Command Line Arguments

When starting vimiv form the command line you have the ability to pass a number of different argument to vimiv.

Examples

In the following we present a few use cases of command line arguments.

• Start in library view with the thumbnail grid displayed:

  vimiv * --command "enter thumbnail" --command "enter library"
  

• Start in read-only mode. This prevents accidental modification (renaming, moving, editing etc.) of any images:

  vimiv --set read_only true
  

• Change WM_CLASS_INSTANCE to identify a vimiv instance:

  vimiv --qt-args "--name myVimivInstance"
  

• Print the last selected image to STDOUT when quitting:

  vimiv --output "%"
  

• Use vimiv as Rofi for Images to make a selection from candidate images:

  mySel=$(echo $myCand | vimiv --input --output "%m" --command "enter thumbnail")
  

• Print debug logs of your amazing plugin you are writing and of the api._mark module which does not behave as you are expecting:

  vimiv --debug myAmazingPlugin api._mark
  

• Grab image from the web and open it:

  curl https://i.imgur.com/somefile.png | vimiv -
  

Command Line Arguments

The general calling structure is:

vimiv [PATH] [--help|-h] [--fullscreen|-f] [--version|-v] [--geometry
WIDTHxHEIGHT|-g WIDTHxHEIGHT] [--temp-basedir] [--config FILE] [--keyfile FILE]
[--set OPTION VALUE|-s OPTION VALUE] [--log-level LEVEL] [--command COMMAND]
[--basedir DIRECTORY|-b DIRECTORY] [--output TEXT|-o TEXT] [--input|-i] [-]
[--debug MODULE] [--qt-args ARGS]

The following is an exhaustive list of all available arguments:

Positional arguments

Command	Description
PATH	Paths to open

Options

Command	Description
--help, -h	show this help message and exit
--fullscreen, -f	Start fullscreen
--version, -v	Print version information and exit
--geometry WIDTHxHEIGHT, -g WIDTHxHEIGHT	Set the starting geometry
--temp-basedir	Use a temporary basedir
--config FILE	Use FILE as local configuration file
--keyfile FILE	Use FILE as keybinding file
--set OPTION VALUE, -s OPTION VALUE	Set a temporary setting
--log-level LEVEL	Set log level to LEVEL
--command COMMAND	Run COMMAND on startup, usable multiple times
--basedir DIRECTORY, -b DIRECTORY	Directory to use for all storage
--output TEXT, -o TEXT	Wildcard expanded string to print to standard output upon quit
--input, -i	Read paths to open from standard input
-	Read binary image to open from standard input

Development arguments

Command	Description
--debug MODULE	Force showing debug log messages of MODULE
--qt-args ARGS	Arguments to pass to qt directly, use quotes to pass multiple arguments