---
name: "paccat"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "paccat"
version: "1.4.0-5"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/paccat"
---

# paccat(1)

Print pacman package files

## NAME

paccat - Print pacman package files

## SYNOPSIS

```
paccat [options] <target> <files>
paccat [options] [targets] -- <files>
paccat [options] -<Q|F> <files>
paccat [options] <-Q|-F> [targets] -- <files>
```

a target can be specified as:\
     \<pkgname\>, \<repo\>/\<pkgname\>, \<url\> or \<file\>.

files can be specified as just the filename or the full path.

## DESCRIPTION

Print pacman package files.

paccat prints files from packages independent of your system by downloading the needed packages and extracting the needed files.

## SYNTAX HIGHLIGHTING

paccat will use *bat* for syntax highlighting if it is installed.

## OPTIONS

-

  - **-F, --files**

  Use files database to search for files before downloading.

- **-Q, --query**

  Use local database to search for files before downloading.

- **-r, --root \<path\>**

  Set an alternative root directory.

- **-b, --dbpath \<path\>**

  Set an alternative database location.

- **--config \<file\>**

  Use an alternative pacman.conf.

- **--color \<when\>**

  Specify when to enable coloring. Valid options are always, never, or auto.

- **-y, --refresh**

  Download fresh package databases from the server. Pass twice to force download even if databases are up to date.

- **--cachedir \<path\>**

  Set the primary cache directory.

  This directory will be the preferred directory for downloading package if writable. The other configured directories will still be used for reading.

- **-a, --all**

  print all matching files instead of just the first.

- **-x, --regex**

  Enable searching using regular expressions.

- **--binary**

  Print binary files

- **-X, --executable**

  Filter results to executable files.

- **-e, --extract**

  Extract matched files to the current directory.

- **-l, --list**

  Print file names instead of file content.

- **-i, --install**

  Install matched files to the system.

- **--debug**

  Display debug messages.

- **-h, --help**

  Print help information.

- **-V, --version**

  Print version information.

## EXAMPLES

- **paccat grub etc/default/grub**

  Print the contents of 'etc/default/grub' from the grub package.

- **paccat pacman pacman.conf**

  Print the contents of the first file named 'pacman.conf' from the pacman package.

- **paccat -F pacman.conf**

  Print the contents of the first file named 'pacman.conf' in the repos

- **paccat -x pacman mkinitcpio -- '\\.conf$'**

  Print the contents of all files ending in '.conf' from both the pacman and mkinitcpio packages.

- **paccat ~/pkgs/my-pkg-1.0.0-1.pkg.tar.zst myfile**

  Print the contents of 'myfile' from a package tarball.

- **paccat https://archlinux.org/packages/extra/x86\_64/git/download git-blame.1.gz**

  Download and print the contents of 'git-blame.1.gz' from the git package.";

## SEE ALSO

[**pacman**(8)](/pacman/8.md)

## BUGS

Please report bugs to our GitHub page **https://github.com/Morganamilo/paccat**.

## AUTHORS

Morgan \<morganamilo@archlinux.org\>