---
syntax: markdown
tags: [tldr, common]
source: https://github.com/tldr-pages/tldr.git
---
# xargs

> Execute a command with piped arguments coming from another command, a file, etc.
> The input is treated as a single block of text and split into separate pieces on spaces, tabs, newlines, and end-of-file.
> More information: <https://www.gnu.org/software/findutils/manual/html_mono/find.html#Invoking-xargs>.

- Run a command using the input data as arguments:

`{{arguments_source}} | xargs {{command}}`

- Run multiple chained commands on the input data:

`{{arguments_source}} | xargs sh -c "{{command1}} && {{command2}} | {{command3}}"`

- Gzip all files with `.log` extension taking advantage of multiple threads (`-print0` uses a null character to split file names and `--null` uses it as delimiter):

`find . -name '*.log' -print0 | xargs {{[-0|--null]}} {{[-P|--max-procs]}} {{4}} {{[-n|--max-args]}} 1 gzip`

- Execute the command once per argument:

`{{arguments_source}} | xargs {{[-n|--max-args]}} 1 {{command}}`

- Execute the command once for each input line, replacing any occurrences of the placeholder (here marked as `_`) with the input line:

`{{arguments_source}} | xargs -I _ {{command}} _ {{optional_extra_arguments}}`

- Parallel runs of up to `max-procs` processes at a time; the default is 1. If `max-procs` is 0, xargs will run as many processes as possible at a time:

`{{arguments_source}} | xargs {{[-P|--max-procs]}} {{max-procs}} {{command}}`

- Prompt user for confirmation before executing command (confirm with `y` or `Y`):

`{{arguments_source}} | xargs {{[-p|--interactive]}} {{command}}`
