
HLEDGER-UI(1)                 hledger User Manuals                 HLEDGER-UI(1)

NAME
     hledger-ui - terminal interface (TUI) for hledger, a robust, friendly plain
     text accounting app.

SYNOPSIS
     hledger-ui [OPTS] [QUERYARGS]
     or
     hledger ui [OPTS] [QUERYARGS]

DESCRIPTION
     This  manual  is  for hledger's terminal interface, version 1.52.  See also
     the hledger manual for common concepts and file formats.

     hledger is a robust, user-friendly,  cross-platform  set  of  programs  for
     tracking money, time, or any other commodity, using double-entry accounting
     and  a  simple,  editable  file format.  hledger is inspired by and largely
     compatible with ledger(1), and largely interconvertible with beancount(1).

     hledger-ui  is  hledger's  terminal  interface,  providing   an   efficient
     full-window text UI for viewing accounts and transactions, and some limited
     data entry capability.  It is easier than hledger's command-line interface,
     and sometimes quicker and more convenient than the web interface.

     Like  hledger,  it  reads from (and appends to) a journal file specified by
     the LEDGER_FILE environment variable  (defaulting  to  $HOME/.hledger.jour-
     nal); or you can specify files with -f options.  It can also read timeclock
     files,  timedot  files,  or  any  CSV/SSV/TSV file with a date field.  (See
     hledger(1) -> Input for details.)

     Unlike hledger, hledger-ui hides all future-dated transactions by  default.
     They  can be revealed, along with any rule-generated periodic transactions,
     by pressing the F key (or starting with  --forecast)  to  enable  "forecast
     mode".

OPTIONS
     Any  arguments  are  interpreted as a hledger query which filters the data.
     hledger-ui provides the following options:

            Flags:
              -w --watch                watch for data and date changes and reload
                                        automatically
                 --theme=THEME          use this custom display theme (light,
                                        dark, terminal, greenterm)
                 --cash                 start in the cash accounts screen
                 --bs                   start in the balance sheet accounts screen
                 --is                   start in the income statement accounts screen
                 --all                  start in the all accounts screen
                 --register=ACCTREGEX   start in the (first matched) account's register
                 --change               show period balances (changes) at startup instead
                                        of historical balances
              -l --flat                 show accounts as a flat list (default)
              -t --tree                 show accounts as a tree

     and also supports many of hledger's general options:

            General input/data transformation flags:
              -f --file=[FMT:]FILE      Read data from FILE, or from stdin if FILE is -,
                                        inferring format from extension or a FMT: prefix.
                                        Can be specified more than once. If not specified,
                                        reads from $LEDGER_FILE or $HOME/.hledger.journal.
                 --rules=RULESFILE      Use rules defined in this rules file for
                                        converting subsequent CSV/SSV/TSV files. If not
                                        specified, uses FILE.csv.rules for each FILE.csv.
                 --alias=A=B|/RGX/=RPL  transform account names from A to B, or by
                                        replacing regular expression matches
                 --auto                 generate extra postings by applying auto posting
                                        rules ("=") to all transactions
                 --forecast[=PERIOD]    Generate extra transactions from periodic rules
                                        ("~"), from after the latest ordinary transaction
                                        until 6 months from now. Or, during the specified
                                        PERIOD (the equals is required). Auto posting rules
                                        will also be applied to these transactions. In
                                        hledger-ui, also make future-dated transactions
                                        visible at startup.
              -I --ignore-assertions    don't check balance assertions by default
                 --txn-balancing=...    how to check that transactions are balanced:
                                        'old':   use global display precision
                                        'exact': use transaction precision (default)
                 --infer-costs          infer conversion equity postings from costs
                 --infer-equity         infer costs from conversion equity postings
                 --infer-market-prices  infer market prices from costs
                 --pivot=TAGNAME        use a different field or tag as account names
              -s --strict               do extra error checks (and override -I)
                 --verbose-tags         add tags indicating generated/modified data

