# Install eless with Homebrew Better less using Emacs view-mode and Bash. Version 0.7 via Homebrew; verified from local package data. ## Install ```sh sudo av install brew:eless ``` Additional install commands: ### macOS - Homebrew (100%): ```sh brew install eless ``` Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata ## Package facts - **Package key:** brew:eless - **Package manager:** Homebrew - **Package manager page:** - **Version:** 0.7 - **Source summary:** Better less using Emacs view-mode and Bash - **Homepage:** - **Repository:** - **Upstream docs:** - **License:** MIT - **Source archive:** - **Generated:** 2026-07-08T07:18:31+00:00 ## Executables - eless (cli) - eless (alias) ## Dependencies - emacs ## Install behavior - Post-install hook: not defined - Bottle: available on all ## Freshness - Page generated: 2026-07-08 - Package-manager version: 0.7 - Local data: ok - Upstream repository: https://github.com/kaushalmodi/eless - Upstream latest detected: v0.7 (current) - info: No package-manager update timestamp was available. ## 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. ### Sources - - - - ## Security Notes narrow executable package without higher-risk signals. - **Geiger risk:** green / low - narrow executable package without higher-risk signals ## Source Database Details - **Source Database:** Homebrew formula API - **Tap:** homebrew/core - **Full Name:** eless - **Version Scheme:** 0 - **Revision:** 0 - **Bottle Stable Root URL:** - **Deprecated:** no - **Disabled:** no - **Keg Only:** no - **URL Keys:** stable ## Related links - [Terminal utility packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/terminal-utilities/) - Matched terminal and command-line workflow metadata. - [Networking and protocol packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/networking-protocol-tools/) - Matched network, protocol, or remote-service metadata. - [Productivity CLI packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/productivity-cli-packages/) - Matched curated productivity category metadata from av.db. - [Homebrew utility packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew-utility-packages/) - Matched Homebrew package provider. - [emacs](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/emacs/) - Runtime dependency declared by Homebrew. - [nvimpager](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/nvimpager/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, pager, productivity, terminal. - [page](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/page/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, pager, productivity, terminal. - [vimpager](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/vimpager/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, pager, productivity, terminal. - [byobu](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/byobu/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, productivity, terminal. - [cbonsai](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/cbonsai/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, productivity, terminal. - [sc-im](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/sc-im/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, productivity, terminal. - [sheets](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/sheets/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, productivity, terminal. - [smug](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/smug/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, productivity, terminal. ## Combined YAML source View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/eless.yml](https://github.com/automic-vault/db/blob/main/combined/eless.yml) ## Sources - Nucleus package database - Geiger risk classifier - package-page enrichment - curated package history - package version freshness - av.db category and tag curation - package relationship graph - cross-ecosystem install command graph