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Linux/Unix / Coding

TLDR pages

Collaborative command-line help pages focused on practical examples rather than full manuals.

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Canonical domaingithub.com
Link statusactive
Last checked2026-07-24
Community votes42
Practical context

When to use it

TLDR pages is useful when you know the operation you want but have forgotten the command's usual syntax. Its short, community-maintained examples provide a starting point; they do not replace the reference for the binary installed on your machine. A tldr client displays help rather than running the illustrated command. You can also browse the project's linked web client without installing a command-line client. Choose a maintained client from the project's current instructions; installation and cache options differ between clients.

  • An operator checking an unfamiliar flag before adapting a command to a known file, service or repository.
  • A developer switching between platforms who wants a compact reminder, followed by the platform's own manual or built-in help.
Worked example

Inspect an archive without extracting it

# Look up the example page with an already-installed tldr client:
tldr tar

# Separately, list a known, trusted archive with GNU tar:
tar --list --file=example.tar
# Output from tar for our synthetic one-file archive, not output from tldr:
release-notes.txt

The listing command was checked against a disposable archive containing only release-notes.txt. --list reads the member names; --file identifies the archive. No extraction is requested and no destination files are overwritten. The help lookup itself may download or use a cached page. Inspect the actual listing before deciding whether extraction is appropriate; a list of names does not establish that an archive is safe or authentic. For an untrusted archive, use your organization's isolated inspection workflow rather than experimenting on a production host.

Scope and limitations

When you need more than a quick example

  • Use man tar or the installed program's help for exact option behavior, supported formats, defaults and platform differences. A concise community example cannot document every edge case.
  • A missing page or stale cache is not proof that a command does not exist. Check the selected client, platform, language and cache instructions, then consult the upstream documentation.
  • Never paste an example with elevated privileges simply because it appears in a help page. Check placeholders, paths and side effects. TLDR is a syntax reminder, not an incident diagnosis or a production rollback plan.

Supporting documentation

Original OneLiners notes, reviewed 2026-09-09. The linked project owns its documentation and examples.

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en
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Linux/Unix, Coding
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Canonical URL
https://github.com/tldr-pages/tldr