A feature-rich cat clone that brings syntax highlighting, Git integration, and line numbers to your terminal workflow.
Install & Download
1. ClawHub CLI
The fastest way to install a skill directly from the registry.
npx clawhub@latest install bat-cat
2. Manual Installation
Copy the skill folder to one of these locations
~/.openclaw/skills/ <project>/skills/ Priority: Workspace > Local > Bundled
3. Prompt Installation
Copy this prompt to OpenClaw to install it automatically.
Help me install bat-cat using Clawhub. If Clawhub is not installed, install it first (npm i -g clawhub).
Prefer to download?
Get the raw skill files in a ZIP archive.
What is bat-cat: Modern Replacement for cat?
bat is a highly optimized replacement for the traditional cat command, designed to improve code readability and developer productivity within the terminal. It supports syntax highlighting for a vast range of programming and markup languages, while automatically integrating with Git to show file modifications in the gutter. By utilizing Openclaw Skills like this, developers can transform their command-line interface into a more visual and informative environment.
Beyond simple file viewing, it provides automatic paging for long files, line numbers, and decorations that make scanning through configuration files or source code much more efficient. It is built in Rust, ensuring high performance even when handling large datasets or complex syntax trees.
bat-cat: Modern Replacement for cat Use Cases
- Previewing source code with language-specific syntax highlighting.
- Inspecting Git modifications (additions/removals) directly in the terminal output.
- Viewing specific line ranges of large files to isolate functions or configuration blocks.
- Displaying non-printable characters for debugging whitespace or encoding issues.
- Replacing the default man page pager for more readable documentation.
How bat-cat: Modern Replacement for cat Works
- The tool receives a file path or piped input from another command.
- It analyzes the file extension or content to determine the appropriate syntax highlighting rules.
- It checks the local Git status to identify which lines have been modified since the last commit.
- It renders the content with selected decorations such as line numbers, headers, and a grid.
- If the output exceeds the terminal height, it automatically pipes the result into a pager like less.
bat-cat: Modern Replacement for cat Setup
Installation
Install using Homebrew on macOS or Linux:
brew install bat
On Debian or Ubuntu systems:
sudo apt install bat
Note: On some Linux distributions, the executable may be renamed to batcat to avoid conflicts.
Configuration
You can set default themes and styles by creating a config file at ~/.config/bat/config.
bat-cat: Modern Replacement for cat Data Schema & Taxonomy
The tool organizes its configuration and assets using the following structure:
| Location | Purpose |
|---|---|
~/.config/bat/config |
Main configuration file for flags and themes |
~/.config/bat/syntaxes/ |
Directory for custom syntax definitions (.sublime-syntax) |
~/.config/bat/themes/ |
Directory for custom color themes (.tmTheme) |
| Output Styles | Supports values like numbers, changes, header, grid, and plain |
bat-cat: Modern Replacement for cat Advanced Features
- Custom language mapping to associate specific file extensions with different syntax highlighters.
- Integration with fzf to provide high-speed, syntax-highlighted file previews during fuzzy searches.
- Support for custom syntax and theme sets that can be compiled into a binary cache for instant loading.
- Deep integration with ripgrep to highlight search results within their original code context.
- Multiple line range selection using the
--line-rangeflag for focused code reviews.
SKILL.md
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