Viewing Files

bat: Enhanced File Viewer with Syntax Highlighting

Always invoke viewing-files skill for enhanced file viewing - do not execute bash commands directly.

Use bat as a modern replacement for cat with beautiful syntax highlighting, Git integration, and smart features.

When to Use bat vs cat

Use bat when:

• Viewing source code or structured text files
• Syntax highlighting improves readability
• Need Git integration or line numbers
• Working with files >50 lines where highlighting helps
• Previewing changes from other tools

Use cat when:

• Very small files (<10 lines)
• Non-text/binary files
• Simple concatenation without formatting
• When highlighting would add noise
• Performance-critical operations on many tiny files

Common workflow: Any skill → viewing-files skill (preview enhanced output)

Default Strategy

Invoke viewing-files skill for enhanced file viewing with syntax highlighting. Use when viewing source files, documentation, or when syntax highlighting improves readability.

Common workflow: Any discovery skill → viewing-files skill (preview enhanced output).

Key Options

Display Control

• -n/--number line numbers only
• -p/--plain plain output (no decorations)
• -A/--show-all show non-printable characters
• --line-range START:END view specific lines
• --wrap never disable line wrapping
• --tabs N set tab width to N spaces

Language & Themes

• -l/--language LANG force language detection
• --list-languages show supported languages
• --list-themes show available themes
• --theme NAME set color theme (default: Monokai Extended)
• --theme-dark/--theme-light auto-switch themes based on terminal
• BAT_THEME environment variable for default theme

Output Styling

• --style COMPONENTS control output (numbers,changes,header,grid,snip)
• --decorations auto|never|always control decorations
• --color always|never|auto control coloring

Paging

• --paging auto|never|always control paging behavior
• --pager COMMAND set custom pager
• BAT_PAGER environment variable

Detailed Reference

For comprehensive usage patterns, integration examples, advanced features, and troubleshooting, load bat guide when needing:

• Git integration workflows
• Output styling and customization details
• Theme configuration and options
• Performance optimization tips
• Shell integration examples

The guide includes:

• Core usage patterns and language control
• Git integration workflows
• Output styling and customization
• Integration with other tools (fzf, git, ripgrep)
• Advanced features and configuration
• Performance tips and troubleshooting

Skill Combinations

For Discovery Phase

• finding-files → fuzzy-selecting → viewing-files: Find files, select interactively, view with syntax highlighting
• searching-text → fuzzy-selecting → viewing-files: Search content, select matches, view with highlighting
• querying-json/querying-yaml → fuzzy-selecting → viewing-files: Extract data, select entries, view formatted output

For Analysis Phase

• analyzing-code-structure → viewing-files: Preview structural changes with syntax highlighting
• replacing-text → viewing-files: Preview find-and-replace results before committing
• extracting-code-structure → viewing-files: View extracted code structure with formatting

For Output Preview

• analyzing-code → viewing-files: View code statistics with formatted output
• searching-text → viewing-files: Preview matched files with context highlighting
• querying-json/querying-yaml → viewing-files: View extracted structured data with syntax formatting

Integration Examples

# Interactive file viewer
fd --type file | fzf --preview="bat --color=always --style=numbers {}" --bind="enter:execute(bat {})"