LYNX(1) Lynx - the text web browser LYNX(1) NAME lynx - a general purpose distributed information browser for the World Wide Web SYNOPSIS lynx [options] [optional paths or URLs] lynx [options] [path or URL] -get_data data -- lynx [options] [path or URL] -post_data data -- Use "lynx -help" to display a complete list of current options. DESCRIPTION Lynx is a fully-featured World Wide Web (WWW) client for users running cursor-addressable, character-cell display devices (e.g., vt100 terminals, vt100 emulators running on Windows or any POSIX platform, or any other "curses-oriented" display). It will display hypertext markup language (HTML) documents containing links to files residing on the local system, as well as files residing on remote systems running Gopher, HTTP, FTP, WAIS, and NNTP servers. Lynx has been ported to many systems, including all variants of Unix, Windows (since Windows 95), DOS DJGPP and OS/2, as well as VMS and OS/390. Lynx can be used to access information on the World Wide Web, or to build information systems intended primarily for local access. For example, Lynx has been used to build several Campus Wide Information Systems (CWIS). In addition, Lynx can be used to build systems isolated within a single LAN. OPTIONS At start up, Lynx will load any local file or remote URL specified at the command line. For help with URLs, press "?" or "H" while running Lynx. Then follow the link titled, "Help on URLs." If more than one local file or remote URL is listed on the command line, Lynx will open only the last interactively. All of the names (local files and remote URLs) are added to the G)oto history. Lynx uses only long option names. Option names can begin with double dash "--" as well, underscores and dashes can be intermixed in option names (in the reference below, options are shown with one dash "-" before them, and with underscores "_"). Lynx provides many command-line options. Some options require a value (string, number or keyword). These are noted in the reference below. The other options set boolean values in the program. There are three types of boolean options: set, unset and toggle. If no option value is given, these have the obvious meaning: set (to true), unset (to false), or toggle (between true/false). For any of these, an explicit value can be given in different forms to allow for operating system constraints, e.g., -center:off -center=off -center- Lynx recognizes "1", "+", "on" and "true" for true values, and "0", "-", "off" and "false" for false values. Other option-values are ignored. The default boolean, number and string option values that are compiled into Lynx are displayed in the help-message provided by lynx -help. Some of those may differ according to how Lynx was built; see the help message itself for these values. The -help option is processed in the third pass of options-processing, so any option which sets a value, as well as runtime configuration values are reflected in the help-message. - If the argument is only "-", then Lynx expects to receive the arguments from the standard input. This is to allow for the potentially very long command line that can be associated with the -get_data or -post_data arguments (see below). It can also be used to avoid having sensitive information in the invoking command line (which would be visible to other processes on most systems), especially when the -auth or -pauth options are used. -accept_all_cookies accept all cookies without prompting if Set-Cookie handling is on. The default is "off". -anonymous apply restrictions for anonymous account, see also -restrictions. -assume_charset=MIMEname charset for documents that do not specify it. -assume_local_charset=MIMEname charset assumed for local files, i.e., files which Lynx creates such as internal pages for the options menu. -assume_unrec_charset=MIMEname use this instead of unrecognized charsets. -auth=ID:PASSWD set authorization ID and password for protected documents at startup. Be sure to protect any script files which use this switch. -base prepend a request URL comment and BASE tag to text/html outputs for -source dumps. -bibhost=URL specify a local bibp server (default http://bibhost/). -blink forces high intensity background colors for color mode, if available and supported by the terminal. This applies to the slang library (for a few terminal emulators), or to OS/2 EMX with ncurses. -book use the bookmark page as the startfile. The default or command line startfile is still set for the Main screen command, and will be used if the bookmark page is unavailable or blank. The default is "off". -buried_news toggles scanning of news articles for buried references, and converts them to news links. Not recommended because email addresses enclosed in angle brackets will be converted to false news links, and uuencoded messages can be trashed. The default is "on". -cache=NUMBER set the NUMBER of documents cached in memory. The default is 10. -case enable case-sensitive string searching. The default is "off". -center toggles center alignment in HTML TABLE. Normally table cells are centered on the table grid. Set this option "on" to disable centering. The default is "off". -cfg=FILENAME specifies a Lynx configuration file other than the default lynx.cfg. -child exit on left-arrow in startfile, and disable save to disk and associated print/mail options. The default is "off". -child_relaxed exit on left-arrow in startfile, but allow save to disk and associated print/mail options. The default is "off". -cmd_log=FILENAME write keystroke commands and related information to the specified file. -cmd_script=FILENAME read keystroke commands from the specified file. You can use the data written using the -cmd_log option. Lynx will ignore other information which the command-logging may have written to the logfile. Each line of the command script contains either a comment beginning with "#", or a keyword: exit causes the script to stop, and forces Lynx to exit immediately. key the character value, in printable form. Cursor and other special keys are given as names, e.g., "Down Arrow". Printable 7-bit ASCII codes are given as-is, and hexadecimal values represent other 8-bit codes. set followed by a "name=value" allows one to override values set in the lynx.cfg or .lynxrc files. Lynx tries the cfg-file setting first. -collapse_br_tags toggles collapsing of BR tags. The default is "off". -color forces color mode on, if available. Default color control sequences which work for many terminal types are assumed if the terminal capability description does not specify how to handle color. Lynx accepts this flag only when built with the slang library. It is equivalent to setting the COLORTERM environment variable. If color support is provided by a color-capable curses library such as ncurses, Lynx relies completely on the terminal description to determine whether color mode is possible, and this flag is not needed and thus unavailable. A saved show_color=always setting found in a .lynxrc file at startup has the same effect. A saved show_color=never found in .lynxrc on startup is overridden by this flag. -connect_timeout=N Sets the connection timeout, where N is given in seconds. The default is 300. -convert_to=PARAM convert input, setting output format in MIME type notation (e.g., www/present, www/source), and optionally setting the current character set (i.e., adding ";" followed by charset=VALUE). -cookie_file=FILENAME specifies a file to use to read cookies. If none is specified, the default value is ~/.lynx_cookies for most systems, but ~/cookies for MS-DOS. -cookie_save_file=FILENAME specifies a file to use to store cookies. If none is specified, the value given by -cookie_file is used. -cookies toggles handling of Set-Cookie headers. The default is "on". -core toggles forced core dumps on fatal errors. Turn this option off to ask Lynx to force a core dump if a fatal error occurs. The default is "off". -crawl with -traversal, output each page to a file. with -dump, format output as with -traversal, but to the standard output. -curses_pads toggles the use of curses "pad" feature which supports left/right scrolling of the display. The default is "on". The feature is normally available for curses configurations, but inactive. To activate it, use the "|" character or the LINEWRAP_TOGGLE command. Toggling this option makes the feature altogether unavailable. -debug_partial separate incremental display stages with MessageSecs delay The default is "off". -default_colors toggles the default-colors feature which is normally set in the lynx.cfg file. The default is "on". -delay add DebugSecs delay after each progress-message. The default is 0. -display=DISPLAY set the $DISPLAY variable for X exec-ed programs. -display_charset=MIMEname set the charset for the terminal output. -dont_wrap_pre inhibit wrapping of text when -dump'ing and -crawl'ing, mark wrapped lines of 
 in interactive session.  The default is
              "off".

