tldr-pages — Simplified, Community-Driven Man Pages

Introduction

tldr-pages is a community-curated collection of simplified command-line documentation. Where man tar shows you 500 lines of options, tldr tar shows the 5 common invocations with real-world examples. Started in 2013, the project now has pages for 10,000+ commands in 30+ languages.

With over 62,000 GitHub stars (on the content repo alone, excluding client implementations), tldr-pages is one of the most-beloved documentation projects. Contributions from thousands of developers keep it current as tools evolve.

What tldr-pages Does

tldr-pages is a content repository of Markdown files, one per command. Client programs (tldr, tealdeer, tlrc, tldr-python, etc.) download a ZIP of the pages, cache them locally, and render them as colored terminal output. No network calls happen on each query — the cache updates periodically.

Architecture Overview

[GitHub content repo]
   pages/common/tar.md, pages/linux/systemctl.md, ...
        |
   [Release pipeline]
   bundles pages into a ZIP
        |
   CDN: tldr.sh/assets/tldr.zip
        |
   [Client: tldr / tealdeer / tlrc / ...]
   fetches + caches locally
        |
   [Rendered colored output]

Self-Hosting & Configuration

# Tealdeer (Rust) — the fastest client, recommended
cargo install tealdeer
# Config: ~/.config/tealdeer/config.toml
cat > ~/.config/tealdeer/config.toml <<EOF
[display]
compact = false
use_pager = false
[updates]
auto_update = true
auto_update_interval_hours = 168
[style.description]
foreground = "white"
EOF

# Contribute a new page
git clone https://github.com/tldr-pages/tldr
# Create pages/common/mytool.md with the format below:

# mytool

> Short description of what the command does.
> More information: <https://example.com>.

- Do the common thing:

`mytool -a {{value}}`

- Do another common thing with a file argument:

`mytool --file {{path/to/file}}`

Key Features

• 10,000+ commands — broad coverage of Unix + Windows + cloud tools
• Practical examples — 5–7 common invocations, not exhaustive flag lists
• Offline cache — queries are instant, no network needed
• Multi-language — content translated into 30+ languages
• Multiple clients — pick tealdeer (Rust), tlrc (Rust), tldr (Node), many more
• Platform-specific pages — linux/, macos/, windows/, common/
• Community-maintained — easy GitHub PR to contribute
• CC BY 4.0 — free content for any use

Comparison with Similar Tools

FAQ

Q: Which client should I install? A: tealdeer (Rust) is widely recommended — fast startup, clean output, easy config. On macOS, the tldr Homebrew formula is also fine.

Q: Can I use tldr offline on a plane? A: Yes, as long as you've run tldr --update at least once. Pages are cached locally.

Q: How do I contribute? A: Fork the repo, edit or add a page in pages/common/ (or platform-specific folder), and open a PR. Contributor guidelines in CONTRIBUTING.md.

Q: Why not just use man? A: man is authoritative reference; tldr is practical recall. Use both — tldr when you want the 5 common invocations, man when you need the full option matrix.

Sources

• GitHub: https://github.com/tldr-pages/tldr
• Website: https://tldr.sh
• License: CC BY 4.0 (content), MIT (tooling)