Command Line Tools Command Line Tools Command Line Tools
File Management
A super fast, fully-featured terminal file manager with a minimalistic interface and less/VIM-like keybindings (navigation with hjkl, search with /,…). Also offers some useful plugins like instant preview, open with
, go to git main directory
, etc.
As an alternative to the usually pretty outdated versions in OS packages you can just donwload one of the statically linked executables on the GitHub release page .
Fast file browser and manager that displays a tree that is automatically partially collapsed so it fits the terminal height. By default the primary mode of navigation is a super-fast search, but one can also switch to a VIM-like modal interface. Broot offers working with multiple panes and a staging area for operations on multiple files. The instant preview pane can also diplay images right out of the box.
Broot runs on Linux, Android, Windows 10+ and OSX. Binaries can be downloaded from here .
cargo install --locked --path . pkgin install broot emerge broot apk install broot port install broot
A console file manager with VI key bindings. It provides a minimalistic and nice curses interface with a view of the directory hierarchy.
apt install ranger mediainfo pip install ranger-fm
An improved file lister with more features and better defaults. It uses colors to distinguish file types and metadata. It knows about symlinks, extended attributes, and Git. And it's small, fast, and just one single binary.
apt install exa dnf install exa emerge sys-apps/exa nix-env -i exa pacman -S exa zypper install exa brew install exa 
A disk usage analyzer with an ncurses interface. It is designed to find space hogs on a remote server where you don't have an entire graphical setup available, but it is a useful tool even on regular desktop systems.
Packages are available for almost all operating systems.
apt install ncdu
disk usage/free utility
apt install duf nix-env -iA nixpkgs.duf pacman -S duf pkg install duf pkg_add duf xbps-install -S duf brew install duf choco install duf scoop install duf
A command-line productivity booster. Fasd offers quick access to files and directories for POSIX shells. It is inspired by tools like autojump, z and v. Fasd keeps track of files and directories you have accessed, so that you can quickly reference them in the command line.
apt install fasd dnf install fasd pacman -S fasd brew install fasdSearching
A line-oriented search tool that recursively searches the current directory for a regex pattern. Orders of magnitude faster than grep. By default, ripgrep will respect gitignore rules and automatically skip hidden files/directories and binary files.
apt install ripgrep dnf install ripgrep emerge sys-apps/ripgrep pacman -S ripgrep pkg install ripgrep brew install ripgrep choco install ripgrep scoop install ripgrep 
A general-purpose command-line fuzzy finder. It's an interactive Unix filter for the command-line that can be used with any list; files, command history, processes, hostnames, bookmarks, git commits, etc.
apt install fzf apk add fzf dnf install fzf nix-env -iA nixpkgs.fzf pacman -S fzf pkg install fzf pkg_add fzf pkgin install fzf xbps-install -S fzf zypper install fzf brew install fzf choco install fzf scoop install fzf conda install -c conda-forge fzfSimplistic interactive tool for on-the-fly filtering. Useful for filtering stuff like logs, process stats.
apt install peco pacman -S peco brew install peco choco install peco
Text File
apt install bat apk add bat pacman -S bat dnf install bat emerge sys-apps/bat pkg install bat pkg_add bat nix-env -i bat zypper install bat port install bat choco install bat scoop install batLets you view one or multiple files like 'tail'. The difference is that it creates multiple windows on your console (with ncurses). It can also monitor wildcards: if another file matching the wildcard has a more recent modification date, it will automatically switch to that file.
apt install multitail brew install multitail
Works like 'tail' but can optionally read one or more config files where it's specified which patterns results in which colors. Colortail uses regular expressions to determine which lines and parts of lines to print in which colors.
apt install colortail brew install colortailA wrapper for 'diff' that produces the same output but with pretty syntax highlighting. Colour schemes can be customized.
apt install colordiff brew install colordiff
Shell
A terminal multiplexer. It lets you switch easily between several programs in one terminal, detach them (they keep running in the background) and reattach them to a different terminal.
