info

Updated

September 4, 2026

Overview

info reads documentation in Info (Texinfo) format. GNU projects often put their deepest manuals here — structured as a tree of nodes with menus and cross-references — while man pages stay as flatter reference sheets.

For coreutils, bash, and many GNU tools, info can be more complete than the man page. Navigation is keyboard-driven and different from less; invest a few minutes in the keys once.

Syntax

info [options] [menu-item ...]
info [options] -f file [node]
info [options] --index-search=string

Common Options

Option Description
-f file Open a specific Info file
-n node Start at named node
-a Use all matching manuals
-k string / --apropos Search indices for string
-w Show location of Info file
--index-search=str Go to index entry
--show-options Jump to command-line options node (when present)
--subnodes Dump node and subnodes (non-interactive)
-o file Write output to file
--vi-keys Vi-like key bindings

Examples with Explanations

Open a manual

info ls
info coreutils
info bash
info libc

Tab completion or the directory node (info with no args, then browse) helps discovery.

Jump to options / a node

info --show-options ls
info -n 'Invoking ls' coreutils
info -f coreutils -n 'Directory listing'

Where is the file?

info -w coreutils
# e.g. /usr/share/info/coreutils.info.gz

Non-interactive extract

info --subnodes -o /tmp/ls-info.txt ls
info -o - --show-options ls | head -50

Useful for grepping offline or pasting into notes.

Prefer man for quick flags, info for depth

man ls                 # quick reference
info ls                # full GNU narrative + examples
info coreutils         # whole suite manual

Understanding the Info tree

  1. Directory node — catalogue of installed manuals (d).
  2. Top node — start of one manual.
  3. Menus — child nodes (chapters/sections).
  4. Cross-references — *note … links between topics.
  5. Indices — topic/command/option indices for search.

Think of it as a hypertext book, not a single scrollable man page.

Notes / Pitfalls

  • Missing docs: install packages like info, bash-doc, coreutils info files (*-doc on some distros).
  • People open info once, hate the UI, and never return — spend five minutes on h / ?.
  • Not every tool has an Info manual; many only ship man pages.
  • pinfo is a friendlier alternative viewer if you install it.
  • Dumping with --subnodes can be huge (libc); narrow to a node first.

2026-relevant notes

  • Man pages improved a lot for systemd/iproute2; Info still wins for GNU coreutils, findutils, bash, gdb, gcc deep dives.
  • In CI/containers, Info files are often omitted; generate or fetch docs on a full workstation.
  • Some projects moved primary docs to HTML/web; Info remains the classic offline GNU format.

Additional Resources