            General output/reporting flags (supported by some commands):
              -b --begin=DATE           include postings/transactions on/after this date
              -e --end=DATE             include postings/transactions before this date
                                        (with a report interval, will be adjusted to
                                        following subperiod end)
              -D --daily                multiperiod report with 1 day interval
              -W --weekly               multiperiod report with 1 week interval
              -M --monthly              multiperiod report with 1 month interval
              -Q --quarterly            multiperiod report with 1 quarter interval
              -Y --yearly               multiperiod report with 1 year interval
              -p --period=PERIODEXP     set begin date, end date, and/or report interval,
                                        with more flexibility
                 --today=DATE           override today's date (affects relative dates)
                 --date2                match/use secondary dates instead (deprecated)
              -U --unmarked             include only unmarked postings/transactions
              -P --pending              include only pending postings/transactions
              -C --cleared              include only cleared postings/transactions
                                        (-U/-P/-C can be combined)
              -R --real                 include only non-virtual postings
              -E --empty                Show zero items, which are normally hidden.
                                        In hledger-ui & hledger-web, do the opposite.
                 --depth=DEPTHEXP       if a number (or -NUM): show only top NUM levels
                                        of accounts. If REGEXP=NUM, only apply limiting to
                                        accounts matching the regular expression.
              -B --cost                 show amounts converted to their cost/sale amount
              -V --market               Show amounts converted to their value at period
                                        end(s) in their default valuation commodity.
                                        Equivalent to --value=end.
              -X --exchange=COMM        Show amounts converted to their value at period
                                        end(s) in the specified commodity.
                                        Equivalent to --value=end,COMM.
                 --value=WHEN[,COMM]    show amounts converted to their value on the
                                        specified date(s) in their default valuation
                                        commodity or a specified commodity. WHEN can be:
                                        'then':     value on transaction dates
                                        'end':      value at period end(s)
                                        'now':      value today
                                        YYYY-MM-DD: value on given date
              -c --commodity-style=S    Override a commodity's display style.
                                        Eg: -c '.' or -c '1.000,00 EUR'
                 --pretty[=YN]          Use box-drawing characters in text output? Can be
                                        'y'/'yes' or 'n'/'no'.
                                        If YN is specified, the equals is required.

            General help flags:
              -h --help                 show command line help
                 --tldr                 show command examples with tldr
                 --info                 show the manual with info
                 --man                  show the manual with man
                 --version              show version information
                 --debug=[1-9]          show this much debug output (default: 1)
                 --pager=YN             use a pager when needed ? y/yes (default) or n/no
                 --color=YNA --colour   use ANSI color ? y/yes, n/no, or auto (default)

     With hledger-ui, the --debug option sends debug output to a  hledger-ui.log
     file in the current directory.

     If  you  use the bash shell, you can auto-complete flags by pressing TAB in
     the command line.  If this is not working see Install > Shell completions.

MOUSE
     In most modern terminals, you can navigate through the screens with a mouse
     or touchpad:

     * Use mouse wheel or trackpad to scroll up and down

     * Click on list items to go deeper

     * Click on the left margin (column 0) to go back.

KEYS
     Keyboard gives more control.

     ? shows a help dialog listing all keys.  (Some of these also appear in  the
     quick  help  at  the  bottom of each screen.)  Press ? again (or ESCAPE, or
     LEFT, or q) to close it.  The following keys work on most screens:

     The cursor keys navigate: RIGHT or ENTER goes deeper, LEFT returns  to  the
     previous screen, UP/DOWN/PGUP/PGDN/HOME/END move up and down through lists.
     J/K     jump     down/up    10    items    at    a    time.     Emacs-style
     (CTRL-p/CTRL-n/CTRL-f/CTRL-b) and VI-style (k,j,l,h) movement keys are also
     supported.

     (Tip: movement speed is limited by  your  keyboard  repeat  rate,  to  move
     faster  you  may want to adjust it.  On a mac, the Karabiner app is one way
     to do that.)

     / lets you set a general filter query limiting the data  shown,  using  the
     same  query  terms as in hledger and hledger-web.  While editing the query,
     you can use CTRL-a/e/d/k, BS, cursor keys; press ENTER to set  it,  or  ES-
     CAPEto  cancel.  There are also keys for quickly adjusting some common fil-
     ters like account depth and transaction status (see below).   BACKSPACE  or
     DELETE removes all filters, showing all transactions.

     As  mentioned above, by default hledger-ui hides future transactions - both
     ordinary transactions recorded in the journal,  and  periodic  transactions
     generated  by  rule.   F  toggles forecast mode, in which future/forecasted
     transactions are shown.

     Pressing SHIFT-DOWN narrows the report period, and  pressing  SHIFT-UP  ex-
     pands  it  again.  When narrowed, the current report period is displayed in
     the header line, pressing SHIFT-LEFT or SHIFT-RIGHT moves to  the  previous
     or  next period, and pressing T sets the period to "today".  If you are us-
     ing -w/--watch and viewing a narrowed period  containing  today,  the  view
     will follow any changes in system date (moving to the period containing the
     new  date).   (These  keys  work  only  with  the  standard Julian calendar
     year/quarter/month/week/day periods; they are not affected by a custom  re-
     port interval specified at the command line.)

     You  can  also  specify  a non-standard period with / and a date: query; in
     this case, the period is not movable with the arrow keys.