apt install tmux dnf install tmux pacman -S tmux port install tmux yum install tmux zypper install tmux brew install tmux 
The tldr pages are a community effort to simplify the beloved man pages with practical examples. Support for multiple languages.
apt install tldr npm install -g tldr
Development
An ncurses-based text-mode interface for git. It functions mainly as a Git repository browser, but can also assist in staging changes for commit at chunk level and act as a pager for output from various Git commands.
apt install tig nix-env -i tig pkg install tig brew install tig 
A lightweight curses (terminal-based) interface to GDB. It provides a split screen view that displays the source code as it executes. The keyboard interface is modeled after VIM.
apt install cgdb
Benchmarking of executables similar to the classic 'time' command but much more sophisticated.
- statistical analysis across multiple runs
- supports arbitrary shell commands
- constant feedback
- warmup runs
- cache-clearing commands
- statistical outlier detection
- export results to various formats
- parameterized benchmarks
- cross-platform
wget https://github.com/sharkdp/hyperfine/releases/download/v1.14.0/hyperfine_1.14.0_amd64.deb sudo dpkg -i hyperfine_1.14.0_amd64.deb dnf install hyperfine pacman -S hyperfine apk add hyperfine nix-env -i hyperfine brew install hyperfine port install hyperfine 
A multi base calculator supporting dynamic base conversion and bit manipulation. Also offers an interactive mode navigation. A handy tool for low level hackers.
apt install bitwise snap install bitwise zypper install bitwise brew install bitwise port install bitwise 
Data Manip
JSON viewer with less/VIM-like key mappings and mouse support. Nice for browsing large JSON documents; key navigation, (recursive) folding/unfolding, searching, etc.
pkg install fx snap install fx brew install fx scoop install fx
A lightweight and flexible command-line JSON processor.
apt install jq dnf install jq pacman -S jq pkg install jq pkgutil -i jq zypper install jq brew install jq port install jq chocolatey install jqA lightweight and portable command-line YAML, JSON and XML processor. yq uses jq like syntax but works with yaml files as well as json and xml. It doesn't yet support everything jq does - but it does support the most common operations and functions, and more is being added continuously.
snap install fx brew install fxPublishing
Tool to convert between markup formats. Supports docx, epub, fb2, jira, latex, markdown, man, muse, odt, org, rtf, textile, asciidoc, html and more.
apt install pandoc dnf install pandoc pacman -S pandoc brew install pandoc choco install pandoc winget install pandocA command-line thesaurus (English only).
apt install aiksaurus 
Previews GitHub flavored markdown files using GitHub's API. The styles and rendering come directly from GitHub, so you'll know exactly how it will appear. Changes you make to the file will be instantly reflected in the browser without requiring a page refresh.
brew install grip pip install gripA simple PDF to SVG converter using the Poppler and Cairo libraries.
apt install pdf2svg yum install pdf2svgTool to create, edit, compose, or convert digital images. It can read and write images in a variety of formats (over 200) including PNG, JPEG, GIF, WebP, HEIC, SVG, PDF, DPX, EXR and TIFF. ImageMagick can resize, flip, mirror, rotate, distort, shear and transform images, adjust image colors, apply various special effects, or draw text, lines, polygons, ellipses and Bézier curves.
apt install imagemagick brew install imagemagickA tool to generate, analyze, convert and manipulate colors. It supports many different color formats and color spaces like RGB (sRGB), HSL, CIELAB, CIELCh as well as ANSI 8-bit and 24-bit representations.
apt install pastel pacman -S pastel brew install pastel scoop install pastel
Parses text files for HTTP URLs and checks if they are still valid.
pip install deadlinkLets you record terminal sessions and replay them in a terminal as well as in a web browser.
apt install asciinema brew install asciinema pip install asciinemaEntertainment
A command line ebook reader. A fork of epr with more features: progress percentage, bookmarks, dictionary integration, bold/italic formatting. Supported formats: Epub, FictionBook (fb2), Mobi, AZW3.
pip3 install epy
Comments…