       -dump  dumps the formatted output of  the  default  document  or  those
              specified  on  the  command  line  to  standard  output.  Unlike
              interactive mode, all documents are processed.  This can be used
              in the following way:

                  lynx -dump https://lynx.invisible-island.net/

              Files specified on the command line are  formatted  as  HTML  if
              their  names  end  with one of the standard web suffixes such as
              ".htm" or ".html".  Use the -force_html option to  format  files
              whose names do not follow this convention.

       -editor=EDITOR
              enable  external  editing, using the specified EDITOR.  (vi, ed,
              emacs, etc.)

       -emacskeys
              enable emacs-like key movement.  The default is "off".

       -enable_scrollback
              toggles compatibility with  communication  programs'  scrollback
              keys  (may  be  incompatible  with  some  curses packages).  The
              default is "off".

       -error_file=FILE
              define a file where Lynx will report HTTP access codes.

       -exec  enable local program execution (normally not configured).

       -fileversions
              include all versions of files in local VMS directory listings.

       -find_leaks
              toggle memory leak-checking.  Normally this is not compiled-into
              your executable, but when it  is,  it  can  be  disabled  for  a
              session.

       -fail_on_alert
              exit  with  an  error code if any alert message is written.  The
              default is "off".

       -force_empty_hrefless_a
              force HREF-less "A" elements to be empty (close them as soon  as
              they are seen).  The default is "off".

       -force_html
              forces  the  first  document  to  be  interpreted  as HTML.  The
              default is "off".

              This option is most useful when processing  files  specified  on
              the  command  line  which  have  an  unrecognized suffix (or the
              suffix is associated with a non-HTML type, such  as  ".txt"  for
              plain text files).

              Lynx recognizes these file suffixes as HTML:

                  ".ht3",
                  ".htm",
                  ".html3",
                  ".html",
                  ".htmlx",
                  ".php3",
                  ".php",
                  ".phtml",
                  ".sht", and
                  ".shtml".

       -force_secure
              toggles forcing of the secure flag for SSL cookies.  The default
              is "off".

       -forms_options
              toggles  whether  the  Options  Menu is key-based or form-based.
              The default is "on".

       -from  toggles transmissions of From headers.  The default is "on".

       -ftp   disable ftp access.  The default is "off".

       -get_data
              properly formatted data  for  a  get  form  are  read  from  the
              standard input and passed to the form.  Input is terminated by a
              line that starts with "---".

              Lynx  issues  an  HTTP  GET, sending the form to the path or URL
              given on the command-line and prints the response of the server.
              If no path or URL is given, Lynx sends the form  to  the  start-
              page.

       -head  send a HEAD request for the mime headers.  The default is "off".

       -help  print the Lynx command syntax usage message, and exit.