     (Tip: arrow keys with Shift do not work out of  the  box  in  all  terminal
     software.  Eg in Apple's Terminal, the SHIFT-DOWN and SHIFT-UP keys must be
     configured  as  follows:  in Terminal's preferences, click Profiles, select
     your current profile on the left, click Keyboard on the right, click +  and
     add  this  for  SHIFT-DOWN:  \033[1;2B,  click + and add this for SHIFT-UP:
     \033[1;2A.   In other terminals (Windows Terminal ?)   you  might  need  to
     configure  SHIFT-RIGHT  and  SHIFT-LEFT to emit \033[1;2C and \033[1;2D re-
     spectively.)

     ESCAPE resets the UI state and jumps back to the top screen, restoring  the
     app's  initial  state  at startup.  Or, it cancels minibuffer data entry or
     the help dialog.

     CTRL-l redraws the screen and centers the selection if possible (selections
     near the top won't be centered, since we don't scroll above the top).

     g reloads from the data file(s) and updates the current screen and any pre-
     vious screens.  (With large files, this could cause a noticeable pause.)

     I toggles balance assertion checking.  Disabling  balance  assertions  tem-
     porarily  can  be  useful  for troubleshooting.  (If hledger-ui was started
     with a --pivot option, re-enabling balance assertions with the I  key  also
     reloads the journal, like g.)

     a  runs  command-line  hledger's add command, and reloads the updated file.
     This allows some basic data entry.

     A is like a, but runs the hledger-iadd tool, which provides a terminal  in-
     terface.  This key will be available if hledger-iadd is installed in $path.

     E runs $HLEDGER_UI_EDITOR, or $EDITOR, or a default (emacsclient -a "" -nw)
     on the journal file.  With some editors (emacs, vi), the cursor will be po-
     sitioned  at  the  current  transaction  when invoked from the register and
     transaction screens, and at the error location (if possible)  when  invoked
     from the error screen.

     B  toggles  cost  mode, showing amounts converted to their cost's commodity
     (see hledger manual > Cost reporting.

     V toggles value mode, showing amounts converted to their market value  (see
     hledger manual > Valuation flag).  More specifically,

     1. By default, the V key toggles showing end value (--value=end) on or off.
        The  valuation  date will be the report end date if specified, otherwise
        today.

     2. If  you  started  hledger-ui  with  some  other   valuation   (such   as
        --value=then,EUR), the V key toggles that off or on.

     Cost/value  tips:  -  When showing end value, you can change the report end
     date  without  restarting,  by  pressing  /  and  adding   a   query   like
     date:..YYYY-MM-DD.   -  Either cost mode, or value mode, can be active, but
     not both at once.  Cost mode takes precedence.  - There's not yet  any  vi-
     sual  indicator  that  cost  or value mode is active, other than the amount
     values.

     q quits the application.

     Additional screen-specific keys are described below.

SCREENS
     At startup, hledger-ui shows a menu screen by default.  From here  you  can
     navigate  to  other screens using the cursor keys: UP/DOWN to select, RIGHT
     to move to the selected screen, LEFT to return to the previous screen.   Or
     you can use ESC to return directly to the top menu screen.

     You can also use a command line flag to specific a different startup screen
     (--cs, --bs, --is, --all, or --register=ACCT).

   Menu screen
     This is the top-most screen.  From here you can navigate to several screens
     listing  accounts  of  various types.  Note some of these may not show any-
     thing until you have configured account types.

   Cash accounts screen
     This screen shows "cash" (ie, liquid asset)  accounts  (like  hledger  bal-
     ancesheet type:c).  It always shows balances (historical ending balances on
     the date shown in the title line).

   Balance sheet accounts screen
     This  screen  shows asset, liability and equity accounts (like hledger bal-
     ancesheetequity).  It always shows balances.

   Income statement accounts screen
     This screen shows revenue and expense accounts (like  hledger  incomestate-
     ment).  It always shows changes (balance changes in the period shown in the
     title line).

   All accounts screen
     This screen shows all accounts in your journal (unless filtered by a query;
     like  hledger balance).  It shows balances by default; you can toggle show-
     ing changes with the H key.

   Register screen
     This screen shows the transactions affecting a  particular  account.   Each
     line represents one transaction, and shows:

     * the  other  account(s) involved, in abbreviated form.  (If there are both
       real and virtual postings, it shows only the accounts  affected  by  real
       postings.)

     * the  overall change to the current account's balance; positive for an in-
       flow to this account, negative for an outflow.

     * the running total after the transaction.  With the H key you  can  toggle
       between

       * the period total, which is from just the transactions displayed

       * or  the  historical  total, which includes any undisplayed transactions
         before the start of the report period (and matching the filter query if
         any).  This will be the running historical balance (what you would  see
         on a bank's website, eg) if not disturbed by a query.

     Note,  this screen combines each transaction's in-period postings to a sin-
     gle line item, dated with the earliest  in-period  transaction  or  posting
     date  (like  hledger's  aregister).   So custom posting dates can cause the
     running balance to be temporarily inaccurate.  (See hledger manual >  areg-
     ister and posting dates.)

