Environment variables
Environment variables can be referenced using $XXX syntax, where XXX represents the name of the environment variable. For example:
$PATH- References the PATH environment variable$HOME- References the HOME environment variable$USER- References the current user’s username
This syntax is commonly used in shell scripts and configuration files to access system-level environment variables.
Sandboxing
$VAR/${$VAR} references (and debugger logpoints that read an env var) are disabled by
default, matching --allow-read/--allow-write/--allow-net/--allow-run. Pass
--allow-env to allow reading any environment variable, or --allow-env=NAME (repeat the
flag, or comma-separate, to add more) to restrict access to just those names:
# Allow any $VAR reference
mq --allow-env '$HOME' README.md
# Allow only $HOME
mq --allow-env=HOME '$HOME' README.md
--allow-all grants --allow-read/--allow-write/--allow-net/--allow-run/--allow-env
all at once, including $VAR access.
Color Configuration
NO_COLOR
When set to a non-empty value, disables all colored output regardless of the -C flag. This follows the NO_COLOR standard.
# Disable colored output
NO_COLOR=1 mq -C '.h' README.md
MQ_COLORS
Customizes the colors used when -C (color output) is enabled. The format is a colon-separated list of key=value pairs, where each value is a semicolon-separated list of SGR (Select Graphic Rendition) parameters.
# Make headings bold red, code blocks blue
export MQ_COLORS="heading=1;31:code=34"
mq -C '.h' README.md
Only the specified keys are overridden; unspecified keys use the default colors. Invalid entries are silently ignored.
Available Keys
| Key | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|
heading | Headings (#, ##, etc.) | bold cyan (1;36) |
code | Fenced code blocks | green (32) |
code_inline | Inline code | green (32) |
emphasis | Italic text (*text*) | italic yellow (3;33) |
strong | Bold text (**text**) | bold (1) |
link | Links ([text](url)) | underline blue (4;34) |
link_url | Link URLs | blue (34) |
image | Images () | magenta (35) |
blockquote | Blockquote markers (>) | dim (2) |
delete | Strikethrough (~~text~~) | red dim (31;2) |
hr | Horizontal rules (---) | dim (2) |
html | Inline HTML | dim (2) |
frontmatter | YAML/TOML frontmatter | dim (2) |
list | List markers (-, *, 1.) | yellow (33) |
table | Table separators | dim (2) |
math | Math expressions ($...$) | green (32) |
Common SGR Codes
| Code | Effect |
|---|---|
0 | Reset |
1 | Bold |
2 | Dim |
3 | Italic |
4 | Underline |
31 | Red |
32 | Green |
33 | Yellow |
34 | Blue |
35 | Magenta |
36 | Cyan |
37 | White |
REPL Configuration
MQ_REPL_OUTPUT_LIMIT
Sets how many lines of a result the REPL prints at once. Longer results are cut off with a hint, and the rest can be shown with the /more and /all commands. The default is 50.
| Value | Behavior |
|---|---|
| unset | Print 50 lines at a time |
a positive integer (e.g. 100) | Print that many lines at a time |
0 | Never truncate, print everything |
| anything else | Fall back to the default (50) |
# Print 20 lines at a time
MQ_REPL_OUTPUT_LIMIT=20 mq repl README.md
❯ .code
...
... 73 more lines (/more: next 20, /all: show all)
❯ /more
...
❯ /all
...
The variable is read on every evaluation, so it can also be changed inside the REPL with /env:
❯ /env MQ_REPL_OUTPUT_LIMIT 100
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
/more | Show the next page of truncated output |
/all | Show all remaining truncated output, regardless of the limit |