---
name: "memcat"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "libmemcached-awesome"
version: "1.1.4-4"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/memcat"
---

# memcat(1)

libmemcached Documentation

## NAME

memcat - libmemcached Documentation

## SYNOPSIS

memcat \[options\] key \[key...\]

Read and output the value of one key or the values of a set of keys.

## DESCRIPTION

**memcat** reads and outputs the value of a single or a set of keys stored in a **[memcached(1)](/memcached/1.md) \<https://linux.die.net/man/1/memcached\>** server.

If any key is not found an error is returned.

It is similar to the standard UNIX **[cat(1)](/cat/1.md) \<https://linux.die.net/man/1/cat\>** utility.

## OPTIONS

- **-h\|--help**

  Display help.

- **-V\|--version**

  Display version.

- **-q\|--quiet**

  Operate quietly.

- **-v\|--verbose**

  Operate more verbosely.

- **-d\|--debug**

  See **-v\|--verbose**.

- **-s\|--servers \<list of servers\>**

  Specify the list of servers as *hostname\[:port\]\[,hostname\[:port\]...\]*.

- **-n\|--non-blocking**

  Enable non-blocking operations.

- **-N\|--tcp-nodelay**

  Disable Nagle's algorithm.

- **-b\|--binary**

  Enable binary protocol.

- **-B\|--buffer**

  Buffer requests.

- **-u\|--username \<username\>**

  Use *username* for SASL authentication.

- **-p\|--password \<password\>**

  Use *password* for SASL authentication.

- **-F\|--flags**

  Display key's flags.

- **-H\|--hash \<algorithm\>**

  Use *algorithm* as key hash algo. See **memcached\_behavior\_t::MEMCACHED\_BEHAVIOR\_HASH** \<#\_CPPv4N20memcached\_behavior\_t23MEMCACHED\_BEHAVIOR\_HASHE\>.

- **-f\|--file \[\<file\>\]**

  Output to file instead of standard output.

  *NOTE:* defaults to \<key\> if no argument was provided.

## ENVIRONMENT

- **MEMCACHED\_SERVERS**

  Specify a list of servers.

## NOTES

### PROGRAM PREFIX

The prefix of this program is variable, i.e. it can be configured at build time.

Usually the client programs of **libmemcached-awesome** are prefixed with **mem**, like **memcat** or **memcp**.

It can be configured, though, to replace the prefix with something else like **mc**, in case of that, the client programs of **libmemcached-awesome** would be called **mccat**, **mccp**, etc. respectively.

## SEE ALSO

**[memcached(1)](/memcached/1.md) \<https://linux.die.net/man/1/memcached\>** **[libmemcached(3)](/libmemcached/3.md) \<https://linux.die.net/man/3/libmemcached\>** **[libmemcached\_configuration(3)](/libmemcached_configuration/3.md) \<https://linux.die.net/man/3/libmemcached\_configuration\>**