install

Additional install commands

macOS

Homebrewverified · 100%

brew install lv

local Homebrew formula metadata

MacPortsverified · 94%

sudo port install lv

MacPorts ports tree · textproc/lv/Portfile · source: api.github.com

Linux

Debian aptverified · 92%

sudo apt install lv

Debian stable package indexes · lv · source: deb.debian.org

Fedora dnfverified · 92%

sudo dnf install lv

Fedora Rawhide package metadata · lv · source: dl.fedoraproject.org

Nixverified · 92%

nix profile install nixpkgs#lv

nixpkgs package indexes · pkgs/by-name/lv/lv/package.nix · source: api.github.com

overview

Package summary

Powerful multi-lingual file viewer/grep

Project links

Commands and aliases

lgrep
lv

history

Project history and usage

lv is a multilingual file viewer and grep-like tool originally by NARITA Tomio. It looks like a less-style pager but adds character-set conversion, multilingual regular expressions, Unicode handling, and the `lgrep` mode.

Project history

The upstream README in the Debian source records copyright years beginning in 1996 and points to NARITA Tomio's original web documentation. The bundled man page describes lv as a completely original implementation, not code derived from less, grep, or other programs.

Release notes show active upstream work through the early 2000s, including Debian-related patches and portability fixes. Version 4.51 was released in January 2004, while later distribution maintenance continued through Debian packaging updates.

Adoption history

lv's adoption is mostly distribution-driven rather than community-site driven. It survives in Debian, Ubuntu, Homebrew, MacPorts, Nix, Fedora-family packaging, and other Unix package collections because it solves a durable terminal problem: viewing and searching multilingual text on older and mixed-encoding systems.

The Debian changelog shows ongoing packaging maintenance into 2026, including modern compiler compatibility work, even though the upstream feature history is much older.

How it is used

Users run `lv` as a terminal pager and `lgrep` as the grep mode. The man page documents options for input, keyboard, output, pathname, and fallback coding systems, with examples for ISO-8859, Shift-JIS, EUC, Big5, HZ, UTF-7, and UTF-8.

The official man page documents a `.lv` configuration file in the user's home directory, an `_lv` file for MSDOS, and the `LV` environment variable. Command-line options are read last, so they override file and environment settings.

Why package nerds care

lv is the kind of old terminal utility package that remains valuable precisely because modern stacks still encounter old encodings. For package maintainers it is a small C program with a long tail: patches, portability fixes, and distro maintenance preserve behavior that newer pagers do not always cover.

Timeline

1996: Copyright start year recorded in the upstream README.
2003: Debian-related patches incorporated in upstream 4.50 release notes.
2004: lv 4.51 release notes published.
2026: Debian changelog records a compiler-compatibility non-maintainer upload.

Related projects

less is the familiar pager interface that lv intentionally resembles.
nkf and tcs are comparable coding-system translation tools mentioned by the lv man page.
grep is the model for the `lgrep` mode.

Sources

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 6 platform targets.

Recommended review

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

local files

Configuration and credential file locations

These source-backed paths show where this package keeps local settings or durable credentials. Automic Vault can use them as review targets for secret scanning, migration, and command approval.

Configuration files

Config paths the tool may read or write during local use.

Unix: ~/.lv

executables

Installed executables

Command	Kind	Exposure	Note
`lgrep`	cli	global executable
`lv`	cli	global 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 version4.51-10.1

manager updated2026-04-10

local dataok

upstreamnot checked

latest detectednot detected

https://salsa.debian.org/debian/lv

infoRelease/tag comparison is only available for GitHub repositories.https://salsa.debian.org/debian/lvnone confidence

install metadata

Package metadata

Package key	brew:lv
Version	4.51-10.1
Package manager	Homebrew
Package manager page	https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/lv
Homepage	https://salsa.debian.org/debian/lv
Repository	https://salsa.debian.org/debian/lv
Upstream docs	https://salsa.debian.org/debian/lv#readme
License	GPL-2.0-or-later
Source archive	https://salsa.debian.org/debian/lv/-/archive/debian/4.51-10.1/lv-debian-4.51-10.1.tar.gz
Last updated	2026-04-10T09:50:56Z
Pulse	updated
Uses from macOS	ncurses
Bottle	available (on arm64_linux, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, sonoma, x86_64_linux)
Homebrew post-install	not defined
Service	none declared

registry facts

Source database details

Source Database	Homebrew formula API
Tap	homebrew/core
Full Name	lv
Version Scheme	0
Revision	0
Head Version	HEAD
Bottle Stable Root URL	https://ghcr.io/v2/homebrew/core
Deprecated	no
Disabled	no
Keg Only	no
URL Keys	head stable

source database matches

Other package-manager records

Matches are pulled from external package-manager indexes and kept separate from local Automic Vault package links.

Debian apt95%

lv 4.51-10

Powerful Multilingual File Viewer

sudo apt install lv

Section: text
Architecture: amd64
2 dependencies
3 optional deps
normalized package name match
Matched by: Lv

Debian stable package indexes · deb.debian.org · Debian stable package indexes: lv from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz

Nix95%

lv

nix profile install nixpkgs#lv

normalized package name match
Matched by: Lv

nixpkgs package indexes · api.github.com · nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/lv/lv/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1

Ubuntu apt95%

lv 4.51-9

Powerful Multilingual File Viewer

sudo apt install lv

Section: universe/text
Architecture: amd64
2 dependencies
3 optional deps
normalized package name match
Matched by: Lv

Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes · archive.ubuntu.com · Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: lv from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz

dnf95%

lv 4.51-57.fc44

A Powerful Multilingual File Viewer

http://www.ff.iij4u.or.jp/~nrt/lv/

sudo dnf install lv

License: GPL-2.0-or-later
Category: Unspecified
Architecture: x86_64
Source Package: lv
3 dependencies
1 provides
normalized package name match
Matched by: Lv

Fedora Rawhide package metadata · dl.fedoraproject.org · Fedora Rawhide package metadata: lv from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/e5ca8ce900cd68f5419e1c39ae517343100b306336cbaeb70a3c153121d95094-primary.xml.zst

MacPorts95%

lv

sudo port install lv

normalized package name match
Matched by: Lv

MacPorts ports tree · api.github.com · MacPorts ports tree: textproc/lv/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1

package graph

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

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.

Combined YAML source

View the package source record on GitHub.

combined/lv.yml

Used sources

Geiger risk classifier
Nucleus package database
av.db category and tag curation
cross-ecosystem install command graph
curated configuration and credential file locations
curated package history
external package-manager database matches
package relationship graph
package version freshness
package-page enrichment

Install lv with Homebrew, apt, dnf, MacPorts, Nix