# hexyl — A Colorful Command-Line Hex Viewer

> hexyl is a small, fast Rust hex viewer that colorizes bytes by category (ASCII, whitespace, non-ASCII, null) so binary inspection is actually scannable.

## Install

Save in your project root:

# hexyl — A Colorful Command-Line Hex Viewer

## Quick Use
```bash
brew install hexyl
# Inspect binary
hexyl /bin/ls | head
# Only offset 0x1000 – 0x1040
hexyl --skip 4096 --length 64 file.bin
# From stdin
curl -s https://example.com/image.png | hexyl | head
```

## Introduction
Classic `xxd` and `hexdump` print raw hex blocks without visual hierarchy — every byte looks the same. `hexyl` categorizes each byte into ASCII printable, ASCII whitespace, non-ASCII printable, or NULL/control, and tints each class differently. Scanning for magic numbers, string offsets, or corruption becomes a visual rather than algebraic task.

## What hexyl Does
- Prints offset, hex bytes, and ASCII sidebar.
- Colorizes bytes by category.
- Accepts file paths or stdin.
- Supports `--skip`, `--length`, `--nosqueeze`, `--border` options.
- Uses terminal width to fit panel count.

## Architecture Overview
hexyl reads bytes in large chunks, classifies each with a table lookup, and pipes styled ANSI through `termcolor`. Panels auto-adjust to terminal width. No background threads — a simple synchronous Rust binary.

## Self-Hosting & Configuration
- Install via brew, cargo, apt, dnf, scoop.
- Config is entirely flags — no dotfiles.
- `NO_COLOR=1` for monochrome.
- Useful with `less -R` or `bat`.
- Pairs with `fd | xargs hexyl` for batch preview.

## Key Features
- Colored byte categories — scan like a pro.
- Stdin-friendly for network/streaming inspection.
- `--skip`/`--length` for targeted windows.
- Nice borders and offset hints.
- ~1.5MB static binary.

## Comparison with Similar Tools
- **xxd** — ubiquitous; no color.
- **hexdump -C** — POSIX; dense, no hierarchy.
- **bvi / hte** — interactive hex editors.
- **radare2** — full reverse-engineering toolkit; overkill for viewing.
- **Hex Fiend** — macOS GUI.

## FAQ
**Q: Can it edit files?**
A: No — read-only. Use bvi or radare2 to edit.

**Q: Unicode-safe?**
A: It shows bytes, not glyphs — UTF-8 multi-byte chars appear as non-ASCII group.

**Q: Panel count?**
A: Auto-sized; override with `--panels 2`.

**Q: Works in CI logs?**
A: Pass `--color always` or pipe through `aha` for HTML.

## Sources
- https://github.com/sharkdp/hexyl

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Source: https://tokrepo.com/en/workflows/44b21bb2-38c4-11f1-9bc6-00163e2b0d79
Author: AI Open Source