---
name: "kpsetool"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "texlive-doc"
version: "2026.1-1"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/kpsetool"
---

# kpsetool(1)

script to make teTeX-style kpsetool, kpsexpand, and kpsepath available

## NAME

kpsetool - script to make teTeX-style **kpsetool**, **kpsexpand**, and **kpsepath** available

## SYNOPSIS

**kpsetool**  \[ *OPTIONS*... \] *COMMAND*

**kpsexpand** \[ *OPTIONS*... \] *STRING*

**kpsepath**  \[ *OPTIONS*... \] *PATHTYPE*

## DESCRIPTION

**kpsetool** is a Bourne shell script that makes a teTeX-style **kpsetool**, **kpsexpand**, and **kpsepath** available. **kpsetool** uses **web2c**´s (new) **kpsexpand** binary, so the syntax for **kpsexpand** is incompatible with teTeX´s as of version 0.4.

## OPTIONS

- **-m** *mode*

  set Metafont mode

- **-n** *progname*

  pretend to be *progname* to kpathsea

- **-p**

  act like [**kpsepath**(1)](/kpsepath/1.md)

- **-v**

  act like [**kpsexpand**(1)](/kpsexpand/1.md)

- **-w**

  act like [**kpsewhich**(1)](/kpsewhich/1.md)

## USAGE

*PATHTYPE* can be

- **base**

  Metafont memory dump

- **bib**

  BibTeX bibliography source

- **bst**

  BibTeX style files

- **cnf**

  Kpathsea runtime configuration files

- **dvips\_config**

  dvips config files

- **dvips\_header**

  dvips header files

- **fmt**

  TeX memory dump

- **gf**

  generic font bitmap

- **mem**

  MetaPost memory dump

- **mf**

  Metafont source

- **mfpool**

  Metafont program strings

- **mp**

  MetaPost source

- **mppool**

  MetaPost program strings

- **mpsupport**

  MetaPost support files

- **pict**

  Other kinds of figures

- **pk**

  packed bitmap font

- **tex**

  TeX source

- **texpool**

  TeX program strings

- **tfm**

  TeX font metrics

- **troff\_font**

  troff fonts

- **vf**

  virtual font

## SEE ALSO

[**kpsewhich**(1)](/kpsewhich/1.md)

*Kpathsea: A library for path searching* (info or DVI file)

Web page: \<http://tug.org/teTeX/\>

## BUGS

Email bug reports to \<https://lists.tug.org/tex-k\> (public mailing list).

## AUTHOR

**kpsetool** was written by Thomas Esser  in March, 1997.  **kpsetool** is in the public domain.

This manual page was written by C.M. Connelly for the Debian GNU/Linux system. It is now maintained as part of TeX Live.