# Install fancy-cat with Homebrew, Nix

PDF reader for terminal emulators using the Kitty image protocol. Version 0.6.0 via Homebrew; verified 2026-07-31. Also installable with nix: nix profile install nixpkgs#fancy-cat.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:fancy-cat
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install fancy-cat
```

  Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata

### Linux

- Nix (92%):

```sh
nix profile install nixpkgs#fancy-cat
```

  Evidence: nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/fa/fancy-cat/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:fancy-cat
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 0.6.0
- **Source summary:** PDF reader for terminal emulators using the Kitty image protocol
- **Homepage:** <https://github.com/freref/fancy-cat>
- **Repository:** <https://github.com/freref/fancy-cat>
- **Last updated:** 2026-07-31T12:44:48Z
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00

## Executables

- fancy-cat (alias)

## Install behavior

- Bottle: not available

## Freshness

- Page generated: 2026-08-03
- Package-manager version: 0.6.0
## Project history and usage

fancy-cat is a terminal PDF viewer built around the Kitty image protocol. Its README describes a modal interface, runtime configuration, key mappings, command mode, hot reload, status bar, page navigation, and dark-mode colorization.

### Project history

The repository was created in November 2024 and is implemented as a Zig project. Its README presents the project as a PDF viewer for terminals that can display pages through image-capable terminal emulators such as Kitty, Ghostty, and WezTerm.

### Adoption history

Official adoption information is modest: the README points to packaging status across repositories and the package appears in Homebrew and Nix through the input facts. The project is still young and the official sources do not support a broad adoption claim.

### How it is used

The primary command is `fancy-cat <path-to-pdf> <optional-page-number>`. Once running, users navigate through a modal interface similar to Neovim and can enter command mode with `:` by default.

Configuration is JSON and lives under the XDG config directory when available, with fallback and legacy locations documented by the README.

### Why package nerds care

fancy-cat is interesting to terminal-tool users because it packages graphical PDF reading as a shell-native workflow. It belongs to the recent wave of CLI applications that rely on modern terminal image protocols instead of opening a separate GUI viewer.

### Timeline

- 2024: Repository created.
- 2024: v0.1.0 tag published.
- 2026: v0.6.0 tag present.

### Related projects

- Kitty image protocol support is the key terminal capability.
- Zig is the implementation and build toolchain.

### Sources

- <https://github.com/freref/fancy-cat>
- <https://raw.githubusercontent.com/freref/fancy-cat/master/README.md>
- <https://api.github.com/repos/freref/fancy-cat>
- <https://api.github.com/repos/freref/fancy-cat/tags?per_page=20>


## Security Notes

broad file, network, media, or database tool signal.

- **Geiger risk:** blue / medium
- broad file, network, media, or database tool signal

## Other Package-Manager Records

- Nix - fancy-cat: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/fa/fancy-cat/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1


## Combined YAML source

View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/fancy-cat.yml](https://github.com/mxcl/pkgdb/blob/main/combined/fancy-cat.yml)


## Sources

- pkg.so package database
- Geiger risk classifier
- curated package history
- pkgdb category and tag curation
- external package-manager database matches
- cross-ecosystem install command graph