       -hiddenlinks=[option]
              control the display of hidden links.

              merge
                 hidden  links  show  up as bracketed numbers and are numbered
                 together with other links in the sequence of their occurrence
                 in the document.

              listonly
                 hidden links are shown only on  L)ist  screens  and  listings
                 generated  by  -dump  or  from  the  P)rint  menu, but appear
                 separately at the end of those lists.  This  is  the  default
                 behavior.

              ignore
                 hidden links do not appear even in listings.

       -historical
              toggles  use  of ">" or "-->" as a terminator for comments.  The
              default is "off".

       -homepage=URL
              set homepage separate from start page.

       -html5_charset
              toggles use of HTML5 charset replacements.  HTML5 pretends  that
              CP1252 is the same as ISO-8859-1.  The default is "off".

       -image_links
              toggles  inclusion  of  links  for  all  images.  The default is
              "off".

       -index=URL
              set the default index file to the specified URL.

       -ismap toggles inclusion of  ISMAP  links  when  client-side  MAPs  are
              present.  The default is "off".

       -justify
              do justification of text.  The default is "off".

       -link=NUMBER
              starting  count  for  lnk#.dat  files  produced  by -crawl.  The
              default is 0.

       -list_decoded
              for -dump, show URL-encoded links decoded.  The default is "on".

              Lynx accepts URL-encoded links on the command line, and  decodes
              them  for  internal  use.   When printing URLs, it shows them in
              encoded form by  default.   Use  this  option  to  disable  that
              printed encoding.

       -list_inline
              for  -dump, show the links inline with the text.  The default is
              "off".

       -listonly
              for -dump, show only the list of links.  The default is "off".

       -localhost
              disable URLs that point to remote hosts.  The default is "off".

       -locexec
              enable local program execution from local files  only  (if  Lynx
              was  compiled  with  local  execution  enabled).  The default is
              "off".

       -lss=FILENAME
              specify  filename  containing  color-style   information.    The
              default is lynx.lss.  If you give an empty filename, Lynx uses a
              built-in  monochrome  scheme  which imitates the non-color-style
              configuration.

       -mime_header
              prints the MIME header of a  fetched  document  along  with  its
              source.

       -minimal
              toggles  minimal  versus  valid comment parsing.  The default is
              "on".

       -nested_tables
              toggles nested-tables logic (for  debugging).   The  default  is
              "on".

       -newschunksize=NUMBER
              number of articles in chunked news listings.

       -newsmaxchunk=NUMBER
              maximum news articles in listings before chunking.

       -nobold
              disable bold video-attribute.

       -nobrowse
              disable directory browsing.

       -nocc  disable Cc: prompts for self copies of mailings.  Note that this
              does  not disable any CCs which are incorporated within a mailto
              URL or form ACTION.

       -nocolor
              force color mode off, overriding terminal capabilities  and  any
              -color flags, COLORTERM variable, and saved .lynxrc settings.

       -noexec
              disable local program execution.  The default is "on".

       -nofilereferer
              disable  transmissions  of  Referer  headers for file URLs.  The
              default is "on".

       -nolist
              disable the link list feature in dumps.  The default is "off".

       -nolog disable mailing of  error  messages  to  document  owners.   The
              default is "on".

       -nomargins
              disable  left/right  margins  in  the  default style sheet.  The
              default is "off".

       -nomore
              disable -more- string in statusline messages.

       -nonrestarting_sigwinch
              This flag is not available on all  systems,  Lynx  needs  to  be
              compiled  with  HAVE_SIGACTION defined.  If available, this flag
              may cause Lynx to react more immediately to window changes  when
              run within an xterm.  The default is "off".

       -nonumbers
              disable    link-    and    field-numbering.     This   overrides
              -number_fields and -number_links.  The default is "off".

       -nopause
              disable forced pauses for statusline messages.  The  default  is
              "off".

       -noprint
              disable most print functions.  The default is "off".

       -noredir
              prevents  automatic redirection and prints a message with a link
              to the new URL.  The default is "off".

       -noreferer
              disable transmissions of Referer headers.  The default is "off".

       -noreverse
              disable reverse video-attribute.

       -nosocks
              disable SOCKS proxy usage by a SOCKSified Lynx.

       -nostatus
              disable the retrieval status messages.  The default is "off".

       -notitle
              disable title and blank line from top of page.  The  default  is
              "off".

       -nounderline
              disable underline video-attribute.

       -nozap=DURATION
              disables checks for "z" key initially if DURATION is "initially"
              or completely otherwise.

       -number_fields
              force  numbering  of  links  as  well  as  form input fields The
              default is "off".

       -number_links
              force numbering of links.  The default is "off".

       -partial
              toggles display partial pages while  loading.   The  default  is
              "on".

       -partial_thres=NUMBER
              number  of  lines  to  render  before  repainting  display  with
              partial-display logic

       -passive_ftp
              toggles passive ftp connections.  The default is "on".

       -pauth=ID:PASSWD
              set authorization ID and password for a protected  proxy  server
              at  startup.  Be sure to protect any script files which use this
              switch.

       -popup toggles handling  of  single-choice  SELECT  options  via  popup
              windows or as lists of radio buttons.  The default is "off".

       -post_data
              properly  formatted  data  for  a post form are read in from the
              standard input and passed to the form.  Input is terminated by a
              line that starts with "---".

