tqdm

Add progress bars to command pipelines

TLDR

Add progress bar to pipeline

$ cat [file] | tqdm --bytes | wc -l

With estimated total

$ cat [file] | tqdm --total [1000] | process

Custom unit

$ cat [files] | tqdm --unit files | process

Write to file

$ cat [input] | tqdm > [output]

With description

$ seq [100] | tqdm --desc "[Processing]" | process

SYNOPSIS

tqdm [--total n] [--unit name] [--desc text] [options]

tqdm (from Arabic "taqaddum" meaning progress) adds progress bars to command-line pipelines by wrapping standard input/output streams. It displays real-time statistics including iteration speed, elapsed time, and estimated time remaining.The tool works as both a CLI pipe wrapper and a Python library. In CLI mode, it counts lines or bytes passing through and renders a visual progress bar on stderr. When --total is specified, it shows a percentage-based progress bar; otherwise it displays a simple counter with speed estimation.

PARAMETERS

--total N

Expected iterations.

--unit NAME

Unit name.

--desc TEXT

Description prefix.

--bytes

Byte counting mode.

--null

Use null character as line separator.

--ncols N

Width of the progress bar output.

--ascii

Use ASCII characters for the progress bar instead of unicode.

--colour COLOUR

Progress bar colour (e.g., red, green, #00ff00).

--mininterval SECONDS

Minimum display update interval (default: 0.1).

CAVEATS

Python required. stderr output. May slow pipelines slightly.

HISTORY

tqdm (from Arabic for "progress") was created as a fast, extensible progress bar for Python and CLI.