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Command Line Interface

The CLI provides an interface for interacting with Pragtical from the terminal, allowing you to execute commands, manage plugins, and even extend it with plugins to add new functionality not provided out of the box.

Command Line Interface

Usage​

Using the CLI consist of invoking the editor binary from your terminal followed by an option, command or arguments:

pragtical [option|command] [command_option] [arguments]

Options​

The following global options are available:

  • -h, --help: Display help text for the CLI and its commands.
  • -v, --version: Display the current version of the Pragtical application.
  • -f, --fork: Fork the editor to run in the background, allowing you to continue using the terminal.
  • --: Treat the following argument as a command, even if a file or directory exists with the same name. For example: pragtical -- help.

Example:

pragtical --fork /path/to/project

Available Commands​

  • list: Display a list of available commands within the Pragtical CLI.
  • help: Display help information for the application or a specific command.
  • pm: Access the plugin manager to install, update, or manage plugins for Pragtical.

If available, you can view more detailed usage of a specific command by running:

pragtical help [command_name]

Opening Files​

To open a file from the command line terminal just invoke the edtior followed by the file or directory you want to open:

pragtical /path/to/[file|directory]

To keep using the terminal use the -f flag to fork the editor into the background:

pragtical -f /path/to/[file|directory]

Using Already Opened Instance​

Pragtical has an integrated IPC (Inter-process communication) module that allows communication between currently opened editor instances. The functionality is enabled by default, meaning that launching a file from terminal will open it on currently opened instance.

Configuration of IPC is available from the graphical settings or user module.

To change the IPC settings, navigate to the "Plugins" tab and expand the "Inter-process communication" section.

IPC Settings

Window Focus

When opening a file in the existing editor instance, the window should be raised and gain focus. However, in some environments (Linux + Wayland), the window may not be automatically raised due to a missing focus protocol or other discrepancies.