---
name: "ident"
section: "1"
platform: "freebsd"
package: "base"
version: "16.0-CURRENT-20261027-61c70dc16a79"
release: "FreeBSD 16.0-CURRENT (2026-10-27)"
platforms: ["linux", "freebsd", "openbsd"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/ident"
---

# ident(1)

identify RCS keyword string in files

## NAME

**ident** – identify RCS keyword string in files

## SYNOPSIS

**ident** \[**-q**\] \[**-V**\] \[*file ...*\]

## DESCRIPTION

The **ident** utility searches for all instances of the pattern ‘$keyword: text$’ in *files*.

If no arguments are passed, then **ident** parses the standard input.

*keyword* must only be composed of alphanumeric values in the C locale, followed by ‘:’ and a space.

These options are supported:

- **-q**, **--quiet**

  Quiet mode: suppress warnings if no pattern found.

- **-V**, **--version**

  Do nothing, added for compatibility with GNU ident.

## EXIT STATUS

The **ident** utility exits 0 on success, and \>0 if an error occurs.

## AUTHORS

This version of the **ident** utility was written by Baptiste Daroussin ⟨*bapt@FreeBSD.org*⟩ and Dag-Erling Smørgrav ⟨*des@FreeBSD.org*⟩.