llmess

Some files end too early. Some files don't contain what you're looking for.

llmess is a less pager that addresses both issues:

• When you scroll past the end of a file, an LLM generates more content.
• When you search for a term that doesn't exist, the LLM generates content containing it.

Works with any model supported by the llm CLI.

Installation

Prerequisites

You need the llm CLI tool installed and configured:

# Install llm
pipx install llm

# Install plugins for your preferred provider
llm install llm-openrouter  # or llm-claude, llm-ollama, etc.

# Configure API keys and default model
llm keys set openrouter
llm models default openrouter/meta-llama/llama-3.1-405b

Install llmess

pipx install llmess

Or with pip:

pip install llmess

Note: llmess calls llm via subprocess, so it uses whatever llm is on your PATH. Your plugins and configuration are preserved.

Usage

llmess myfile.txt                    # View a file
llmess -m gpt-4o myfile.txt          # Use a specific model
llmess -B myfile.txt                 # Base mode: no system prompt
cat file.txt | llmess                # Read from stdin

Options

Environment Variables

# In ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc
export LLMESS="-S -P"          # stealth + prefetch by default
export LLMESS_MODEL="openrouter/meta-llama/llama-3.1-405b"

Priority: CLI flags > LLMESS > LLMESS_MODEL/LLMESS_OPTIONS > built-in defaults.

Controls

When you reach the bottom, scrolling down triggers LLM generation.

Search

Press / to search. Matches are highlighted.

If the term isn't found, llmess generates content containing it:

echo "Hello world" | llmess
# Press /password<Enter>
# → Generates content containing "password", jumps to match

This requires a system prompt (the default). With -B (base mode), search behaves normally.

Base Models vs. Instruct Models

By default, llmess sends a system prompt instructing the model to continue text without commentary. This works well with instruct models and is ignored by base models.

Base models continue text naturally. Use -B to skip the system prompt:

llmess -B -m openrouter/meta-llama/llama-3.1-405b myfile.txt

Search-triggered generation is not available with base models since they don't follow instructions.

Instruct models work out of the box. Use -s "custom prompt" to override the default:

llmess -s "Continue this text exactly. No commentary." myfile.txt

Any model supported by llm works, including local models via Ollama.

Modes

Stealth Mode

With -S, llmess mimics the appearance of less:

• Status bar shows filename lines 1-24 50% format
• No [GENERATING...] indicator
• Shows (END) at bottom

Prefetch Mode

With -P, llmess generates content ahead of where you're reading:

llmess -P file.txt       # Prefetch 2 screens ahead
llmess -P 5 file.txt     # Prefetch 5 screens ahead

Real-Then-Fake Mode

Show real file content first, then generate continuations:

llmess --real-lines 50 ~/.bashrc    # First 50 lines are real
llmess --real-screen config.yaml    # First screenful is real

Prank Installation

llmess --install-prank

Outputs a shell function that wraps less with llmess. Add it to the target's shell config.

The wrapper uses stealth mode, shows real content first, prefetches in background, and falls back to real less for piped output.

License

MIT