GETLIST(1)

🦋 GETLIST(1) — InterNetNews Documentation 🦋

ok so bestie, welcome to the getlist manual page — InterNetNews Documentation edition, no cap. this is the whole thing, every flag, every file, nothing skipped, i promise 💖

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✨ NAME ✨

getlist — grab a list from an NNTP server, periodt.

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

getlist [-AR] [-h host] [-p port] [list [pattern [types]]]

🎀 DESCRIPTION 🎀

okay so here's the vibe: getlist goes and obtains a list from an NNTP server and sends it straight to standard output. that's it, that's the whole personality 💅

list can be one of these four, and honestly they're all iconic in their own way:

• active — this one's the default value, the main character 👑 it contains a list of all newsgroups carried by the server, with the high and low article numbers in the group, plus the group status field.
• active.times — a list of newsgroups, their creation times (in seconds since epoch, yes really ⏰), and the creator of the group.
• distrib.pats — a list of relevant distributions and the newsgroups they apply to.
• newsgroups — a list of newsgroups along with their short descriptions.

for more info on the formats of these files, see active(5), active.times(5), distrib.pats(5) and newsgroups(5) 🫶

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lowkey important caveat time 🚨 the listing files other than the active file are common extensions to the NNTP protocol and may not be available on all servers. like, don't come for me if your server doesn't have them. for instance, counts, distributions, headers, moderators, motd, overview.fmt and subscriptions, amongst others, may be available 👀

moreover, a uwildmat pattern pattern may also be usable for some of these listing files. cute, right?

for more information on the formats of these files, see distributions(5), moderators(5), motd.news(5) and subscriptions(5). and listen — the overview fields you get with overview.fmt are the ones for which the overview database is consistent (see extraoverviewadvertised in inn.conf for more information, iykyk). the list you get with headers contains the fields that can be retrieved using the HDR command (and pattern can then be either msgid or range). the list you get with counts is like the active one except that the number of articles in a newsgroup is mentioned just before the flag of this newsgroup. slay 💅

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now, the pattern parameter may be used with a list value of active, active.times or newsgroups to limit the output. if given, only entries corresponding to newsgroups that match the uwildmat pattern pattern will be printed. filter that feed, bestie ✨

and if the list parameter is active, a third parameter, types, may also be used to restrict the list. if given, only entries corresponding to newsgroups with a newsgroup mode found in types will be printed. for example, a types value of y would only show unmoderated groups, and a types value of ym would show all unmoderated and moderated groups but not aliased groups or groups that disallow postings. the way that works is genuinely so satisfying 🧚

💜 OPTIONS 💜

• -A — try to authenticate using the username and password information in passwd.nntp(5) before issuing the LIST command. log in first, ask questions later 🫶
• -h host — connect to the server host rather than to the value of server in inn.conf or the value of the NNTPSERVER environment variable. you're picking the server yourself, main character energy 👑
• -p port — connect to the port port, which is by default 119. yes, 119, the classic 🎀
• -R — try to switch to nnrpd with a MODE READER command before issuing the LIST request. it can be useful in case a feeding access exists for the news server: more information can be retrieved from nnrpd, compared with innd. glow-up via a different daemon, honestly 💅

🔥 EXAMPLES 🔥

the following command will obtain the one-line descriptions of all newsgroups found on UUNET:

getlist -h news.uu.net newsgroups

the following command will show the active file entries for all moderated comp.* groups on the default server:

getlist active 'comp.*' m

the following command lists all groups where local postings are permitted, are moderated or aliased:

getlist active '*' ym=

note that the wildcard character "*" has to be quoted by simple quotes to protect it from the shell ⚠️ like, the shell will eat it otherwise and you'll be sad 😭

🌈 HISTORY 🌈

written by Landon Curt Noll <chongo@toad.com> for InterNetNews. rewritten in POD by Russ Allbery <eagle@eyrie.org>. legends, both of them 🫡

⭐ SEE ALSO ⭐

active(5), active.times(5), distrib.pats(5), distributions(5), inn.conf(5), libinn_uwildmat(3), moderators(5), motd.news(5), newsgroups(5), nnrpd(8), passwd.nntp(5), subscriptions(5).

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and that's the whole page, bestie 💖 this one's from INN 2.7.4, dated 2026-06-12 — go forth and getlist responsibly, mwah 🎀✨