meow is a command line tool that aims to be a replacement for cat/bat with better highlighting.
This is free and open source software.
Features include:
- Neovim Engine: Uses your local ~/.config/nvim (no separate config required).
- Parallel Processing: Renders multiple files simultaneously using all CPU threads.
- Smart Paging: Automatically pipes to less only if the file exceeds your terminal height.
- Zero Overhead: Detects binary files and devices (like /dev/input/mice) and streams them with raw cat speed.
- Performance: Includes a “Fast Mode” for large files (>100KB) to skip rendering latency, unless forced.
Website: github.com/datsfilipe/meow
Support:
Developer: datsfilipe
License: MIT License
meow is written in Lua. Learn Lua with our recommended free books and free tutorials.
Related Software
| Alternatives to cat | |
|---|---|
| bat | Super charged cat - Features in our Top 100 CLI Apps |
| mdcat | Sophisticated Markdown rendering for the terminal - Features in our Top 100 TUI Apps |
| grcat | Frontend for generic colouriser grc |
| tac | Concatenate and print files in reverse |
| ccat | Colorizing cat |
| see | Cute cat replacement |
| lolcat | Add some zest to the cat command. Features in our Linux Candy series |
| kat | cat command that almost tastes like chocolate |
| meow | Renders text using your existing Neovim configuration |
| mcat | Extended cat command |
| batdoc | cat for Office documents and PDFs |
| umber | Designed to replace cat for reading source code and other text files |
| rucat | Aimed at developers and system administrators |
| peek | Multi-buffer terminal pager |
 Explore our comprehensive directory of recommended free and open source software. Our carefully curated collection spans every major software category.This directory is part of our ongoing series of informative articles for Linux enthusiasts. It features hundreds of detailed reviews, along with open source alternatives to proprietary solutions from major corporations such as Google, Microsoft, Apple, Adobe, IBM, Cisco, Oracle, and Autodesk. You’ll also find interesting projects to try, hardware coverage, free programming books and tutorials, and much more. Discovered a useful open source Linux program that we haven’t covered yet? Let us know by completing this form. |