LESSC(1)

📦
version 3.13.0 · 5 versions
, in debian bookworm, ubuntu noble

💖 LESSC — the Less compiler, bestie edition 💖

okay so this is lessc, the compiler for Less (Leaner Style Sheets) — it's the CSS extension that makes writing stylesheets not feel like a punishment. ✨

🌸 NAME 🌸

lessc — Compiler for Less (Leaner Style Sheets) extension for CSS

🎀 DESCRIPTION 🎀

Here's the whole vibe, the usage line, copy it exactly bestie:

lessc [option option=parameter ...] <source> [destination]

If source is set to - (that's a dash, or hyphen-minus if we're being fancy) then the input gets read from stdin. yes, pipe it in, she's flexible 💅

✨ options: ✨

  • -h, --help — prints help (aka literally this message) and dips out. bye! 👋
  • --include-path=PATHS — sets your include paths. separate them with :. on windows, ; works too 🪟
  • -M, --depends — spits out a makefile import dependency list to stdout. very build-system-core of her 🛠️
  • --no-color — turns off the colorized output. (sad, but sometimes you gotta 🥲)
  • --ie-compat — enables IE8 compatibility checks. yes, IE8. we don't ask questions 🫠
  • --js — enables inline JavaScript in less files 🔥
  • -l, --lint — syntax check only, that's the lint mode. no output, just judgment 🔍
  • -s, --silent — suppresses output of error messages. shhh 🤫
  • --strict-imports — forces evaluation of imports. no shortcuts, we evaluate 😤
  • --insecure — allows imports from insecure https hosts. lowkey risky bestie, that's literally the name of the flag ⚠️
  • -v, --version — prints the version number and exits 🏷️
  • --verbose — be verbose. she's chatty, and honestly? we respect it 🗣️
  • --source-map[=FILENAME] — outputs a v3 sourcemap to FILENAME (or if you don't give one, the output filename with .map slapped on) 🗺️
  • --source-map-rootpath=X — adds this path onto the sourcemap filename and the less file paths 🌿
  • --source-map-basepath=X — sets the sourcemap base path. defaults to the current working directory 📁
  • --source-map-include-source — puts the less files into the map instead of just referencing them 📦
  • --source-map-inline — puts the map (and any less files) as a base64 data uri straight into the output css file 🧬
  • --source-map-url=URL — sets a custom URL to the map file, for the sourceMappingURL comment in the generated CSS file 🔗
  • --source-map-no-annotation — excludes that sourceMappingURL comment from the output css file 🚫
  • -rp, --rootpath=URL — sets rootpath for url rewriting in relative imports and urls. works with or without the relative-urls option 🏠
  • -ru=, --rewrite-urls= — rewrites URLs to make them relative to the base less file. and here are the values you can hand her:
    • all — rewrites all URLs 🌍
    • local — just the ones starting with a . 🏡
    • off — off. nothing gets rewritten 🙅
  • -m=, --math= — the math mode, and she has opinions:
    • always — Less will eagerly perform math operations always 🧮
    • parens-division — math performed except for the division (/) operator ➗
    • parens | strict — math only performed inside parentheses 🧷
    • strict-legacy — parens required in very strict terms (this is the legacy --strict-math) 📜
  • -su=on|off — allows mixed units, e.g. 1px+1em or 1px*1px, which have units ⚖️
  • --strict-units=on|off — that cannot be represented. (yep, this description is the other half of the -su= one above — they're a matched set, so the mixed-units rule and the "can't be represented" caveat both apply here too) 🧩
  • --global-var='VAR=VALUE' — defines a variable that can be referenced by the file 🌐
  • --modify-var='VAR=VALUE' — modifies a variable already declared in the file ✏️
  • --url-args='QUERYSTRING' — adds params into url tokens (e.g. 42, cb=42 or 'a=1&b=2') 🎣
  • --plugin=PLUGIN=OPTIONS — loads a plugin. you can also omit the --plugin= if the plugin begins with less-plugin. e.g. the clean css plugin is called less-plugin-clean-css once installed (npm install less-plugin-clean-css), and you use it either with --plugin=less-plugin-clean-css or just --clean-css with options after it, e.g. --plugin=less-plugin-clean-css="advanced" or --clean-css="advanced" 🔌

💀 Deprecated 💀

okay these ones are the old era. still here, still working, but like… girl, move on 💅

  • -sm=on|off — legacy parens-only math. use --math instead 👵
  • --strict-math=on|off — also legacy math territory 🕰️
  • --line-numbers=TYPE — outputs filename and line numbers. TYPE can be either 'comments' (outputs the debug info within comments), 'mediaquery' (outputs the info within a fake media query, which is compatible with the SASS format), or 'all' (does both, overachiever) 🔢
  • -x, --compress — compresses output by removing some whitespaces. we recommend you use a dedicated minifier like less-plugin-clean-css instead 🗜️

🦋 REPORTING BUGS 🦋

found a bug? tell the devs, not me, I'm just the messenger 🫶

🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

The full documentation for lessc is maintained as a Texinfo manual. If the info and lessc programs are properly installed at your site, then this command:

info lessc

should give you access to the complete manual. iykyk 📖✨

and that's the whole page bestie!! this one's from lessc 3.12.2 (Less Compiler) — dated November 2022, and it's the LESSC(1) page from User Commands. go forth and compile something iconic 👑💖

📦 where this page comes from