Or install `bat` with [MacPorts](https://ports.macports.org/port/bat/summary):
267```bash
268port install bat
269```
271### On Windows
273You can download prebuilt binaries from the [Release page](https://github.com/sharkdp/bat/releases),
274or install it with [scoop](https://scoop.sh/) or [Chocolatey](https://chocolatey.org):
276```bash
277scoop install bat
278```
280```bash
281choco install bat
282```
284[See below](#using-bat-on-windows) for notes.
286### Via Docker
288There is a [Docker image](https://hub.docker.com/r/danlynn/bat/) that you can use to run `bat` in a container:
289```bash
290docker pull danlynn/bat
291alias bat='docker run -it --rm -e BAT_THEME -e BAT_STYLE -e BAT_TABS -v "$(pwd):/myapp" danlynn/bat'
292```
294### Via Ansible
296You can install `bat` with [Ansible](https://www.ansible.com/):
298```bash
299# Install role on local machine
300ansible-galaxy install aeimer.install_bat
301```
303```yaml
304---
305# Playbook to install bat
306- host: all
307 roles:
308 - aeimer.install_bat
309```
311- [Ansible Galaxy](https://galaxy.ansible.com/aeimer/install_bat)
312- [GitHub](https://github.com/aeimer/ansible-install-bat)
314This should work with the following distributions:
315- Debian/Ubuntu
316- ARM (eg. Raspberry PI)
317- Arch Linux
318- Void Linux
319- FreeBSD
320- MacOS
322### From binaries
324Check out the [Release page](https://github.com/sharkdp/bat/releases) for
325prebuilt versions of `bat` for many different architectures. Statically-linked
326binaries are also available: look for archives with `musl` in the file name.
328### From source
330If you want to build `bat` from source, you need Rust 1.35 or
331higher. You can then use `cargo` to build everything:
333```bash
334cargo install bat
335```
337On some platforms, you might need to install `llvm` and/or `libclang-dev`.
339## Customization
341### Highlighting theme
343Use `bat --list-themes` to get a list of all available themes for syntax
344highlighting. To select the `TwoDark` theme, call `bat` with the
345`--theme=TwoDark` option or set the `BAT_THEME` environment variable to
346`TwoDark`. Use `export BAT_THEME="TwoDark"` in your shell's startup file to
347make the change permanent. Alternatively, use `bat`s
348[configuration file](https://github.com/sharkdp/bat#configuration-file).
350If you want to preview the different themes on a custom file, you can use
351the following command (you need [`fzf`](https://github.com/junegunn/fzf) for this):
352```bash
353bat --list-themes | fzf --preview="bat --theme={} --color=always /path/to/file"
354```
356`bat` looks good on a dark background by default. However, if your terminal uses a
357light background, some themes like `GitHub` or `OneHalfLight` will work better for you.
358You can also use a custom theme by following the
359['Adding new themes' section below](https://github.com/sharkdp/bat#adding-new-themes).
361### Output style
363You can use the `--style` option to control the appearance of `bat`s output.
364You can use `--style=numbers,changes`, for example, to show only Git changes
365and line numbers but no grid and no file header. Set the `BAT_STYLE` environment
366variable to make these changes permanent or use `bat`s
367[configuration file](https://github.com/sharkdp/bat#configuration-file).
369### Adding new syntaxes / language definitions
371`bat` uses the excellent [`syntect`](https://github.com/trishume/syntect/)
372library for syntax highlighting. `syntect` can read any
373[Sublime Text `.sublime-syntax` file](https://www.sublimetext.com/docs/3/syntax.html)
374and theme. To add new syntax definitions, do the following.
376Create a folder with syntax definition files:
378```bash
379mkdir -p "$(bat --config-dir)/syntaxes"
380cd "$(bat --config-dir)/syntaxes"
382# Put new '.sublime-syntax' language definition files
383# in this folder (or its subdirectories), for example:
384git clone https://github.com/tellnobody1/sublime-purescript-syntax
385```
387Now use the following command to parse these files into a binary cache:
389```bash
390bat cache --build
391```
393Finally, use `bat --list-languages` to check if the new languages are available.
