bat: Enhanced File Viewer with Syntax Highlighting

Always invoke bat 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 → bat skill (preview enhanced output)

Default Strategy

Invoke bat 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 → bat 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

When to Use

• Code Review: View source files with syntax highlighting and line numbers
• Git Workflow: Check file modifications and view historical versions
• Documentation: Colorize help pages and documentation
• File Concatenation: Replace cat with enhanced features
• Integration: Use as previewer for fzf or other tools

Core Principles

1. Enhanced cat: Drop-in replacement with intelligent improvements
2. Smart Defaults: Automatic paging when appropriate, Git integration when in repo
3. Syntax Highlighting: Supports 200+ languages with accurate detection
4. Performance Optimized: Fast loading, efficient rendering, handles large files well

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

• fd → fzf → bat: Find files, select interactively, view with syntax highlighting
• ripgrep → fzf → bat: Search content, select matches, view with highlighting
• jq/yq → fzf → bat: Extract data, select entries, view formatted output

For Analysis Phase

• analyzing-code-structure → bat: Preview structural changes with syntax highlighting
• sd → bat: Preview find-and-replace results before committing
• extracting-code-structure → bat: View extracted code structure with formatting

For Output Preview

• tokei → bat: View code statistics with formatted output
• ripgrep → bat: Preview matched files with context highlighting
• jq/yq → bat: 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 {})"