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XDG-MIME(1)			 xdg-mime Manual		     XDG-MIME(1)

NAME
     xdg-mime  - command line tool for querying information about file type han-
     dling and adding descriptions for new file types

SYNOPSIS
     xdg-mime query {filetype FILE | default mimetype}

     xdg-mime default application mimetype(s)

     xdg-mime install [--mode mode] [--novendor] mimetypes-file

     xdg-mime uninstall [--mode mode] mimetypes-file

     xdg-mime {--help | --manual | --version}

DESCRIPTION
     The xdg-mime program can be used to query information about file types  and
     to add descriptions for new file types.

COMMANDS
     query file
	 Returns the file type of FILE in the form of a MIME type.

	 Please  note  that  FILE names starting with a - will be rejected, this
	 can be mitigated:

	 *   Pass absolute paths, i.e. by using realpath as a preprocessor.

	 *   Prefix known relative filepaths with a "./". For example using  sed
	     -E 's|^[^/]|./\0|' as a preprocessor.

	 The  query  file option is for use inside a desktop session only. It is
	 not recommended to use xdg-mime query file as root.

     query default
	 Returns the default application that the desktop environment  uses  for
	 opening  files  of type mimetype. The default application is identified
	 by its *.desktop file.

	 The value returned by this command may or may not match the application
	 launched by xdg-open as xdg-open hands over to desktop specific openers
	 most of the time which may implement their own logic.

	 The query default option is for use inside a desktop session  only.  It
	 is not recommended to use xdg-mime query default as root.

     default
	 Ask the desktop environment to make application the default application
	 for  opening files of type mimetype. An application can be made the de-
	 fault for several file types by specifying multiple mimetypes.

	 application is the desktop file id of the application and has the  form
	 vendor-name.desktop.	application  must  already  be	installed in the
	 desktop menu before it can be made the default  handler.  The	applica-
	 tion's  desktop  file	must list support for all the MIME types that it
	 wishes to be the default handler for.

	 Requests to make an application a default handler  may  be  subject  to
	 system  policy  or approval by the end-user. xdg-mime query can be used
	 to verify whether an application is the actual default  handler  for  a
	 specific file type.

	 Security  Note:  Never  set a handler that will blindly execute code or
	 commands from the file being handled. Such behaviour will  sooner  than
	 later	lead  to  unintended  code execution i.e. through a curious user
	 trying to inspect a freshly downloaded file but running it by accident.

	 Keeping opening and executing separate actions helps with  people  pro-
	 tecting  themselves from malware, the default handler is an opener, not
	 a runner.

	 The default option is for use inside a desktop session only. It is  not
	 recommended to use xdg-mime default as root.

     install
	 Adds the file type descriptions provided in mimetypes-file to the desk-
	 top  environment.   mimetypes-file  must be a XML file that follows the
	 freedesktop.org Shared MIME-info Database specification and that has  a
	 mime-info  element  as its document root. For each new file type one or
	 more  icons  with  name  type-subtype	must  be  installed   with   the
	 xdg-icon-resource  command  in  the  mimetypes context. For example the
	 filetype application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.text requires an icon named
	 application-vnd.oasis.opendocument.text to  be  installed  (unless  the
	 file type recommends another icon name).

     uninstall
	 Removes  the file type descriptions provided in mimetypes-file and pre-
	 viously added with  xdg-mime  install	from  the  desktop  environment.
	 mimetypes-file  must  be  a  XML  file that follows the freedesktop.org
	 Shared MIME-info Database specification and that has a  mime-info  ele-
	 ment as its document root.

OPTIONS
     --mode mode
	 mode  can be user or system. In user mode the file is (un)installed for
	 the current user only. In system mode the file is (un)installed for all
	 users on the system. Usually only root is allowed to install in  system
	 mode.

	 The  default  is to use system mode when called by root and to use user
	 mode when called by a non-root user.

     --novendor
	 Normally, xdg-mime checks to ensure that the mimetypes-file to  be  in-
	 stalled  has a proper vendor prefix. This option can be used to disable
	 that check.

	 A vendor prefix consists of alpha characters ([a-zA-Z]) and  is  termi-
	 nated	with a dash ("-"). Companies and organizations are encouraged to
	 use a word or phrase, preferably the organizations name, for which they
	 hold a trademark as their vendor prefix. The purpose of the vendor pre-
	 fix is to prevent name conflicts.

     --help
	 Show command synopsis.

     --manual
	 Show this manual page.

     --version
	 Show the xdg-utils version information.

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
     xdg-mime honours the following environment variables:

     XDG_UTILS_DEBUG_LEVEL
	 Setting this environment variable to a non-zero numerical  value  makes
	 xdg-mime  do  more  verbose reporting on stderr. Setting a higher value
	 increases the verbosity.

     XDG_UTILS_INSTALL_MODE
	 This environment variable can be used by the user or  administrator  to
	 override the installation mode. Valid values are user and system.

EXIT CODES
     An  exit  code  of 0 indicates success while a non-zero exit code indicates
     failure. The following failure codes can be returned:

     1
	 Error in command line syntax.

     2
	 One of the files passed on the command line did not exist.

     3
	 A required tool could not be found.

     4
	 The action failed.

     5
	 No permission to read one of the files passed on the command line.

SEE ALSO
     xdg-icon-resource(1), xdg-desktop-menu(1), Shared MIME database  specifica-
     tion[1], MIME applications associations specification[2]

EXAMPLES
	 xdg-mime query filetype /tmp/foobar.png

     Prints the MIME type of the file /tmp/foobar.png, in this case image/png

	 xdg-mime query default image/png

     Prints the .desktop filename of the application which is registered to open
     PNG files.

	 xdg-mime install shinythings-shiny.xml

     Adds  a  file type description for "shiny"-files. "shinythings-" is used as
     the vendor prefix. The file type description could look as follows.

	 shinythings-shiny.xml:

	 <?xml version="1.0"?>
	 <mime-info xmlns='http://www.freedesktop.org/standards/shared-mime-info'>
	   <mime-type type="text/x-shiny">
	     <comment>Shiny new file type</comment>
	     <glob pattern="*.shiny"/>
	     <glob pattern="*.shi"/>
	   </mime-type>
	 </mime-info>

     An icon for this new file type must also be installed, for example with:

	 xdg-icon-resource install --context mimetypes --size 64 shiny-file-icon.png text-x-shiny

AUTHORS
     Kevin Krammer
	 Author.

     Jeremy White
	 Author.

COPYRIGHT
     Copyright (C) 2006

NOTES
      1. Shared MIME database specification
	 http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Specifications/shared-mime-info-spec/

      2. MIME applications associations specification
	 http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Specifications/mime-apps-spec/

xdg-utils 1.0			   07/30/2026			     XDG-MIME(1)

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