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brew

Install eless with Homebrew

Better less using Emacs view-mode and Bash. Version 0.7 via Homebrew; verified from local package data.

Install commandSecurity notes

install

Additional install commands

macOS

Homebrewverified · 100%
brew install eless

local Homebrew formula metadata

overview

Package summary

Better less using Emacs view-mode and Bash

Commands and aliases

  • eless

history

Project history and usage

eless is a Bash-and-Emacs pager that tries to behave like a better `less`: quick to launch, independent of the user's normal Emacs configuration, and useful for syntax-highlighted files, man pages, Info manuals, diffs, logs, directories, and piped output.

Project history

The eless repository was created in April 2017. Its README describes the tool as a combination of a Bash script and a minimal Emacs `view-mode` configuration, created because the author wanted something like `less` but with Emacs' richer viewing modes.

The project is intentionally small and literate: the README says the script and documentation are generated from one Org Babel source file, and the documentation site is generated from the same file.

Adoption history

eless remained a niche terminal productivity tool rather than a broad ecosystem package. Its adoption path is mostly manual installation and Homebrew, aimed at users who already have Emacs installed and want it to serve as a pager.

How it is used

Users run `eless file`, pipe command output into it, set `PAGER=eless` for git or man-page workflows, inspect directories through dired, view colored diffs, or follow logs with auto-revert behavior. It deliberately avoids requiring an already-running Emacs server.

Because it depends on Emacs, Bash, Perl, and Texinfo for some workflows, eless is most attractive to terminal users who already live near the Emacs ecosystem and want a richer pager without changing every command-line habit.

Why package nerds care

eless is a neat package-manager edge case: the package is just a small script, but it turns a large editor runtime into a pager. That makes it interesting for CLI catalogs because its real capability comes from composition with Emacs rather than from a large standalone binary.

Timeline

  • 2017: GitHub repository created.
  • 2017: eless documented as a Bash script plus minimal Emacs view-mode configuration.
  • 2022: Last observed repository push from GitHub metadata before this enrichment run.

Related projects

  • eless relates to `less`, Emacs view-mode, dired, man, Info, git diff pagers, and other enhanced pagers such as bat or delta, though its implementation is centered on Emacs rather than terminal rendering alone.

security posture

Risk level: green

narrow executable package without higher-risk signals.

Risk classifier

green risk · low confidence · appliance

Why

  • narrow executable package without higher-risk signals

Signals

  • metadata:no-higher-risk-signals

Install behavior

  • No Homebrew post-install hook is recorded in formula metadata.
  • Homebrew bottle metadata is available for 1 platform targets.
  • Installs with 1 runtime dependencies.

Recommended review

Before unattended agent use, check whether the tool reads plaintext credentials, writes remote state, publishes artifacts, or shells out to plugins.

executables

Installed executables

CommandKindExposureNote
elesscliglobal executable

freshness

Version and freshness

These signals separate page generation age, package-manager activity, and upstream release comparison. Version lag is warned only when an evidence URL and comparable versions are present.

page generated2026-07-08
manager version0.7
manager updated
local dataok
upstreamcurrent
latest detectedv0.7

https://github.com/kaushalmodi/eless

  • infoNo package-manager update timestamp was available.low confidence

install metadata

Package metadata

Package keybrew:eless
Version0.7
Package managerHomebrew
Package manager pagehttps://formulae.brew.sh/formula/eless
Homepagehttps://eless.scripter.co/
Repositoryhttps://github.com/kaushalmodi/eless
Upstream docshttps://eless.scripter.co/
LicenseMIT
Source archivehttps://github.com/kaushalmodi/eless/archive/refs/tags/v0.7.tar.gz
Dependenciesemacs
Bottleavailable (on all)
Homebrew post-installnot defined
Servicenone declared

registry facts

Source database details

Source DatabaseHomebrew formula API
Taphomebrew/core
Full Nameeless
Version Scheme0
Revision0
Bottle Stable Root URLhttps://ghcr.io/v2/homebrew/core
Deprecatedno
Disabledno
Keg Onlyno
URL Keys
  • stable

package graph

Links come from deterministic package relationships, av.db category and tag curation, ecosystem matches, and package hub membership.

Related tools

  • emacsRuntime dependency declared by Homebrew.

Same workflow

  • nvimpagerShares av.db curated category or tags: cli, pager, productivity, terminal.
  • pageShares av.db curated category or tags: cli, pager, productivity, terminal.
  • vimpagerShares av.db curated category or tags: cli, pager, productivity, terminal.
  • byobuShares av.db curated category or tags: cli, productivity, terminal.
  • cbonsaiShares av.db curated category or tags: cli, productivity, terminal.
  • sc-imShares av.db curated category or tags: cli, productivity, terminal.

source trail

Generated from repository data

This page is generated by av-web from the private package SQLite artifact built by scripts/generate-pkg-sqlite.py.

Used sources

  • Geiger risk classifier
  • Nucleus package database
  • av.db category and tag curation
  • cross-ecosystem install command graph
  • curated package history
  • package relationship graph
  • package version freshness
  • package-page enrichment