bat — Better cat#

Installation#

sudo apt install bat          # Debian/Ubuntu (binary: batcat)
sudo dnf install bat          # Fedora/RHEL
brew install bat              # macOS / Linux via Homebrew

# Ubuntu alias
alias bat=batcat              # add to ~/.bashrc

Basic usage#

bat file.txt                  # view with syntax highlighting + line numbers
bat file.py func.py           # multiple files with headers
bat -n file.txt               # show line numbers only (no frame)
bat -A file.txt               # show all non-printable characters
bat --plain file.txt          # plain output (no decorations), alias: -p
bat -p file.txt | less        # pipe to pager manually

Paging#

bat file.txt                  # auto-pages through $PAGER (less) if tall
bat --paging=never file.txt   # never page (like cat)
bat --paging=always file.txt  # always page even if content fits
bat -P file.txt               # shorthand for --paging=never

Syntax and themes#

bat --list-languages          # list all supported languages
bat --list-themes             # list all available themes

bat -l python script          # force language (no extension)
bat -l json output            # treat file as JSON
bat -l sh -                   # read stdin as bash

bat --theme="Dracula" file.py # apply a specific theme
bat --theme=ansi file.txt     # ANSI 16-colour theme (terminal-native)
bat --theme=GitHub file.md    # light theme

Set default theme#

# In ~/.config/bat/config  (or export BAT_CONFIG_PATH)
--theme="OneHalfDark"
--paging=never
--style=numbers,changes

Style components#

bat --style=full file.txt     # all decorations (default)
bat --style=plain file.txt    # no decorations
bat --style=numbers file.txt  # line numbers only
bat --style=changes file.txt  # Git change markers only
bat --style=header file.txt   # filename header only
bat --style=grid file.txt     # separator lines only
bat --style=numbers,changes,header file.txt  # combine

Git integration#

bat highlights modified, added, and deleted lines against the Git index automatically when --style=changes (included in full).

bat --diff file.txt           # show only lines that differ from Git HEAD
bat --diff-context=5 file.txt # with 5 lines of context around diffs

Line ranges#

bat -r 10:20 file.txt         # lines 10–20
bat -r :50 file.txt           # first 50 lines (like head -50)
bat -r 100: file.txt          # from line 100 to end (like tail -n +100)
bat -r 1:1 file.txt           # first line only

Reading from stdin#

echo '{"key": "value"}' | bat -l json
curl -s https://api.example.com/data | bat -l json
git diff | bat --plain -l diff

Integration with other tools#

# bat as MANPAGER (colourised man pages)
export MANPAGER="sh -c 'col -bx | bat -l man -p'"
export MANRASTER_BIN=cat

# Use bat for previews in fzf
fzf --preview 'bat --color=always {}'

# Use bat in git diff
git config --global core.pager 'bat --paging=always'
git config --global interactive.diffFilter 'bat --plain'

# Use with ripgrep for syntax-highlighted search output
rg --json pattern | bat -l json

# Preview files found by fd
fd -e py | xargs bat --style=header,numbers

# Replace less as a pager
export PAGER="bat --paging=always"

Config file#

Location: ~/.config/bat/config (or $(bat --config-file))

--theme="OneHalfDark"
--paging=auto
--style=numbers,changes,header
--map-syntax="*.config:XML"
--map-syntax="Dockerfile*:Dockerfile"
--map-syntax=".env:Shell Script"
--italic-text=always

Custom syntax mappings#

bat --map-syntax="*.conf:INI" httpd.conf
bat --map-syntax="Makefile*:Makefile" GNUmakefile

Aliases and wrappers#

# ~/.bashrc
alias cat='bat --paging=never'
alias less='bat --paging=always'
alias batdiff='bat --diff'

# Colourised help
alias bathelp='bat --plain --language=help'
help fzf | bat --plain -l help

bat vs cat#

[!TIP] bat --config-file prints the path to your config file. bat --generate-config-file creates a commented template at that path.