hilite ☆

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Description:
CLI tool that runs a command and highlights STDERR output

Type: Formula | Tracked Since: Dec 28, 2025

Links: Homepage | formulae.brew.sh

Category: Developer tools

Tags: cli highlighting developer-tools logging utilities

Install: brew install hilite

About:
Hilite is a command-line utility that executes other programs and applies syntax highlighting to any text sent to standard error (STDERR). This makes it significantly easier to spot errors, warnings, and diagnostic messages in verbose build logs or complex command outputs. It serves as a visual aid for developers and system administrators who need to quickly differentiate error streams from standard output.

Key Features:

Pipes command execution and highlights STDERR in real-time
Preserves original command exit codes and signals
Configurable color schemes and ANSI escape code support
Lightweight wrapper with no dependencies on specific shells

Use Cases:

Highlighting compiler errors and warnings during software builds
Making log parsing easier by visually separating error messages
Monitoring long-running scripts for critical failures

Alternatives:

grc – Generic Colouriser is more comprehensive, supporting predefined configs for many commands, whereas Hilite focuses strictly on generic STDERR highlighting.
multitail – Designed for monitoring multiple log files in real-time, while Hilite is a simpler wrapper for single command execution.

Version History

Detected	Version	Rev	Change	Commit
Sep 13, 2024 9:13pm		0	VERSION_BUMP	9d780e2d