LLVM-NM(1)

✨ NAME ✨

okay so welcome to the LLVM-NM(1) page bestie 💖 — llvm-nm lists the symbol table of LLVM bitcode and object files. that's it, that's the job. she's a snoop, she's a gossip, she tells you who's in the file.

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🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

llvm-nm [options] [filenames...]

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🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

so the llvm-nm utility lists the names of symbols from LLVM bitcode files, object files, and archives. every symbol gets listed along with some simple info about its provenance, like a lil name tag at a party 🎀. if you don't specify a filename, a.out is the input (default queen behavior). and if you use - as a filename, llvm-nm will read a file from its standard input stream. slay.

llvm-nm's default output format is the traditional BSD nm output format. each such output record is made of an (optional) 8-digit hexadecimal address, then a type code character, then a name, for each symbol. one record per line; fields are separated by spaces. when the address is omitted, it's replaced by 8 spaces (not me counting the spaces, but yes, 8 of them 💅).

the supported type code characters are as follows. where both lower and upper-case characters are listed for the same meaning, a lower-case character represents a local symbol, whilst an upper-case character represents a global (external) symbol:

• a, A — absolute symbol.
• b, B — uninitialized data (bss) object.
• C — common symbol. multiple definitions link together into one definition.
• d, D — writable data object.
• i, I — COFF: .idata symbol or symbol in a section with IMAGE_SCN_LNK_INFO set.
• n — ELF: local symbol from non-alloc section. COFF: debug symbol.
• N — ELF: debug section symbol, or global symbol from non-alloc section.
• s, S — COFF: section symbol. Mach-O: absolute symbol or symbol from a section other than __TEXT_EXEC __text, __TEXT __text, __DATA __data, or __DATA __bss.
• r, R — read-only data object.
• t, T — code (text) object.
• u — ELF: GNU unique symbol.
• U — named object is undefined in this file.
• v — ELF: undefined weak object. it is not a link failure if the object is not defined.
• V — ELF: defined weak object symbol. this definition will only be used if no regular definitions exist in a link. if multiple weak definitions and no regular definitions exist, one of the weak definitions will be used.
• w — undefined weak symbol other than an ELF object symbol. it is not a link failure if the symbol is not defined.
• W — defined weak symbol other than an ELF object symbol. this definition will only be used if no regular definitions exist in a link. if multiple weak definitions and no regular definitions exist, one of the weak definitions will be used.
• - — Mach-O: N_STAB symbol.
• ? — something unrecognizable. 💀

because LLVM bitcode files typically contain objects that are not considered to have addresses until they are linked into an executable image or dynamically compiled "just-in-time", llvm-nm does not print an address for any symbol in an LLVM bitcode file — even symbols which are defined in the bitcode file. no address, no problem, she's just built different 🫶.

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💅 OPTIONS 💅

• -B — use BSD output format. alias for --format=bsd.
• -X — specify the type of XCOFF object file, ELF object file, or IR object file input from command line or from archive files that llvm-nm should examine. the mode must be one of the following:
  • 32 — process only 32-bit object files.
  • 64 — process only 64-bit object files.
  • 32_64 — process both 32-bit and 64-bit object files.
  • any — process all the supported object files.

on AIX OS, the default is to process 32-bit object files only and to ignore 64-bit objects. you can change that by setting the OBJECT_MODE environment variable. for example, OBJECT_MODE=64 causes llvm-nm to process 64-bit objects and ignore 32-bit objects. the -X flag overrides the OBJECT_MODE variable, periodt.

on other operating systems, the default is to process all object files: the OBJECT_MODE environment variable is not supported there. 🙈

• --debug-syms, -a — show all symbols, even those usually suppressed. no secrets, no hiding.
• --defined-only, -U — print only symbols defined in this file.
• --demangle, -C — demangle symbol names (so your eyes don't bleed).
• --dynamic, -D — display dynamic symbols instead of normal symbols.
• --export-symbols — print sorted symbols with their visibility (if applicable), with duplicates removed.
• --extern-only, -g — print only symbols whose definitions are external; that is, accessible from other files.
• --format=<format>, -f — select an output format; format may be sysv, posix, darwin, bsd or just-symbols. the default is bsd.
• --help, -h — print a summary of command-line options and their meanings.
• -j — print just the symbol names. alias for `--format=just-symbols``.
• --line-numbers, -l — use debugging information to print the filenames and line numbers where symbols are defined. undefined symbols have the location of their first relocation printed instead.
• -m — use Darwin format. alias for --format=darwin.
• --no-demangle — don't demangle symbol names. this is the default.
• --no-llvm-bc — disable the LLVM bitcode reader.
• --no-sort, -p — show symbols in the order encountered.
• --no-weak, -W — don't print weak symbols.
• --numeric-sort, -n, -v — sort symbols by address.
• --portability, -P — use POSIX.2 output format. alias for --format=posix.
• --print-armap — print the archive symbol table, in addition to the symbols.
• --print-file-name, -A, -o — precede each symbol with the file it came from.
• --print-size, -S — show symbol size as well as address (not applicable for Mach-O).
• --quiet — suppress 'no symbols' diagnostic. she's not gonna nag you about it 🫶.
• --radix=<RADIX>, -t — specify the radix of the symbol address(es). values accepted are d (decimal), x (hexadecimal) and o (octal).
• --reverse-sort, -r — sort symbols in reverse order.
• --size-sort — sort symbols by size.
• --special-syms — do not filter special symbols from the output.
• --undefined-only, -u — print only undefined symbols.
• --version, -V — display the version of the llvm-nm executable, then exit. does not stack with other commands.
• @<FILE> — read command-line options from response file <FILE>.

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🍓 MACH-O SPECIFIC OPTIONS 🍓

• --add-dyldinfo — add symbols from the dyldinfo, if they are not already in the symbol table. this is the default.
• --add-inlinedinfo — add symbols from the inlined libraries, TBD file inputs only.
• --arch=<arch1[,arch2,...]> — dump the symbols from the specified architecture(s).
• --dyldinfo-only — dump only symbols from the dyldinfo.
• --no-dyldinfo — do not add any symbols from the dyldinfo.
• -s <segment> <section> — dump only symbols from this segment and section name.
• -x — print symbol entry in hex.

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🧚 XCOFF SPECIFIC OPTIONS 🧚

• --no-rsrc — exclude resource file symbols (__rsrc) from export symbol list.

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💀 BUGS 💀

• llvm-nm does not support the full set of arguments that GNU nm does. ngl, she's not GNU and she's not trying to be ✨.

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🔥 EXIT STATUS 🔥

llvm-nm exits with an exit code of zero. iconic. no drama, no tears, just 0 💖.

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🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

llvm-ar(1), llvm-objdump(1), llvm-readelf(1), llvm-readobj(1) — the whole friend group, go say hi.

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👑 AUTHOR 👑

maintained by the LLVM Team (https://llvm.org/).

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🎀 COPYRIGHT 🎀

2003-2025, LLVM Project

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and that's the page bestie!! this was page 20, dated 2025-09-03, from your favs over in the LLVM section of the manual 💅✨ go list some symbols, you ate 🫶