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https://github.com/swsnr/mdcat

cat for markdown
https://github.com/swsnr/mdcat

cat iterm2 markdown rust terminal

Last synced: 25 days ago
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cat for markdown

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# mdcat



**I no longer maintain this tool and its crates.**



Fancy `cat` for Markdown (that is, [CommonMark][]):



```

$ mdcat sample.md

```



![mdcat showcase with different colour themes][sxs]



mdcat in [WezTerm], with "One Light (base16)", "Gruvbox Light", and "Darcula

(base16)" (from left to right), and [JetBrains Mono] as font.



[CommonMark]: http://commonmark.org

[Solarized]: http://ethanschoonover.com/solarized

[dracula]: https://draculatheme.com/iterm/

[wezterm]: https://wezfurlong.org/wezterm/

[JetBrains Mono]: https://www.jetbrains.com/lp/mono/

[sxs]: ./screenshots/side-by-side.png



## Features



`mdcat` works best with [iTerm2], [WezTerm], and [kitty], and a good terminal font with italic characters.

Then it



* nicely renders all basic CommonMark syntax,

* highlights code blocks with [syntect],

* shows [links][osc8], and also images inline in supported terminals (see above, where "Rust" is a clickable link!),

* adds jump marks for headings in [iTerm2] (jump forwards and backwards with ⇧⌘↓ and ⇧⌘↑).



| Terminal                   |  Basic syntax | Syntax highlighting | Images | Jump marks |

| :------------------------- | :-----------: | :-----------------: | :----: | :--------: |

| Basic ANSI¹                | ✓             | ✓                   |        |            |

| Windows 10 console         | ✓             | ✓                   |        |            |

| [Terminology]              | ✓             | ✓                   | ✓      |            |

| [iTerm2]                   | ✓             | ✓                   | ✓³     | ✓          |

| [kitty]                    | ✓             | ✓                   | ✓³     |            |

| [WezTerm]                  | ✓             | ✓                   | ✓³     |            |

| [VSCode]                   | ✓             | ✓                   | ✓³     |            |



1) mdcat requires that the terminal supports strikethrough formatting and [inline links][osc8].

    It will not render strikethrough text and links correctly on terminals that don't support these (e.g. the Linux text console)

2) VTE is Gnome’s terminal emulation library used by many popular terminal emulators on Linux, including Gnome Terminal, Xfce Terminal, Tilix, etc.

3) SVG images are rendered with [resvg], see [SVG support].



Not supported:



* CommonMark extensions for footnotes and tables.



[syntect]: https://github.com/trishume/syntect

[osc8]: https://gist.github.com/egmontkob/eb114294efbcd5adb1944c9f3cb5feda

[Terminology]: http://terminolo.gy

[iterm2]: https://www.iterm2.com

[WezTerm]: https://wezfurlong.org/wezterm/

[kitty]: https://sw.kovidgoyal.net/kitty/

[resvg]: https://github.com/RazrFalcon/resvg

[SVG support]: https://github.com/RazrFalcon/resvg#svg-support

[VSCode]: https://code.visualstudio.com/



## Usage



Try `mdcat --help` or read the [mdcat(1)](./mdcat.1.adoc) manpage.



## Installation



* [Release binaries](https://github.com/swsnr/mdcat/releases/) built on Github Actions.

* 3rd party packages at [Repology](https://repology.org/project/mdcat/versions)

* You can also build `mdcat` manually with `cargo install mdcat` (see below for details).



`mdcat` can be linked or copied to `mdless`; if invoked as `mdless` it automatically uses pagination.



## Building



Run `cargo build --release`.

The resulting `mdcat` executable links against the system's SSL library, i.e. openssl on Linux.

To build a self-contained executable use `cargo build --features=static`; the resulting executable uses a pure Rust SSL implementation.

It still uses the system's CA roots however.



The build process also generates the following additional files in `$OUT_DIR`:



* Completions for Bash, Zsh, Fish, and Powershell, for both `mdcat` and `mdless`, in `completions` sub-directory.

* A `mdcat.1` manpage, build from `mdcat.1.adoc` with the `asciidoctor` command from [AsciiDoctor].

  If `asciidoctor` is not found the build script prints a warning.



These additional artifacts are included in the release builds.

If you package mdcat you may want to include these files too.



You may also want to include an `mdless` link to `mdcat` (see above).



[AsciiDoctor]: https://asciidoctor.org/



## Troubleshooting



`mdcat` can output extensive tracing information when asked to.

Run `mdcat` with `$MDCAT_LOG=trace` for complete tracing information, or with `$MDCAT_LOG=mdcat::render=trace` to trace only rendering.



## License



Copyright Sebastian Wiesner 



Binaries are subject to the terms of the Mozilla Public

License, v. 2.0, see [LICENSE](LICENSE).



Most of the source is subject to the terms of the Mozilla Public

License, v. 2.0, see [LICENSE](LICENSE), unless otherwise noted;

some files are subject to the terms of the Apache 2.0 license,

see