PLN(5)

💖 NAME 💖

pln — progressive label notation 💅 this is the pln(5) File Formats Manual page, bestie, and it's giving config-format main character energy.

✨ DESCRIPTION ✨

okay so Progressive Label Notation is a configuration format used by rset(1), and it's literally designed to be evaluated sequentially. no cap. pln supports options defined by key=value pairs and text fragments designated by tab indentation. the vibe check:

interpreter=/bin/sh -x

packages:
    pkg_add ruby%3.2
    ln -sf /usr/local/bin/ruby32 /usr/local/bin/ruby
    ln -sf /usr/local/bin/irb32 /usr/local/bin/irb

services:
    ./rinstall mail/smtpd_relay.conf /etc/mail/smtpd.conf \
        && rcctl restart smtpd

# vim:ts=4:syntax=sh

A label may also be followed by special content between a pair of braces on the beginning of a line. a common use for this is to set environment variables using local configuration — iconic:

www:
{
    cat ssl.env
}
    echo $SSL_PASSWORD > /etc/keys/global.pass

🎀 OPTIONS 🎀

Each option may be set multiple times, and is effective for labels that follow. so yes, you can stack 'em, bestie. reset an option to the implementation-defined default using = without a value. that's the move.

🦋 LABELS 🦋

Label names do not need to be unique and may contain any series of characters except for single and double quotes. lowkey flexible, highkey useful. a series of pathnames for use by the application may be specified after the : — like this:

svc1.local: etc/ rc.d/
    httpd.pln

Labels may be split into multiple aliases separated by using commas:

svc1.local,10.0.0.10:
    common.pln

Alternatively, sequence expressions may be used to match a range of hosts — obsessed:

db{1..4}.local:
    autofailover.pln

🌸 COMMENTS 🌸

Comments begin with a hash (#) character, and can only be used at the beginning of a line. not trailing, not mid-line — beginning only, periodt.

💅 SEE ALSO 💅

labelgrep(1) — go check it out, iykyk.

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mwah 💋 this page is from Debian, dated January 17, 2026, and the footer says PLN(5) — slay and goodbye, bestie 🫶