              Lynx issues an HTTP POST, sending the form to the  path  or  URL
              given on the command-line and prints the response of the server.
              If  no  path  or URL is given, Lynx sends the form to the start-
              page.

       -preparsed
              show HTML  source  preparsed  and  reformatted  when  used  with
              -source  or  in  source  view to visualize how lynx behaves with
              invalid HTML.  The default is "off".

       -prettysrc
              show HTML source view with lexical elements and tags  in  color.
              The default is "off".

       -print enable  print  functions.   (default)  This  is  the opposite of
              -noprint.  The default is "on".

       -pseudo_inlines
              toggles pseudo-ALTs for inline images with no ALT  string.   The
              default is "on".

       -raw   toggles  default  setting of 8-bit character translations or CJK
              mode for the startup character set.  The default is "off".

       -realm restricts access to URLs in the starting realm.  The default  is
              "off".

       -read_timeout=N
              Sets the read-timeout, where N is given in seconds.  The default
              is 18000.

       -reload
              flushes  the  cache  on  a proxy server (only the first document
              given on the command-line is affected).  The default is "off".

       -restrictions=[option][,option][,option]...
              allows a list of services to be  disabled  selectively.   Dashes
              and   underscores  in  option  names  can  be  intermixed.   The
              following list is printed if no options are specified.

              all
                 restricts all options listed below.

              bookmark
                 disallow changing the location of the bookmark file.

              bookmark_exec
                 disallow execution links via the bookmark file.

              change_exec_perms
                 disallow changing the eXecute permission on files (but  still
                 allow  it  for  directories)  when  local  file management is
                 enabled.

              default
                 same as command line  option  -anonymous.   Disables  default
                 services  for anonymous users.  Set to all restricted, except
                 for:

                        inside_telnet, outside_telnet, inside_ftp,
                        outside_ftp, inside_rlogin, outside_rlogin,
                        inside_news, outside_news, telnet_port, jump, mail,
                        print, exec, and goto.

                 The  settings  for  these,  as  well   as   additional   goto
                 restrictions  for specific URL schemes that are also applied,
                 are derived from definitions within userdefs.h.

              dired_support
                 disallow local file management.

              disk_save
                 disallow saving to disk in the download and print menus.

              dotfiles
                 disallow access to, or creation of, hidden (dot) files.

              download
                 disallow some downloaders in  the  download  menu  (does  not
                 imply disk_save restriction).

              editor
                 disallow external editing.

              exec
                 disable execution scripts.

              exec_frozen
                 disallow the user from changing the local execution option.

              externals
                 disallow  some  "EXTERNAL" configuration lines if support for
                 passing  URLs  to  external  applications  (with  the  EXTERN
                 command) is compiled in.

              file_url
                 disallow  using  G)oto,  served  links or bookmarks for file:
                 URLs.

              goto
                 disable the "g" (goto) command.

              inside_ftp
                 disallow ftps for people coming from inside your domain (utmp
                 required for selectivity).

              inside_news
                 disallow USENET news posting for people  coming  from  inside
                 your domain (utmp required for selectivity).

              inside_rlogin
                 disallow  rlogins  for  people coming from inside your domain
                 (utmp required for selectivity).

              inside_telnet
                 disallow telnets for people coming from  inside  your  domain
                 (utmp required for selectivity).

              jump
                 disable the "j" (jump) command.

              multibook
                 disallow multiple bookmarks.

              mail
                 disallow mail.

              news_post
                 disallow USENET News posting.

              options_save
                 disallow saving options in .lynxrc.

              outside_ftp
                 disallow  ftps  for  people  coming  from outside your domain
                 (utmp required for selectivity).

              outside_news
                 disallow USENET news reading and posting  for  people  coming
                 from  outside  your  domain  (utmp required for selectivity).
                 This restriction applies to "news", "nntp",  "newspost",  and
                 "newsreply"   URLs,  but  not  to  "snews",  "snewspost",  or
                 "snewsreply" in case they are supported.

              outside_rlogin
                 disallow rlogins for people coming from outside  your  domain
                 (utmp required for selectivity).

              outside_telnet
                 disallow  telnets  for people coming from outside your domain
                 (utmp required for selectivity).

              print
                 disallow most print options.

              shell
                 disallow shell escapes and lynxexec or lynxprog G)oto's.

              suspend
                 disallow Unix Control-Z suspends with escape to shell.

              telnet_port
                 disallow specifying a port in telnet G)oto's.

              useragent
                 disallow modifications of the User-Agent header.

       -resubmit_posts
              toggles forced resubmissions (no-cache)  of  forms  with  method
              POST  when  the  documents  they  returned  are  sought with the
              PREV_DOC command or from  the  History  List.   The  default  is
              "off".

       -rlogin
              disable recognition of rlogin commands.  The default is "off".

       -scrollbar
              toggles showing scrollbar.  The default is "off".

       -scrollbar_arrow
              toggles showing arrows at ends of the scrollbar.  The default is
              "on".

       -selective
              require .www_browsable files to browse directories.

       -session=FILENAME
              resumes from specified file on startup and saves session to that
              file on exit.

