# SuperCat 🐱

> cat you see!? It's a fancy super cat! :cat:


![supercat](https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/758e5299-54ed-4a55-bc4e-708252703d13)

SuperCat is a syntax highlighting alternative to the traditional `cat` command-line utility. It provides colorful and easy-to-read output for various programming languages and file types, powered by tree-sitter and the Helix editor's syntax highlighting engine.

## Features

- Syntax highlighting for multiple programming languages using tree-sitter
- Automatic language detection based on file extension or content
- Option to display line numbers
- Customizable color theme
- Support for reading from files or standard input
- Powered by the Helix editor's syntax highlighting engine

## Why SuperCat?

SuperCat offers advantages over similar tools:

1. **Advanced syntax highlighting**: SuperCat uses tree-sitter through the Helix editor's syntax highlighting engine. This provides more accurate and context-aware parsing compared to regex-based highlighters, resulting in better highlighting for complex language constructs. It also benefits from Helix's performance optimizations and support for a wide range of languages.

2. **Lightweight**: SuperCat is designed to be a lightweight alternative, focusing on fast startup times and efficient memory usage.

3. **Customizability(soon)**: The color theme in SuperCat is easily customizable, allowing users to tailor the output to their preferences. 

## Installation

You can install SuperCat using Cargo, the Rust package manager:

```
cargo install supercat
```

Alternatively, you can build from source:

```
git clone https://github.com/guilhermeprokisch/supercat.git
cd supercat
cargo build --release
```

The built binary will be available in `target/release/supercat`.

## Usage

```
supercat [OPTIONS] [FILE]
```

If no file is specified, SuperCat will read from standard input.

### Options

- `-l, --line-numbers`: Show line numbers
- `--language <LANGUAGE>`: Force a specific language for syntax highlighting

### Examples

1. Display a file with syntax highlighting:

   ```
   supercat example.rs
   ```

2. Display a file with line numbers:

   ```
   supercat -l example.py
   ```

3. Force a specific language:

   ```
   supercat --language javascript example.txt
   ```

4. Read from standard input:
   ```
   echo "print('Hello, World!')" | supercat --language python
   ```

## Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

## License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the [LICENSE](LICENSE) file for details.

## Acknowledgments

- [tree-sitter](https://tree-sitter.github.io/tree-sitter/) for robust syntax parsing
- [Helix](https://helix-editor.com/)
- [inkjet](https://crates.io/crates/inkjet) for integrating the Helix highlighting engine