395If you ever want to go back to the default settings, call:
397```bash
398bat cache --clear
399```
401### Adding new themes
403This works very similar to how we add new syntax definitions.
405First, create a folder with the new syntax highlighting themes:
406```bash
407mkdir -p "$(bat --config-dir)/themes"
408cd "$(bat --config-dir)/themes"
410# Download a theme in '.tmTheme' format, for example:
411git clone https://github.com/greggb/sublime-snazzy
413# Update the binary cache
414bat cache --build
415```
417Finally, use `bat --list-themes` to check if the new themes are available.
419### Using a different pager
421`bat` uses the pager that is specified in the `PAGER` environment variable. If this variable is not
422set, `less` is used by default. If you want to use a different pager, you can either modify the
423`PAGER` variable or set the `BAT_PAGER` environment variable to override what is specified in
424`PAGER`.
426If you want to pass command-line arguments to the pager, you can also set them via the
427`PAGER`/`BAT_PAGER` variables:
429```bash
430export BAT_PAGER="less -RF"
431```
433Instead of using environment variables, you can also use `bat`s [configuration file](https://github.com/sharkdp/bat#configuration-file) to configure the pager (`--pager` option).
435**Note**: By default, if the pager is set to `less` (and no command-line options are specified),
436`bat` will pass the following command line
437options to the pager: `-R`/`--RAW-CONTROL-CHARS`, `-F`/`--quit-if-one-screen` and `-X`/`--no-init`.
438The first (`-R`) is needed to interpret ANSI colors correctly. The second option (`-F`) instructs
439less to exit immediately if the output size is smaller than the vertical size of the terminal.
440This is convenient for small files because you do not have to press `q` to quit the pager. The
441third option (`-X`) is needed to fix a bug with the `--quit-if-one-screen` feature in old versions
442of `less`. Unfortunately, it also breaks mouse-wheel support in `less`. If you want to enable
443mouse-wheel scrolling, you can either pass just `-R` (as in the example above, this will disable
444the quit-if-one-screen feature), or you can use a recent version of `less` and pass `-RF` which
445will hopefully enable both quit-if-one-screen and mouse-wheel scrolling.
447If scrolling still doesn't work for you, you can try to pass the `-S` option in addition.
449### Dark mode
451If you make use of the dark mode feature in macOS, you might want to configure `bat` to use a different
452theme based on the OS theme. The following snippet uses the `default` theme when in the light mode
453and the `GitHub` theme when in the dark mode.
455```bash
456alias cat="bat --theme=\$(defaults read -globalDomain AppleInterfaceStyle &> /dev/null && echo default || echo GitHub)"
457```
459## Configuration file
461`bat` can also be customized with a configuration file. The location of the file is dependent
462on your operating system. To get the default path for your system, call
463```
464bat --config-file
465```
467Alternatively, you can use the `BAT_CONFIG_PATH` environment variable to point `bat` to a
468non-default location of the configuration file:
469```bash
470export BAT_CONFIG_PATH="/path/to/bat.conf"
471```
473### Format
475The configuration file is a simple list of command line arguments. Use `bat --help` to see a full list of possible options and values. In addition, you can add comments by prepending a line with the `#` character.
477Example configuration file:
478```bash
479# Set the theme to "TwoDark"
480--theme="TwoDark"
482# Show line numbers, Git modifications and file header (but no grid)
483--style="numbers,changes,header"
485# Use italic text on the terminal (not supported on all terminals)
486--italic-text=always
488# Add mouse scrolling support in less (does not work with older
489# versions of "less")
490--pager="less -FR"
492# Use C++ syntax (instead of C) for .h header files
493--map-syntax h:cpp
495# Use "gitignore" highlighting for ".ignore" files
496--map-syntax .ignore:.gitignore
497```
499## Using `bat` on Windows
501`bat` mostly works out-of-the-box on Windows, but a few features may need extra configuration.
