atool

Archival front-end.

Runs as atool, aunpack, apack, als, acat, adiff, arepack|macOS, Linux, Windows|savannah.nongnu.org

Command form

ai-draft · 3 tasks · 10 fields

List, extract or create archives with atool, which picks the right archiver by file extension. Archive-specific format options are left out.

Opens the form; the finished command lands at your prompt, unrun

Run in Otty

otty gui atool

Work with archivesExample values, fixed in this page — nothing here reaches a terminal

Basic

List contents set by task

--list

Archive and files*

any

Advanced

Force archive format

string

TasksEach one presets the form for one job

List archive contents

listfilesformat

Extract archive

extractfilesextract_tosubdirforce

Create archive

addfilesformatforce

ParametersOnly these flags are editable in the form

List contents

boolean

--list-l

Extract

boolean

--extract-x

Create / add to archive

The first positional argument is then the archive to create.
boolean

--add-a

Archive and files

Archives to list or extract; for create, the new archive followed by the files to add.
path · positional 0 · repeatable

Extract into directory

path

--extract-to-X

Always extract into a subdirectory

boolean

--subdir-D

Force archive format

File extension, for example tar.gz.
string

--format-F

Overwrite existing files

boolean

--force-f

Simulate only

boolean

--simulate-S

Quiet

boolean

--quiet-q

SourcesEvery flag above is checked against these

man

-l, --list -x, --extract -X, --extract-to=PATH -a, --add -c, --cat -F, --format=EXTENSION -S, --simulate -f, --force -D, --subdir -q, --quiet -v, --verbose

manual2026-10-27

man.archlinux.org

Before it fills your prompt, Otty checks the installed atool against its version. A form that does not match your version is not offered.