cheat
A command-line tool that shows quick, editable cheatsheets for commands you use rarely.
- Stars
- 13.5k
- Forks
- 851
- Licence
- MIT
- Language
- Go
- Last update
- 6 months ago
- Type
- CLI
What it is
cheat is a command-line tool that displays short cheatsheets for shell commands, such as the common options for tar. You type the command name and it shows you examples you can copy. You can also create and edit your own sheets, organize them into folders and tags, and search across them. It is aimed at people who use Unix-like systems and forget command syntax between uses.
- Look up example options for a command like tar with cheat tar
- Search all cheatsheets for a phrase with cheat -s ssh
- Create or edit a personal note for a command with cheat -e
- Use regex search to find sheets containing patterns such as IP addresses
- Keep a read-only community cheatpath alongside a writable personal one
Great for
- Sysadmins who use many commands only occasionally
- Developers who want quick reminders without leaving the terminal
- People who want to keep their own personal command notes in plain text
- Users who want to share and version cheatsheets in a Git repository
Not ideal for
- People who want a graphical or web-based interface, since the README describes only a command-line tool
- Users on systems where they cannot install a Go binary or run a shell, because installation details are in a separate INSTALLING.md that was not included
- Beginners looking for full tutorials, since cheat shows reference snippets rather than explanations
How to get it
- 1
See the README
Installation instructions
see INSTALLING.md in the repository - 2
Run it
- Install cheat following INSTALLING.md in the repository
- Run cheat tar to view a sample cheatsheet
- Accept the prompt to install community cheatsheets on first run if you want them
- Run cheat -e mycommand to create your own sheet
- 3
Get the most out of it
- Use -t to filter sheets by tag, for example cheat -l -t networking
- Configure multiple cheatpaths in conf.yml and mark shared ones as readonly
- Add a .cheat directory to a project root for project-specific sheets
- Enable shell completion with cheat --completion bash, zsh, fish, or powershell
- Use YAML frontmatter with a syntax value to get Chroma syntax highlighting
Downloads
Strengths
- Simple command-line interface for quick lookups
- Plain-text cheatsheets are easy to edit, back up, and version control
- Supports multiple cheatpaths and directory-scoped .cheat folders
Trade-offs
- The executable ships with no cheatsheets, so you must install community sheets separately
- Installation and configuration details are in INSTALLING.md, which was not part of the provided README
- Designed for *nix users, so its usefulness on other systems is not described
How it compares
| Project | Stars | Type | Level | Updated | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| cheat (this) | 13.5k | CLI | beginner | 6 months ago | Sysadmins who use many commands only occasionally |
| cheat.sh | 41.8k | CLI | beginner | 2 months ago | Developers who look up command flags and syntax often from the terminal |
| awesome-cheatsheets | 46.6k | Learning resource | beginner | 20 days ago | Developers brushing up on a language or tool they use only occasionally |
| awesome-cheatsheets | 12.6k | Curated list | beginner | 2 months ago | Chinese-speaking developers who want quick command or syntax reminders |
| fzf | 83.9k | Dev tool | beginner | 8 days ago | Command-line users who often search file names or command history |
| atuin | 32.2k | Dev tool | beginner | 4 days ago | Developers who work in a terminal and often need to find past commands |
Stats synced from GitHub. The assessment above was drafted with AI from the project's README on 2026-10-29 and may miss recent changes — check the README before relying on a command. MIT licence: free to use, modify and distribute, including commercially, as long as you keep the copyright notice.