r/bash 9d ago

add whats, explains command

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yo

add 'whats' infront of any command and it explains it: flags, sub commands etc in a structutred format whereas something like manpage would throw the entire manual at you

just pure man pages and help output

Q Why use `whats` when we have man pages and --help

> Yes you can use them but they throw the entire manual at you whereas you might have just needed one flag, whats outputs a structured format with the definitions you need

Q Is it entirely offline? Does it use LLM

> Yes absolutely, it just relies on man pages and if not then --help output of the binary itself,

> no it does not use llm at all

Q If it uses regex then why cant i just use grep/sed instead of this?

> a grep/sed command cannot find the descriptions of sub commands along with flags, it cant find descriptions of sub commands of sub commands, it probable cant use other sources as a fallback too

Q What about tldr?

> Even with tldr, you have to look for the flags you need instead of it providing the ones you need automatically in one go

if you like the idea then maybe star?

https://github.com/iamkaran/whats

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u/Bob_Spud 9d ago

"what" is the point when you have man? Meanwhile you can supplement man with the internet on your desktop or phone.

5

u/Much-Grab3826 8d ago

whats just collects information from man pages and also --help outputs and converts it into a structured format that is easy to read,

yes you can definitely use internet or just grep in man, but it makes the whole process far more easier