       -sessionin=FILENAME
              resumes session from specified file.

       -sessionout=FILENAME
              saves session to specified file.

       -short_url
              show  very  long URLs in the status line with "..." to represent
              the portion which cannot be displayed.  The beginning and end of
              the URL are displayed, rather than  suppressing  the  end.   The
              default is "off".

       -show_cfg
              Print the configuration settings, e.g., as read from "lynx.cfg",
              and exit.  The default is "off".

       -show_cursor
              If  enabled  the  cursor  will  not  be hidden in the right hand
              corner but will instead  be  positioned  at  the  start  of  the
              currently selected link.  Show cursor is the default for systems
              without  FANCY_CURSES  capabilities.   The default configuration
              can be changed in userdefs.h  or  lynx.cfg.   The  command  line
              switch toggles the default.  The default is "on".

       -show_rate
              If  enabled  the  transfer  rate  is  shown in bytes/second.  If
              disabled, no transfer  rate  is  shown.   Use  lynx.cfg  or  the
              options  menu  to  select  KB/second and/or ETA.  The default is
              "on".

       -socks5_proxy=URL
              Tells lynx which SOCKS5  proxy  to  use  for  connections.   Any
              network  traffic,  including  all DNS resolutions except the one
              for URL itself, will be redirected through the SOCKS5 proxy.

              The URL may be given as

                  "proxy.example.com",
                  "proxy.example.com:1080",
                  "192.168.0.1", or
                  "192.168.0.1:1080"

              (and IPv6 notation if so supported).  A SOCKS5 proxy may also be
              specified  via  the  environment  variable  SOCKS5_PROXY.   This
              option  controls  the builtin SOCKS5 support, which is unrelated
              to the option -nosocks.

       -soft_dquotes
              toggles emulation of the  old  Netscape  and  Mosaic  bug  which
              treated  ">" as a co-terminator for double-quotes and tags.  The
              default is "off".

       -source
              works the same as  dump  but  outputs  HTML  source  instead  of
              formatted text.  For example

                  lynx -source . >foo.html

              generates   HTML   source  listing  the  files  in  the  current
              directory.  Each file is marked  by  an  HREF  relative  to  the
              parent  directory.   Add  a  trailing  slash  to make the HREF's
              relative to the current directory:

                  lynx -source ./ >foo.html

       -stack_dump
              disable SIGINT cleanup handler The default is "off".

       -startfile_ok
              allow non-http  startfile  and  homepage  with  -validate.   The
              default is "off".

       -stderr
              When  dumping  a  document using -dump or -source, Lynx normally
              does not display alert (error) messages  that  you  see  on  the
              screen  in the status line.  Use the -stderr option to tell Lynx
              to write these messages to the standard error.  The  default  is
              "off".

       -stdin read the startfile from standard input (UNIX only).  The default
              is "off".

       -syslog=text
              information for syslog call.

       -syslog_urls
              log requested URLs with syslog.  The default is "off".

       -tagsoup
              initialize  parser,  using  Tag  Soup DTD rather than SortaSGML.
              The default is "off".

       -telnet
              disable recognition of telnet commands.  The default is "off".

       -term=TERM
              tell Lynx what terminal type to assume it is talking to.   (This
              may  be  useful  for  remote  execution, when, for example, Lynx
              connects to a remote TCP/IP port that starts a script  that,  in
              turn, starts another Lynx process.)

       -timeout=N
              For  win32,  sets  the network read-timeout, where N is given in
              seconds.

       -tlog  toggles between using a Lynx Trace  Log  and  stderr  for  trace
              output from the session.  The default is "on".

       -tna   turns  on  "Textfields  Need  Activation"  mode.  The default is
              "off".

       -trace turns on Lynx trace mode.  Destination of trace  output  depends
              on -tlog.  The default is "off".

       -trace_mask=value
              turn  on  optional  traces, which may result in very large trace
              files.  Logically OR the values to combine options:

              1  SGML character parsing states

              2  color-style

              4  TRST (table layout)

              8  configuration (lynx.cfg, .lynxrc,  .lynx-keymaps,  mime.types
                 and mailcap contents)

              16 binary string copy/append, used in form data construction.

              32 cookies

              64 character sets

              128
                 GridText parsing

              256
                 timing

              512
                 detailed URL parsing

              The default is 0.

       -traversal
              traverse  all http links derived from startfile.  When used with
              -crawl, each link that begins with the same string as  startfile
              is output to a file, intended for indexing.

              See CRAWL.announce for more information.

       -trim_blank_lines
              toggles  trimming of trailing blank lines as well as the related
              trimming of blank lines while collapsing BR tags.   The  default
              is "on".

       -trim_input_fields
              trim input text/textarea fields in forms.  The default is "off".

       -underline_links
              toggles  use of underline/bold attribute for links.  The default
              is "off".

       -underscore
              toggles use of _underline_ format  in  dumps.   The  default  is
              "off".

       -unique_urls
              check  for duplicate link numbers in each page and corresponding
              lists, and reuse the  original  link  number.   The  default  is
              "off".

