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All apps/Universal Ctags

Universal Ctags

ctags

Generate an index (or tag) file of language objects found in source files.

Runs as ctags|macOS, Linux, Windows|ctags.io

Open form in Otty otty.toml

Sync rules

What travels, what stays, what never leaves

Universal Ctags in your home directory Every rule on this page, by file

· ~/.config/ctags/ Sync

· ~/.ctags.d/ Sync

· ~/ctags.d/ Sync

· ~/.ctags Sync

Only what the catalog names. A directory that syncs brings everything inside it except what is listed as excluded here.

apps/ctags/otty.tomlThe file this page is generated from

id = "ctags"

name = "Universal Ctags"

homepage = "https://ctags.io/"

description = "Generate an index (or tag) file of language objects found in source files."

# The green tag mark the Universal Ctags organisation uses as its avatar;

# the project publishes no separate logo file.

icon = "https://github.com/universal-ctags.png"

executables = ["ctags"]

[dotfiles]

# https://docs.ctags.io/en/latest/option-file.html: "At start-up time, ctags

# loads files having .ctags as a file extension under the following statically

# defined directories:

# 1. $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/ctags/, or $HOME/.config/ctags/ if $XDG_CONFIG_HOME is

# not defined

# 2. $HOME/.ctags.d/

# 3. $HOMEDRIVE$HOMEPATH/ctags.d/ (on Windows)"

# The first reads the variable itself, so it is [configHome]. The other two are

# home-directory directories; $HOMEDRIVE$HOMEPATH is the Windows user profile,

# which resolves to the same place as ~. The remaining two entries on that list,

# ./.ctags.d/ and ./ctags.d/, are per-project and not user level.

# The same page says Universal Ctags "doesn't load any of the files Exuberant

# Ctags loads at start-up", so ~/.ctags is Exuberant Ctags' file — its man page

# (https://ctags.sourceforge.net/ctags.html, FILES) lists $HOME/.ctags — and it

# is here because on many machines the binary called `ctags` is still Exuberant.

paths = [

"[configHome]/ctags/",

"~/.ctags.d/",

"~/ctags.d/",

"~/.ctags",

]

# ctags writes nothing back into these directories; the tags file it produces

# goes wherever the user asked for it.

secret = []

# ctags reads these files once per run and exits, so rewriting one between runs

# cannot disturb anything.

side_effect = false

# No machine_lines: these files hold --langdef, --regex-<LANG> and --exclude

# options, which are the definitions a user wants on every machine. An

# --options=/absolute/path line exists but is rare, and a prefix rule on

# "--options" would strand the common relative form with it.

[commands]

format = 1

features = ["standard_streams"]

label = "Generate tags"

description = "Index source files into a tags file with Universal Ctags. Per-language kinds, fields and extras, regex parsers and option files are left out."

quality = "ai-draft"

parser = { end_of_options = "--", interleave = "permute", long_equals = true, short_attached = true, short_bundles = true }

[[commands.source]]

id = "manual"

kind = "manual"

url = "https://docs.ctags.io/en/latest/man/ctags.1.html"

revision = "2026-10-27"

evidence = """

``--exclude=<pattern>``

``--recurse[=(yes|no)]``

``-R``

Equivalent to ``--recurse``.

``-L <file>``

``--append[=(yes|no)]``

``-a``

Equivalent to ``--append``.

``-f <tagfile>``

``--output-format=(u-ctags|e-ctags|etags|xref|json)``

``--sort=(yes|no|foldcase)``

``--languages=[+|-](<list>|all)``

"""

[[commands.field]]

id = "files"

label = "Files or directories"

description = "With Recurse on and nothing listed, the current directory is indexed."

type = "path"

position = 0

multiple = true

path = { kind = "any", role = "input" }

sources = ["manual"]

[[commands.field]]

id = "recurse"

label = "Recurse into directories"

type = "boolean"

option = ["--recurse", "-R"]

sources = ["manual"]

[[commands.field]]

id = "output"

label = "Tag file"

description = "Defaults to tags; - writes to standard output."

type = "path"

option = ["-f"]

path = { kind = "file", role = "output", must_exist = false, standard_stream = true }

effect = "overwrite"

sources = ["manual"]

[[commands.field]]

id = "append"

label = "Append to existing tag file"

type = "boolean"

option = ["--append", "-a"]

sources = ["manual"]

[[commands.field]]

id = "exclude"

label = "Exclude pattern"

type = "string"

option = ["--exclude"]

multiple = true

sources = ["manual"]

[[commands.field]]

id = "languages"

label = "Languages"

description = "Comma-separated list, or all."

type = "string"

option = ["--languages"]

sources = ["manual"]

[[commands.field]]

id = "sort"

label = "Sort tags"

type = "enum"

option = ["--sort"]

choices = [{ value = "yes", label = "Yes" }, { value = "no", label = "No" }, { value = "foldcase", label = "Case-folded" }]

sources = ["manual"]

[[commands.field]]

id = "output_format"

label = "Output format"

type = "enum"

option = ["--output-format"]

choices = [{ value = "u-ctags", label = "u-ctags" }, { value = "e-ctags", label = "e-ctags" }, { value = "etags", label = "etags" }, { value = "xref", label = "xref" }, { value = "json", label = "JSON" }]

sources = ["manual"]

[[commands.field]]

id = "file_list"

label = "File list"

description = "Read the names of files to index from a file; - reads standard input."

type = "path"

option = ["-L"]

path = { kind = "file", role = "input", standard_stream = true }

sources = ["manual"]

[[commands.task]]

id = "project"

label = "Index this project"

fields = ["files", "recurse", "exclude", "languages"]

required = []

set = { recurse = [true] }

[[commands.task]]

id = "json"

label = "Print JSON to stdout"

fields = ["files", "recurse", "exclude"]

required = []

set = { recurse = [true], output = ["-"], output_format = ["json"] }

lock = ["output", "output_format"]

[[commands.group]]

id = "basic"

label = "Basic"

fields = ["files", "recurse", "output", "exclude", "languages"]

[[commands.group]]

id = "advanced"

label = "Advanced"

fields = ["append", "sort", "output_format", "file_list"]

Use it with your dotfile manager

Same data, in the shape your tool already reads

Opens Otty and adds this tool to what it syncs

Opens otty://sync/add/ctags. Otty ships with this catalog, so the link only has to name the tool — nothing is downloaded.

Every one of these is generated from the same rules as this page.