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sharkdp/bat

★ 61,215RustApache-2.089

A cat(1) clone with wings.

What it is

bat supports syntax highlighting for a large number of programming and markup languages: bat communicates with git to show modifications with respect to the index (see left sidebar): You can use the -A/--show-all option to show and highlight non-printable characters:

When to use it

Reach for bat when you live in the terminal and want faster search, git, navigation or a beautiful TUI — it's written in Rust and fits stacks tagged cli, git, syntax-highlighting, terminal.

Category
CLI & Terminal
Also in
—
Stars
61,215
Forks
2,310
Last push
yesterday
Created
2018-04-21
Open issues
566
Website
—
#cli#git#rust#syntax-highlighting#terminal#tool

Quick start

$ git clone https://github.com/sharkdp/bat.git

Hand it to your AI

Read https://ideas.asveas.com/r/sharkdp/bat.md and help me add sharkdp/bat to my project. Explain the setup steps for my stack and show the minimal code to get it working.
CLI & TerminalMarkdown .mdOpen on GitHub ↵

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FAQ

What is bat?

sharkdp/bat is a terminal tool on GitHub: A cat(1) clone with wings. bat supports syntax highlighting for a large number of programming and markup languages: bat communicates with git to show modifications with respect to the index (see left sidebar): You can use the -A/--show-all option to show and highlight non-printable characters:

When should I use bat?

Reach for bat when you live in the terminal and want faster search, git, navigation or a beautiful TUI — it's written in Rust and fits stacks tagged cli, git, syntax-highlighting, terminal.

What are the best alternatives to bat?

Popular alternatives in CLI & Terminal: neovim/neovim (104k★), junegunn/fzf (84.2k★), starship/starship (60.7k★), ajeetdsouza/zoxide (40.6k★), jesseduffield/lazygit (83.8k★).

Is bat actively maintained?

sharkdp/bat looks very actively maintained: the last push was yesterday (2026-11-10), with 61,215 stars and 566 open issues.

What license does bat use?

sharkdp/bat is published under the Apache-2.0 license. Check the repository's LICENSE file before commercial use.