       -update_term_title
              enables  updating  the title in terminal emulators.  Use only if
              your terminal emulator supports that escape code.  Has no effect
              when used with -notitle.  The default is "off".

       -use_mouse
              turn on mouse support, if available.  The default is "off".

              o   Clicking the left mouse button on a link traverses it.

              o   Clicking the right mouse button pops back.

              o   Click on the top line to scroll up.

              o   Click on the bottom line to scroll down.

              o   The first few positions in  the  top  and  bottom  line  may
                  invoke additional functions.

              Lynx  must  be  compiled  with  ncurses or slang to support this
              feature.  If ncurses is used, clicking the middle  mouse  button
              pops  up  a  simple  menu.   Mouse clicks may only work reliably
              while Lynx is idle waiting for input.

       -useragent=Name
              set alternate Lynx User-Agent header.

       -validate
              accept only  http  URLs  (for  validation).   Complete  security
              restrictions also are implemented.

       -verbose
              toggle  [LINK],  [IMAGE] and [INLINE] comments with filenames of
              these images.  The default is "off".

       -version
              print version information, and exit.

       -vikeys
              enable vi-like key movement.  The default is "off".

       -wdebug
              enable Waterloo tcp/ip packet debug (print to  watt  debugfile).
              This  applies  only  to  DOS  versions  compiled  with WATTCP or
              WATT-32.

       -width=NUMBER
              number of columns for formatting of dumps, default is 80.   This
              is  limited  by  the  number of columns that Lynx could display,
              typically 1024 (the MAX_LINE symbol).

       -with_backspaces
              emit backspaces in output if -dump'ing or -crawl'ing  (like  man
              does).  The default is "off".

       -xhtml_parsing
              tells Lynx that it can ignore certain tags which have no content
              in an XHTML 1.0 document.  For example "
" will be discarded.
              The default is "off".

COMMANDS
       More  than  one key can be mapped to a given command.  Here are some of
       the most useful:

       o   Use Up arrow and Down arrow to scroll through hypertext links.

       o   Right arrow or Return will follow a highlighted hypertext link.

       o   Left Arrow or "u" will retreat from a link.

       o   Type "H", "?", or F1 for online help and descriptions of key-stroke
           commands.

       o   Type "k" or "K" for  a  list  of  the  current  key-stroke  command
           mappings.

           If  the same command is mapped to the same letter differing only by
           upper/lowercase only the lowercase mapping is shown.

       o   Type Delete to view history list.

ENVIRONMENT
       In  addition  to  various  "standard"  environment  variables  such  as
       DISPLAY,  HOME,  PATH, SHELL, TMPDIR, USER, etc., Lynx utilizes several
       Lynx-specific environment variables, if they exist.

       Others may be created or modified by Lynx to pass data to  an  external
       program, or for other reasons.  These are listed separately below.

       See  also  the  sections  on  SIMULATED CGI SUPPORT and NATIVE LANGUAGE
       SUPPORT, below.

       Note:  Not all environment variables apply to all  types  of  platforms
       supported  by  Lynx, though most do.  Feedback on platform dependencies
       is solicited.

       Environment Variables Used By Lynx:

       COLORTERM           If set, color capability for the terminal is forced
                           on at startup time.  The actual value  assigned  to
                           the  variable  is  ignored.   This variable is only
                           meaningful  if  Lynx  was  built  using  the  slang
                           screen-handling library.

       LYNX_CFG            This  variable,  if  set, will override the default
                           location and name of the global configuration  file
                           (normally,   lynx.cfg)  that  was  defined  by  the
                           LYNX_CFG_FILE  constant  in  the  userdefs.h  file,
                           during installation.

                           See the userdefs.h file for more information.

       LYNX_CFG_PATH       If  set,  this  variable  overrides the compiled-in
                           search-list  of  directories  used  to   find   the
                           configuration  files,  e.g., lynx.cfg and lynx.lss.
                           The list is delimited with ":" (or ";" for Windows)
                           like the PATH environment variable.

       LYNX_HELPFILE       If set, this variable overrides the compiled-in URL
                           and configuration file URL for the Lynx help file.

       LYNX_LOCALEDIR      If set, this  variable  overrides  the  compiled-in
                           location  of  the  locale  directory which contains
                           native language (NLS) message text.

       LYNX_LSS            This variable, if set, specifies  the  location  of
                           the   default  Lynx  character  style  sheet  file.
                           [Currently only meaningful if Lynx was built  using
                           curses color style support.]

       LYNX_SAVE_SPACE     This  variable,  if  set, will override the default
                           path prefix for files saved to disk that is defined
                           in the lynx.cfg SAVE_SPACE: statement.

                           See the lynx.cfg file for more information.

       LYNX_TEMP_SPACE     This variable, if set, will  override  the  default
                           path  prefix  for  temporary files that was defined
                           during installation, as well as any value that  may
                           be assigned to the TMPDIR variable.

       MAIL                This variable specifies the default inbox Lynx will
                           check  for new mail, if such checking is enabled in
                           the lynx.cfg file.

