archey

Show system information

$ archey

archey [-d | --debug] [-q | --quiet]

-d
    Enable debug mode, displaying additional diagnostic information for troubleshooting.

--debug
    Equivalent to -d, enable debug mode.

-q
    Suppress non-critical errors, running in quiet mode without displaying warnings.

--quiet
    Equivalent to -q, suppress non-critical errors.

Archey is a command-line utility designed to display various system details in a compact and visually appealing format, often incorporating the distribution's ASCII art logo. It typically outputs information such as the operating system and kernel version, system uptime, package count, desktop environment or window manager, CPU and GPU specifics, and RAM usage. Its primary appeal lies in its clean, structured output, making it a popular choice among Linux enthusiasts for showcasing their system configurations in terminal screenshots or streams. While there have been different implementations (e.g., original shell script, Python-based archey3), the core functionality of presenting system information in an aesthetic ASCII art manner remains consistent.

The accuracy and comprehensiveness of archey's output depend on the underlying system tools and configuration (e.g., procfs, lsb_release, package managers like apt or pacman).
It is not always pre-installed on all Linux distributions and often requires manual installation.
Various forks and versions exist, which may lead to slight differences in features or output compared to the most common archey3 implementation.
The command is primarily for aesthetic display and not for in-depth system monitoring or troubleshooting.

The most common version, archey3, is typically installed via pip (Python's package installer) by running pip install archey3 in the terminal. Some Linux distributions or community repositories (like AUR for Arch Linux) might offer a pre-packaged version. Ensure Python and pip are installed on your system before attempting installation.

Users frequently add the archey command to their shell's startup file (e.g., .bashrc for Bash, .zshrc for Zsh) so that it runs automatically every time a new terminal session is opened. This provides an instant, visually appealing summary of the system upon launching a terminal. For example, simply adding the line archey to the end of your ~/.bashrc file will execute it upon terminal launch.

archey originated as a simple shell script by Tyler Miller, pioneering the visually distinct 'fetch' style of system information display in the terminal. Its innovative approach quickly gained popularity, especially within the Linux 'ricing' community, where users customize their desktop environments for aesthetic appeal. Over time, numerous forks and reimplementations emerged, with archey3 (a Python-based version) becoming widely adopted due to its improved portability and maintainability across various distributions. Although later tools like neofetch expanded upon its features and gained more widespread popularity, archey remains a significant historical precursor, establishing a trend for elegant and concise system information displays.

neofetch(1), screenfetch(1), htop(1), uname(1), lsb_release(1)