pifpaf

README

PifPaf log

Simple command to log several commands at once in a tiled view in the terminal.

Stop all the command simultaneously with Ctrl+C.

Easy, useful.

Usage

Give the commands as argument (use quotes if needed to identify each command). And leave the rest to pifpaf.

By default, pifpaf will display maximum 3 columns. A "flexbox" layout is used, and new rows are added when the number of commands is greater than the number of columns.

pifpaf launch "command1" "command2" "command3"

pifpaf launch accepts STDIN input, so you can pipe commands to it in different manners.

# Using echo
echo "command1" "command2" "command3" | pifpaf launch

pifpaf launch < <(echo "command1" "command2" "command3")

pifpaf launch <<EOF
command1
command2
command3
EOF

# Using a file
pifpaf launch < commands.txt

Commands from STDIN are appended to the commands given as arguments. So you can mix both.

You can specify the number of columns with the -c option – you can use 1 to whatever you want. But be careful, the more columns you have, the more the terminal will be divided, and the output width will be reduced.

# Example, with 2 columns
pifpaf launch -c 2 "command1" "command2" "command3"

Examples of output:

pifpaf launch \
  "podman run --rm -it nginx" \
  "podman run --rm -it metal3d/xmrig" \
  "dmesg -w"

Using -c 2 to have only 2 columns:

pifpaf launch -c 2 \
  "podman run --rm -it nginx" \
  "podman run --rm -it metal3d/xmrig" \
  "dmesg -w"

Installation

There are 4 options to install pifpaf:

• From the release page

  Get the release from the releases page and put it in your PATH. Select the right binary for your system.

  Of course, rename it to pifpaf.

• Using go get

  You may, also, use go inteall if you have Go installed:

  # get the latest version
  go install github.com/metal3d/pifpaf/cmd/...@latest
  
  # or a specific version
  go install github.com/metal3d/pifpaf/cmd/...@v0.1.0
  
  # use a specific branch
  go install github.com/metal3d/pifpaf/cmd/...@main
  

  Note: the "..." is important to install all the commands. There is actually only one command, but it's simpler this way.

• From source with podman (docker is planned)

  Build from source doesn't need to have Go installed, we use a container to build the binary.:

  git clone github.com/metal3d/pifpaf && cd pifpaf
  # Recommended to install in your home.
  # Change the PREFIX to install in another location.
  make install PREFIX=~/.local
  
  # or system-wide
  sudo make install
  

Known issues

Sometimes, pressing CTRL+C does not stop the commands. The terminal doesn't give back the prompt.

It's a known issue, and I'm working on it. But no panic, only press CTRL+C again, and it will stop the commands.

Colors are sometimes not well displayed

It's a limitation of the tview library. I'm working on it.

Some commands need to refresh the screen to display the output, like in watch, or for example top or htop...

At this time, pifpaf does not support this kind of command. It's a "log" tool, not a "monitor" tool. But I try to find a way to support this kind of command.

I launched interactive commands, like vim, and I can't stop it.

As for the previous issue, pifpaf is not designed to manage interactive commands. It's a "log" tool, not an "interactive" tool.

FAQ

Why the name pifpaf?

Because, it's funny.

"Pif Paf" is a French onomatopoeia to say "wham", "bang" or rather "poof" in English.

I decided this name after a discussion with a friend when I said to him:

"I really need a tool able to take any commands and poof I have all the logs in separated panes in one terminal"[^1].

[^1]: The french discussion was "J'adorerai avoir un outil qui prenne quelques commandes et «pif paf» j'ai tous les logs dans plusieurs panneaux dans un seul terminal".

At the time, I was using tmux with a number of automated splits, but:

• not all my colleagues have tmux, and it's not necessarily set up with mouse support
• it's complicated to maintain

So, I decided to make this tool.

And as a K9s user, I chose tview to make the UI.

I have more complex commands to launch, it's hard to put them in quotes

You may use a Makefile to store the commands, and use make XXX where XXX is the target name. You can, also, use scripts.

Is it really free?

Yes, it's free. It's under the BSD-3-Clause license. You can use it, modify it, and distribute it as you want. I'm a historical defender of free software programs, and when I say "free", I mean "as freedom".

If you like my project, you can make donation by using the GitHub Sponsors program.

I found a bug, how can I report it, or fix it?

Use the issue tracker to report a bug, or to ask for a feature. If you want to fix it, you can fork the project, and make a pull request.

Please, be kind and respectful. I'm a human, and I do my best to make a good project.

Ensure it's me who upload the releases

I sign the releases with my GPG key.

My key is register here on opengpg.org and here on keyserver.ubuntu.com Import it with:

gpg --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys 483493B2DD0845DA8F21A26DF3702E3FAD8F76DC
# if the key seems to be expired, you can refresh it with:
gpg --refresh-keys

Verify the signature with:

# Change the file according to the release you downloaded.
# The binary file should be in the same directory as the signature file.
gpg --verify pifpaf.linux.amd64.asc

If the signature fails, please report it to me.

Thanks to

• Thanks to Rivo for TView library, it's a great tool to build terminal applications.
• And thanks to the Cobra library for the CLI part.
• Any other dependencies are listed in the go.mod file. I thank all the authors of these libraries. And I thank the Go team for the language.