       NEWS_ORGANIZATION   This variable, if set, provides the string used  in
                           the  Organization:  header of USENET news postings.
                           It will override the setting  of  the  ORGANIZATION
                           environment  variable,  if  it is also set (and, on
                           UNIX, the contents of an /etc/organization file, if
                           present).

       NNTPSERVER          If set, this variable specifies  the  default  NNTP
                           server  that  will  be used for USENET news reading
                           and posting with Lynx, via news: URL's.

       ORGANIZATION        This variable, if set, provides the string used  in
                           the  Organization:  header of USENET news postings.
                           On UNIX,  it  will  override  the  contents  of  an
                           /etc/organization file, if present.

       PROTOCOL_proxy      Lynx supports the use of proxy servers that can act
                           as firewall gateways and caching servers.  They are
                           preferable   to  the  older  gateway  servers  (see
                           WWW_access_GATEWAY, below).

                           Each protocol used by  Lynx,  (http,  ftp,  gopher,
                           etc),   can   be   mapped   separately  by  setting
                           environment variables of the  form  PROTOCOL_proxy.
                           Protocols are indicated in a URI by the name before
                           ":", e.g., "http" in "http://some.server.dom:port/"
                           for HTML.

                           Depending   on   your   system   configuration  and
                           supported  protocols,  the  environment   variables
                           recognized by lynx may include

                               cso_proxy
                               finger_proxy
                               ftp_proxy
                               gopher_proxy
                               http_proxy
                               https_proxy
                               news_proxy
                               newspost_proxy
                               newsreply_proxy
                               nntp_proxy
                               no_proxy
                               rlogin_proxy
                               snews_proxy
                               snewspost_proxy
                               snewsreply_proxy
                               telnet_proxy
                               tn3270_proxy
                               wais_proxy

                           See  Lynx  Users  Guide  for additional details and
                           examples.

       RL_CLCOPY_CMD       Pipe the contents of the current  link  using  this
                           command as the target.

       RL_PASTE_CMD        Open  a  pipe to read from this command, pasting it
                           into the current editable-field or command-prompt.

       SOCKS5_PROXY        Is inspected if -socks5_proxy  has  not  been  used
                           (for the same content).

       SSL_CERT_DIR        Set    to    the   directory   containing   trusted
                           certificates.

       SSL_CERT_FILE       Set to the full path and filename for your file  of
                           trusted certificates.

       WWW_access_GATEWAY  Lynx  still  supports  use of gateway servers, with
                           the  servers  specified  via   "WWW_access_GATEWAY"
                           variables  (where "access" is lower case and can be
                           "http", "ftp", "gopher" or "wais").   However  most
                           gateway  servers have been discontinued.  Note that
                           you do not include a terminal "/" for gateways, but
                           do  for   proxies   specified   by   PROTOCOL_proxy
                           environment variables.

                           See Lynx Users Guide for details.

       WWW_HOME            This  variable,  if  set, will override the default
                           startup  URL  specified  in   any   of   the   Lynx
                           configuration files.

       Environment Variables Set or Modified By Lynx:

       LYNX_PRINT_DATE     This  variable is set by the Lynx p(rint) function,
                           to  the  Date:  string  seen  in   the   document's
                           "Information  about"  page  (= cmd), if any.  It is
                           created for use by an external program, as  defined
                           in  a  lynx.cfg  PRINTER: definition statement.  If
                           the field does not  exist  for  the  document,  the
                           variable is set to a null string under UNIX, or "No
                           Date" under VMS.

       LYNX_PRINT_LASTMOD  This  variable is set by the Lynx p(rint) function,
                           to the Last Mod:  string  seen  in  the  document's
                           "Information  about"  page  (= cmd), if any.  It is
                           created for use by an external program, as  defined
                           in  a  lynx.cfg  PRINTER: definition statement.  If
                           the field does not  exist  for  the  document,  the
                           variable is set to a null string under UNIX, or "No
                           LastMod" under VMS.

       LYNX_PRINT_TITLE    This  variable is set by the Lynx p(rint) function,
                           to the Linkname:  string  seen  in  the  document's
                           "Information  about"  page  (= cmd), if any.  It is
                           created for use by an external program, as  defined
                           in  a  lynx.cfg  PRINTER: definition statement.  If
                           the field does not  exist  for  the  document,  the
                           variable is set to a null string under UNIX, or "No
                           Title" under VMS.

       LYNX_PRINT_URL      This  variable is set by the Lynx p(rint) function,
                           to  the  URL:  string  seen   in   the   document's
                           "Information  about"  page  (= cmd), if any.  It is
                           created for use by an external program, as  defined
                           in  a  lynx.cfg  PRINTER: definition statement.  If
                           the field does not  exist  for  the  document,  the
                           variable is set to a null string under UNIX, or "No
                           URL" under VMS.

       LYNX_TRACE          If set, causes Lynx to write a trace file as if the
                           -trace option were supplied.

       LYNX_TRACE_FILE     If set, overrides the compiled-in name of the trace
                           file,  which  is  either Lynx.trace or LY-TRACE.LOG
                           (the latter on  the  DOS/Windows  platforms).   The
                           trace  file  is in either case relative to the home
                           directory.

