A README should be readable where you already are. glow renders Markdown in the terminal instead of making you open a browser tab for a heading and a list.
glow takes a Markdown file, a directory, or stdin and prints it with headings, emphasis, and wrapping that fit the terminal. It is not an editor. It is the thing you run when you want to read a note, a changelog, or a README without alt-tabbing. Styles follow the terminal background unless you pin one. Checked on glow 3.0.0.
install
# macOS
brew install glow
# not in the default repos. Use the GitHub release, or Homebrew on Linux
# not in the default repos. Use the GitHub release
# Arch extra
sudo pacman -S glow
examples
# Render a file. Width wraps to the terminal unless you set -w
glow README.md
# Force the dark style. -s light is the other built-in
glow -s dark README.md
# Wrap at 80 columns. -w 0 disables wrapping
glow -w 80 NOTES.md
# Read a pipe. The dash is stdin
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/charmbracelet/glow/master/README.md | glow -
pro tip
If you always want the pager, run glow config once and set pager: true. glow -p does the same for one shot and hands the output to less -r unless $PAGER is already set. Press q to leave it.
honest limits
glow renders Markdown. It does not edit it, and it will not turn a broken file into a valid one. The TUI (glow with no file, or -t) is a file browser, not a preview of every flag above. Debian and Fedora do not ship it in the default repos — do not paste an apt or dnf line and expect it to resolve. If you only need the raw text, cat is still faster.