Install highlight with Homebrew, apk, chocolatey, apt, dnf, MacPorts, Nix, pacman, scoop, zypper

Project links

• Homepage
• Repository
• Package manager page

Commands and aliases

• highlight

Project history

The changelog traces the project back to `src2css` 0.1 in April 2002, followed by `highlight` 0.1 in July 2002 and `highlight` 1.0 in August 2002. Early releases added batch conversion, XHTML, RTF, TeX/LaTeX output, and more language definitions.

The 2.x line expanded output formats, language coverage, shared-library targets, filetype mapping, compatibility options for GNU source-highlight, and a rewritten Qt GUI. In 2009, the changelog records a license move from GPLv2 to GPLv3.

The 3.0 beta in June 2010 was a structural change: language definitions, themes, and filetype configuration were converted to Lua scripts, and a plug-in option was added. The 4.x line continued the Lua-script model while adding service-mode, LSP-related improvements, more languages, CMake/Meson work, and C++17 refactoring.

Adoption history

highlight spread through Unix package managers because it is useful in documentation pipelines, static-site generation, editor/tool integrations, and terminal workflows. The input package map lists Alpine, Homebrew, Chocolatey, Debian/Ubuntu, Fedora, MacPorts, Nix, Arch, Scoop, and openSUSE-style packages.

Official extras also show integration beyond one-off CLI use. The Pandoc example demonstrates using highlight as an external highlighter inside document preprocessing, including importing external source files and inline themes.

How it is used

Common use is `highlight -i main.cpp -o main.cpp.html` for HTML, `highlight < main.cpp > main.cpp.html --syntax cpp` for standard-input workflows, or `highlight -O latex` for TeX/LaTeX output. Batch and recursive options let it process trees of source files.

Users customize behavior through language definitions, themes, plug-ins, file mappings, and output-format flags. The manual documents terminal truecolor and xterm256 output as well as document formats, making the tool relevant both on the command line and in generated artifacts.

Why package nerds care

highlight is package-nerd material because it is old-school Unix plumbing that still tracks new languages and output targets. It can sit behind manpage/documentation generation, static websites, code samples, and terminal previews without forcing a runtime-heavy web stack.

Its Lua-definition architecture is also useful for downstreams: language and theme behavior can be patched or extended as data files, which fits distribution packaging better than editing core parser code for every syntax tweak.

Timeline

• 2002: src2css 0.1 appears, followed by highlight 0.1 and highlight 1.0.
• 2008: 2.6-14 adds GNU source-highlight compatibility options.
• 2009: 2.10 changes the project license from GPLv2 to GPLv3.
• 2010: 3.0 beta converts language definitions, themes, and filetype data to Lua scripts.
• 2021: 4.0 starts the 4.x line.
• 2023: 4.6 adds service-mode support.
• 2026: 4.20 records C++17 refactoring and more language/build-system updates.

Related projects

• GNU source-highlight is a related converter; highlight explicitly added compatibility options for some of its CLI behavior.
• Artistic Style is bundled or updated through the changelog for source-code reformatting features.
• Pandoc is a documented integration target via highlight's extras, where highlight can provide external code highlighting in document workflows.

Sources

• Changelog: https://gitlab.com/saalen/highlight/-/blob/master/ChangeLog.adoc
• Language list: https://gitlab.com/saalen/highlight/-/blob/master/README_LANGLIST.adoc
• Manual: http://andre-simon.de/doku/highlight/en/highlight.php
• Pandoc extra: https://gitlab.com/saalen/highlight/-/blob/master/extras/pandoc/README.html
• README: https://gitlab.com/saalen/highlight#readme