       LYNX_VERSION        This variable is always set by  Lynx,  and  may  be
                           used  by an external program to determine if it was
                           invoked by Lynx.

                           See also the comments in the distribution's  sample
                           mailcap file, for notes on usage in such a file.

       TERM                Normally,   this   variable  is  used  by  Lynx  to
                           determine the terminal type being  used  to  invoke
                           Lynx.  If, however, it is unset at startup time (or
                           has  the value "unknown"), or if the -term command-
                           line option is used (see  OPTIONS  section  above),
                           Lynx  will  set  or  modify  its  value to the user
                           specified terminal type  (for  the  Lynx  execution
                           environment).   Note:  If set/modified by Lynx, the
                           values of  the  LINES  and/or  COLUMNS  environment
                           variables may also be changed.

   Simulated CGI Support
       If built with the cgi-links option enabled, Lynx allows access to a cgi
       script directly without the need for an http daemon.

       When  executing  such  "lynxcgi  scripts"  (if  enabled), the following
       variables may be set for simulating a CGI environment:

       CONTENT_LENGTH

       CONTENT_TYPE

       DOCUMENT_ROOT

       HTTP_ACCEPT_CHARSET

       HTTP_ACCEPT_LANGUAGE

       HTTP_USER_AGENT

       PATH_INFO

       PATH_TRANSLATED

       QUERY_STRING

       REMOTE_ADDR

       REMOTE_HOST

       REQUEST_METHOD

       SERVER_SOFTWARE

       Other environment variables are not inherited  by  the  script,  unless
       they   are   provided   via  a  LYNXCGI_ENVIRONMENT  statement  in  the
       configuration file.  See the lynx.cfg file, and  the  (draft)  CGI  1.1
       Specification 
       for the definition and usage of these variables.

       The  CGI  Specification,  and other associated documentation, should be
       consulted for general information on CGI script programming.

   Native Language Support
       If configured and installed with Native  Language  Support,  Lynx  will
       display status and other messages in your local language.  See the file
       ABOUT_NLS  in  the  source distribution, or at your local GNU site, for
       more information about internationalization.

       The following environment  variables  may  be  used  to  alter  default
       settings:

       LANG                This  variable,  if  set, will override the default
                           message language.  It is an ISO 639 two-letter code
                           identifying the language.  Language codes  are  NOT
                           the same as the country codes given in ISO 3166.

       LANGUAGE            This  variable,  if  set, will override the default
                           message language.  This is a GNU extension that has
                           higher priority for  setting  the  message  catalog
                           than LANG or LC_ALL.

       LC_ALL              and

       LC_MESSAGES         These  variables,  if  set,  specify  the notion of
                           native language formatting style.  They are POSIXly
                           correct.

       LINGUAS             This  variable,  if  set  prior  to  configuration,
                           limits  the installed languages to specific values.
                           It is a space-separated list of  two-letter  codes.
                           Currently, it is hard-coded to a wish list.

       NLSPATH             This  variable,  if set, is used as the path prefix
                           for message catalogs.

NOTES
   Mailing Lists
       If you wish to contribute to the further development of Lynx, subscribe
       to our mailing list.  Send email to   with
       "subscribe lynx-dev" as the only line in the body of your message.

       Send  bug reports, comments, suggestions to  after
       subscribing.

       Unsubscribe by  sending  email  to    with
       "unsubscribe  lynx-dev"  as  the only line in the body of your message.
       Do not send the unsubscribe message to the lynx-dev list, itself.

   Acknowledgments
       Lynx has incorporated code from a variety of  sources  along  the  way.
       The  earliest  versions  of  Lynx  included  code  from  Earl  Fogel of
       Computing Services at the University of Saskatchewan,  who  implemented
       HYPERREZ  in  the  Unix  environment.   HYPERREZ  was developed by Niel
       Larson of Think.com and served as the model for the early  versions  of
       Lynx.   Those versions also incorporated libraries from the Unix Gopher
       clients developed  at  the  University  of  Minnesota,  and  the  later
       versions  of  Lynx rely on the WWW client library code developed by Tim
       Berners-Lee and the WWW community.  Also a  special  thanks  to  Foteos
       Macrides  who  ported  much of Lynx to VMS and did or organized most of
       its development since the departures of Lou Montulli and Garrett Blythe
       from the University of Kansas in the summer of 1994 through the release
       of v2.7.2, and to everyone on the net who  has  contributed  to  Lynx's
       development  either directly (through patches, comments or bug reports)
       or indirectly (through inspiration and development of other systems).

AUTHORS
       Lou Montulli, Garrett Blythe, Craig Lavender,  Michael  Grobe,  Charles
       Rezac
       Academic Computing Services
       University of Kansas
       Lawrence, Kansas 66047

       Foteos Macrides
       Worcester Foundation for Biomedical Research
       Shrewsbury, Massachusetts 01545

       Thomas E. Dickey
       

SEE ALSO
       catgets(3), curses(3), environ(7), ftp(1), gettext(GNU), localeconv(3),
       ncurses(3), setlocale(3), termcap(5), terminfo(5)

Lynx 2.9.3                        2026-05-26                           LYNX(1)