cat - Show file content from the image

Display the contents of a file from the session image.

Examples

# View a text file
contree cat /etc/os-release

# Pipe to another command
contree cat /var/log/app.log | grep ERROR

# Redirect to a local file
contree cat /etc/nginx/nginx.conf > nginx.conf

Help output

$ contree cat --help usage: contree cat [-h] path Show file content from the session image. Downloads and displays a file from the current session image via the /inspect/ API without spawning an instance. Binary files are refused when stdout is a terminal — use shell redirection or `contree cp` to save them locally. Results are cached per (image, path) so repeated reads are instant. positional arguments:   path        Path inside image options:   -h, --help  show this help message and exit for coding agents:   read-only command (inspect API, no instance spawn)   binary output is blocked on interactive TTY; pipe or use cp for binaries   --format is ignored; output is raw file content agent note:   Before using this command in an automated workflow, read:     contree agent

Behavior

The file is read directly from the image – no sandbox is started.

Binary files are detected and refused when output is a terminal (to protect your shell). Redirect to a file or pipe to another command to handle binary content:

contree cat /usr/bin/curl > curl

For downloading files to a specific local path, use cp - Download a file from the image instead.

See also