503### Paging
505Windows only includes a very limited pager in the form of `more`. You can download a Windows binary
506for `less` [from its homepage](http://www.greenwoodsoftware.com/less/download.html) or [through
507Chocolatey](https://chocolatey.org/packages/Less). To use it, place the binary in a directory in
508your `PATH` or [define an environment variable](#using-a-different-pager). The [Chocolatey package](#on-windows) installs `less` automatically.
510### Colors
512Windows 10 natively supports colors in both `conhost.exe` (Command Prompt) and PowerShell since
513[v1511](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_10_version_history#Version_1511_(November_Update)), as
514well as in newer versions of bash. On earlier versions of Windows, you can use
515[Cmder](http://cmder.net/), which includes [ConEmu](https://conemu.github.io/).
517**Note:** The Git and MSYS versions of `less` do not correctly interpret colors on Windows. If you
518don’t have any other pagers installed, you can disable paging entirely by passing `--paging=never`
519or by setting `BAT_PAGER` to an empty string.
521### Cygwin
523`bat` on Windows does not natively support Cygwin's unix-style paths (`/cygdrive/*`). When passed an absolute cygwin path as an argument, `bat` will encounter the following error: `The system cannot find the path specified. (os error 3)`
525This can be solved by creating a wrapper or adding the following function to your `.bash_profile` file:
527```bash
528bat() {
529 local index
530 local args=("$@")
531 for index in $(seq 0 ${#args[@]}) ; do
532 case "${args[index]}" in
533 -*) continue;;
534 *) [ -e "${args[index]}" ] && args[index]="$(cygpath --windows "${args[index]}")";;
535 esac
536 done
537 command bat "${args[@]}"
539```
541## Troubleshooting
543### Terminals & colors
545`bat` handles terminals *with* and *without* truecolor support. However, the colors in the syntax
546highlighting themes are not optimized for 8-bit colors and it is therefore strongly recommended
547that you use a terminal with 24-bit truecolor support (`terminator`, `konsole`, `iTerm2`, ...).
548See [this article](https://gist.github.com/XVilka/8346728) for more details and a full list of
549terminals with truecolor support.
551Make sure that your truecolor terminal sets the `COLORTERM` variable to either `truecolor` or
552`24bit`. Otherwise, `bat` will not be able to determine whether or not 24-bit escape sequences
553are supported (and fall back to 8-bit colors).
555### Line numbers and grid are hardly visible
557Please try a different theme (see `bat --list-themes` for a list). The `OneHalfDark` and
558`OneHalfLight` themes provide grid and line colors that are brighter.
560### File encodings
562`bat` natively supports UTF-8 as well as UTF-16. For every other file encoding, you may need to
563convert to UTF-8 first because the encodings can typically not be auto-detected. You can `iconv`
564to do so.
565Example: if you have a PHP file in Latin-1 (ISO-8859-1) encoding, you can call:
566``` bash
567iconv -f ISO-8859-1 -t UTF-8 my-file.php | bat
568```
569Note: you might have to use the `-l`/`--language` option if the syntax can not be auto-detected
570by `bat`.
572## Development
574```bash
575# Recursive clone to retrieve all submodules
576git clone --recursive https://github.com/sharkdp/bat
578# Build (debug version)
579cd bat
580cargo build --bins
582# Run unit tests and integration tests
583cargo test
585# Install (release version)
586cargo install
588# Build a bat binary with modified syntaxes and themes
589bash assets/create.sh
590cargo install -f
591```
593## Maintainers
595- [sharkdp](https://github.com/sharkdp)
596- [eth-p](https://github.com/eth-p)
598## Project goals and alternatives
600`bat` tries to achieve the following goals:
602- Provide beautiful, advanced syntax highlighting
603- Integrate with Git to show file modifications
604- Be a drop-in replacement for (POSIX) `cat`
605- Offer a user-friendly command-line interface
607There are a lot of alternatives, if you are looking for similar programs. See
608[this document](doc/alternatives.md) for a comparison.