     Transactions  affecting  this account's subaccounts will be included in the
     register if the accounts screen is in tree mode, or if it's  in  list  mode
     but  this account has subaccounts which are not shown due to a depth limit.
     In other words, the register always shows the transactions contributing  to
     the  balance shown on the accounts screen.  Tree mode/list mode can be tog-
     gled with t here also.

     U toggles filtering by unmarked status, showing or hiding unmarked transac-
     tions.  Similarly, P toggles pending transactions, and  C  toggles  cleared
     transactions.   (By  default,  transactions with all statuses are shown; if
     you activate one or two status filters, only those transactions are  shown;
     and if you activate all three, the filter is removed.)

     R toggles real mode, in which virtual postings are ignored.

     z toggles nonzero mode, in which only transactions posting a nonzero change
     are  shown  (hledger-ui  shows  zero  items by default, unlike command-line
     hledger).

     Press RIGHT to view the selected transaction in detail.

   Transaction screen
     This screen shows a single transaction, as a general journal entry, similar
     to hledger's print command and journal format (hledger_journal(5)).

     The transaction's date(s) and any cleared flag, transaction code,  descrip-
     tion,  comments,  along with all of its account postings are shown.  Simple
     transactions have two postings, but there can be more (or in certain cases,
     fewer).

     UP and DOWN will step through all transactions listed in the  previous  ac-
     count  register  screen.  In the title bar, the numbers in parentheses show
     your position within that account register.  They will  vary  depending  on
     which  account register you came from (remember most transactions appear in
     multiple account registers).  The #N number preceding them is the  transac-
     tion's  position  within  the  complete unfiltered journal, which is a more
     stable id (at least until the next reload).

     On this screen (and the register screen), the E key will open your text ed-
     itor with the cursor positioned at the current transaction if possible.

   Error screen
     This screen will appear if there is a problem, such as a parse error,  when
     you  press  g to reload.  Once you have fixed the problem, press g again to
     reload and resume normal operation.  (Or, you can press  escape  to  cancel
     the reload attempt.)

WATCH MODE
     One  of  hledger-ui's  best features is the auto-reloading -w/--watch mode.
     With this flag, it will update the display automatically  whenever  changes
     are saved to the data files.

     This  is  very  useful  when  reconciling.  A good workflow is to have your
     bank's online register open in a browser window, for reference; the journal
     file open in an editor window; and hledger-ui in watch mode in  a  terminal
     window, eg:

            $ hledger-ui --watch --register checking -C

     As  you  mark  things cleared in the editor, you can see the effect immedi-
     ately without having to context switch.  This leaves more mental  bandwidth
     for your accounting.  Of course you can still interact with hledger-ui when
     needed, eg to toggle cleared mode, or to explore the history.

   --watch problems
     However. There are limitations/unresolved bugs with --watch:

     * It  may not work at all for you, depending on platform or system configu-
       ration.  On some unix systems, increasing fs.inotify.max_user_watches  or
       fs.file-max parameters in /etc/sysctl.conf might help.  (#836)

     * It  may  not detect changes made from outside a virtual machine, ie by an
       editor running on the host system.

     * It may not detect file changes on certain less common filesystems.

     * It may use increasing CPU and RAM over time, especially with large files.
       (This is probably not --watch specific, you may be able to  reproduce  it
       by pressing g repeatedly.)  (#1825)

     Tips/workarounds:

     * If --watch won't work for you, press g to reload data manually instead.

     * If  --watch  is leaking resources over time, quit and restart (or suspend
       and resume) hledger-ui when you're not using it.

     * When running hledger-ui inside a VM, also make file  changes  inside  the
       VM.

     * When  working with files mounted from another machine, make sure the sys-
       tem clocks on both machines are roughly in agreement.

ENVIRONMENT
     LEDGER_FILE The main journal file to use when not specified with -f/--file.
     Default: $HOME/.hledger.journal.

BUGS
     We    welcome    bug    reports    in    the    hledger    issue    tracker
     (https://bugs.hledger.org),   or   on   the   hledger  chat  or  mail  list
     (https://hledger.org/support).

     Some known issues:

     -f- doesn't work (hledger-ui can't read from stdin).

     --watch is not robust, especially with large files (see WATCH MODE above).

     If you press g with large files, there could be a noticeable pause with the
     UI unresponsive.



AUTHORS
     Simon Michael <simon@joyful.com> and contributors.
     See http://hledger.org/CREDITS.html


COPYRIGHT
     Copyright 2007-2023 Simon Michael and contributors.


LICENSE
     Released under GNU GPL v3 or later.


SEE ALSO
     hledger(1), hledger-ui(1), hledger-web(1), ledger(1)

hledger-ui-1.52                    March 2026                      HLEDGER-UI(1)
