RTFM
_{Read The F***ing Manual}

A cross-platform CLI cheatsheet with TUI, full-text search, and system learning

Features • Installation • Quick Start • Usage • Configuration • Tech Stack

      _________                  "When all else fails..."
     /        /|
    /  RTFM  / |                   READ THE F***ING MANUAL
   /________/  |
   |  ~~~~  |  |                   Rust-powered CLI Cheatsheet
   | MANUAL |  /
   |________|/
╭─ Search ─────────────────────────────────────── [Ctrl+H] Help  [Esc] Quit ─╮
│ > docker                                                                    │
╰────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╯
╭─ Result [1/8] ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╮
│                                                                             │
│   docker  [en]                                                              │
│   Manage Docker containers and images.                                      │
│                                                                             │
│   → Run a container from an image                                           │
│     docker run {{image}}                                                    │
│                                                                             │
│   → List running containers                                                 │
│     docker ps                                                               │
│                                                                             │
│   → Stop a container                                                        │
│     docker stop {{container_id}}                                            │
│                                                                             │
│   ↑↓ Scroll  ←→ Switch result  / Search  ? Help                             │
╰────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╯

Why RTFM?

"I've already searched Stack Overflow, read three blog posts, and watched a YouTube video... but I still can't remember how to use tar."

In the Age of AI Agents

You might ask: "Why do I need this when I can just ask ChatGPT/Copilot/Claude?"

Great question. Here's the thing: AI agents need internet access. When you're:

• Working in an air-gapped environment (security, compliance, or military)
• On a plane, train, or remote location with no connectivity
• Behind a corporate firewall that blocks AI services
• In a data center with restricted network access
• Simply experiencing an internet outage

...your AI assistant can't help you. But RTFM works 100% offline.

Built entirely in Rust, RTFM is a single binary with no runtime dependencies. Copy it to any machine and it just works.

Key Benefits

• Instant lookup - rtfm tar gets you what you need
• Learn from YOUR system - Capture --help output from any command
• Works offline - All data stored locally, no internet needed
• Beautiful TUI - Not just functional, but actually pleasant to use
• Single binary - Written in Rust, zero runtime dependencies

Features

Installation

From crates.io (Recommended)

cargo install rtfm-dammit

Pre-built Binaries

Download from GitHub Releases:

From Source

git clone https://github.com/F2077/rtfm.git
cd rtfm
cargo build --release

# Add to PATH or run directly
./target/release/rtfm

Requirements

• Rust 1.75+

Quick Start

# 1. Download cheatsheets from tldr-pages
rtfm update

# 2. Look up commands directly
rtfm tar
rtfm git
rtfm docker

# 3. Or launch the interactive TUI
rtfm

Usage

Direct Command Lookup

rtfm tar              # Look up tar
rtfm docker-compose   # Hyphenated commands work too
rtfm -l zh curl       # Specify language (zh = Chinese)

Interactive TUI

rtfm          # Launch TUI
rtfm --debug  # With debug log panel

Keyboard Shortcuts:

Learn Commands from Your System

The killer feature - teach RTFM any command installed on your machine:

# Learn from --help
rtfm learn rustc
rtfm learn cargo
rtfm learn kubectl

# Force re-learn (overwrite existing)
rtfm learn --force git

# Prefer man page over --help
rtfm learn --man grep

# Then query it like any other command
rtfm rustc

Batch Learn

Import entire sections at once:

# Linux/macOS: Learn all man pages (section 1)
rtfm learn-all

# Learn only git-related commands
rtfm learn-all --prefix git

# Windows: Learn PowerShell cmdlets
rtfm learn-all --source powershell

# Limit to first 100 commands
rtfm learn-all --limit 100 --skip-existing

HTTP Server Mode

# Start server (default: 127.0.0.1:3030)
rtfm serve

# Custom port and bind address
rtfm serve --port 8080 --bind 0.0.0.0

# Run in background (detached from terminal)
rtfm serve --detach

# Debug mode: logs printed to both file and console
rtfm serve --debug

Swagger UI available at: http://localhost:3030/swagger-ui

API Endpoints:

Data Management

# Update from tldr-pages
rtfm update
rtfm update --force  # Force update

# Import custom cheatsheets (auto-detects format)
rtfm import ./my-commands/        # Directory of .md files
rtfm import ./docker.md           # Single markdown file
rtfm import ./commands.zip        # ZIP archive
rtfm import ./commands.tar.gz     # TAR.GZ archive
rtfm import ./commands.tar        # TAR archive

# Backup your data
rtfm backup -o my-commands.tar.gz

# Restore on another machine
rtfm restore my-commands.tar.gz
rtfm restore --merge backup.tar.gz  # Merge instead of replace

# Factory reset
rtfm reset

Import Format: Files must follow the tldr-pages format:

# command-name

> Brief description of the command.

- Example description:

`command --option {{arg}}`

Files without valid description or examples will be skipped.

Tech Stack

Data Directory

rtfm/
├── data.redb     # Command database
├── index/        # Search index
└── logs/
    └── rtfm.log.YYYY-MM-DD  # Daily rolling log files

Configuration

RTFM supports optional configuration via TOML files. Configuration is loaded from (in order of priority):

1. ./rtfm.toml (current directory)
2. <data_dir>/config.toml
3. Built-in defaults

You can also set RTFM_DATA_DIR environment variable to override the data directory.

Example Configuration

Create rtfm.toml in your working directory or config.toml in the data directory:

[server]
port = 3030
bind = "127.0.0.1"
max_upload_size = 104857600  # 100MB in bytes

[search]
default_limit = 20    # Default search results
max_limit = 100       # Maximum search results
default_lang = "en"

[tui]
poll_timeout_ms = 100
log_buffer_size = 100
scroll_step = 1

[storage]
# data_dir = "/custom/path"  # Override data directory
db_filename = "data.redb"
index_dirname = "index"
log_dirname = "logs"

[logging]
level = "info"
debug_level = "debug,tantivy=info"

[update]
github_api_url = "https://api.github.com/repos/tldr-pages/tldr/releases/latest"
download_url_template = "https://github.com/tldr-pages/tldr/archive/refs/tags/{version}.zip"
fallback_version = "v2.3"
languages = ["en", "zh"]  # Languages to import (empty = all)

All fields are optional - unspecified values use built-in defaults.

Project Structure

rtfm/
├── src/
│   ├── main.rs      # Entry point & CLI commands
│   ├── cli/         # Argument parsing
│   ├── tui/         # Terminal UI
│   ├── api/         # HTTP API server
│   ├── storage/     # Database (redb)
│   ├── search/      # Search engine (tantivy)
│   ├── learn/       # Learn from --help/man
│   └── update/      # Data update module
├── docs/            # mdBook documentation site
│   ├── book.toml
│   └── src/
├── Cargo.toml
└── rustfmt.toml

Development

cargo run             # Dev mode
cargo test            # Run tests
cargo clippy          # Lint
cargo fmt             # Format

# Cross-compile for Linux (requires Docker)
just build-linux
just build-linux-musl

License

GPL-3.0

_{Built with Rust. Inspired by tldr. Made for developers who are tired of googling the same commands.}