viewimg — show an image (view-only)
Display an image in the terminal. View-only — never analyzes, never fires the VLM.
Understanding is a separate, explicit step (read_image / /readimg).
Usage
viewimg <image-file>... [--size WxH] [--open] [--no-color] [--help]
| Flag | Meaning |
|---|---|
--size WxH |
chafa block size (default 60x30) |
--open |
open all images together in one native window (uses open -a Preview on macOS) |
--no-color |
plain ASCII fallback (no ANSI color) |
--update |
pull the latest skill via git |
--selfcheck |
version, install dir, last update, chafa availability |
--help |
usage |
Behavior
- Default: renders each image as ANSI block art directly in the terminal via
chafa. --open: opens all images in one Preview window (tabs) viaopen -a Preview— no multiple windows, even across repeated calls (Preview reuses its window).
Why view-only?
read and viewimg only display. Understanding is opt-in: use read_image (tool)
or /readimg (command) when you actually need the image's contents. This keeps display
instant and never spends tokens on an unrequested VLM call.
Install
bash install.sh # creates ~/.local/bin/viewimg (Linux/macOS)
install.bat # Windows
Requires chafa (brew install chafa) for in-terminal rendering; open is built into macOS.