Command-line Flags

HUME's command line is deliberately small — almost everything is configured in init.scm rather than passed as a flag. This page covers the hume command as run from a shell; for the in-editor : prompt, see Command mode.

Synopsis

hume [OPTIONS] [FILE...]

Arguments

Argument	Description
FILE...	One or more files to open, each optionally suffixed with :LINE or :LINE:COLUMN to place the cursor there on open — e.g. src/main.rs:42:5. Both numbers are 1-based, matching the line:col the statusline shows. With no arguments, HUME opens a scratch buffer named *scratch*.

A path that exists on disk exactly as typed always opens as-is — a file genuinely named notes:2024 is never split. Only when the literal path doesn't exist is a trailing position peeled off, so a nonexistent foo.rs:42 opens foo.rs at line 42 (a lone trailing colon, foo.rs:42:, is tolerated too). This makes it safe to paste a file:line:col diagnostic from a compiler, linter, or grep straight onto the command line. A 0 in either position is a startup error — both are 1-based, so a 0-based diagnostic needs 1 added to each number first.

The position only takes effect in the pane HUME opens with; switching to that file later from a pane created afterward (e.g. with :split) starts at the top of the file instead.

Options

Flag	Description
--keys <STREAM>	Headless golf-replay mode. Replay the key STREAM (e.g. dwx) against a single input file and write the result to --output. Requires --output and exactly one FILE.
--output <PATH>	Output path for headless mode. Required by and requires --keys.
--config <FILE>	Load configuration from FILE instead of the default init.scm. Themes and the data directory still resolve from the standard directories (see Configuration). FILE must exist and be readable — otherwise it's a startup error. A relative FILE is resolved against the shell's working directory once, at startup, and that resolved path is what :reload-config re-reads — a later :cd in the editor has no effect on it. Not valid with --keys.
-h, --help	Print help and exit.
-V, --version	Print the HUME version (e.g. hume x.y.z-f460770) and exit. The same string is available inside the editor via :version.

What's not here

HUME has no flags for overriding the log level, theme, or tutor. The runtime directory can be redirected with the HUME_RUNTIME environment variable; logging is in-memory only and surfaced via :messages (see Files & Buffers).

Examples

hume README.md                # open a file
hume src/a.rs src/b.rs        # open multiple files
hume src/main.rs:42           # open at line 42
hume src/main.rs:42:5         # open at line 42, column 5
hume                          # scratch buffer
hume --version
hume --keys 'dwwx' --output out.txt in.txt   # headless replay
hume --config ./demo.scm README.md           # load an alternate init.scm