---
name: "cookietool"
section: "6"
platform: "linux"
package: "cookietool"
version: "2.5-7"
release: "Debian 13 (Trixie)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/cookietool"
---

# cookietool(6)

program to operate cookie (fortune) database

## NAME

cookietool - program to operate cookie (fortune) database

## SYNOPSIS

**cookietool** \[*options*\] *\<database\>*

## DESCRIPTION

This manual page documents briefly the **cookietool** command.

This manual page was written for the Debian GNU/Linux distribution because the original program does not have a manual page. Instead, it has some plaintext documentation, see below.

**cookietool** is a program that should be used to sort, clear and maintain cookie database in standard [fortune(6)](/fortune/6.md) format, i.e. list of **cookies** delimited with line containing a single percent ('**%**') char. **cookietool** can now understand another formats and convert cookie database between them.

## OPTIONS

A summary of options is included below. For a complete description, see the documentation in */usr/share/doc/cookietool* directory

- **\[nothing\]**

  Shows summary of options.

- **-c**

  case sensitive comparisons.

- **-d\[0-3\]**

  how fussy about word delimiters? (default: 2)

- **-b**

  delete cookies that are 'abbreviations' of another, too.

- **-p**

  passive, don't delete anything.

- **-s\[l\|w\|\<sep\>\|s\]**

  sort cookies; looking after last line only; looking after last word only; starting after the last \<sep\>, e.g. '-s--'; by size.

- **-a**

  treat 'abbreviations' as doubles (i.e. delete them from the database, too).

- **-f\[0-3\]**

  input file format - -f3: cookies are separated by '%%' lines; -f2: cookies are separated by '%' lines (DEFAULT); -f1: each line is a cookie; -f0: each word is a cookie.

- **-F\[0-3\]**

  force output in a different file format, see -f.

- **-o**

  overwrite directly without temporary file. CAUTION NEEDED.

## SEE ALSO

**[cdbdiff(6)](/cdbdiff/6.md)**, **[cdbsplit(6)](/cdbsplit/6.md)**

## BUGS

None known.

## AUTHOR

Upstream author and Aminet cookietool.lha package with AmigaOS binaries uploader is Wilhelm Noeker, \<wnoeker@t-online.de\>. Unix manpages (including this one) and makefile are maintained by Miros/law L. Baran \<baran@debian.org\>. This manual page uses many excerpts from the original README file.