## help

Show the hledger user manual with `info`, `man`, or a pager.
With a (case insensitive) TOPIC argument, try to open it at that section heading.

```flags
Flags:
  -i            show the manual with info
  -m            show the manual with man
  -p            show the manual with $PAGER or less
                (less is always used if TOPIC is specified)
```

This command shows the hledger manual built in to your hledger executable.
It can be useful when offline, or when you prefer the terminal to a web browser,
or when the appropriate hledger manual or viewers are not installed properly on your system.

By default it chooses the best viewer found in $PATH, trying in this order:
`info`, `man`, `$PAGER`, `less`, `more`, stdout.
(If a TOPIC is specified, `$PAGER` and `more` are not tried.)
You can force the use of info, man, or a pager with the `-i`, `-m`, or `-p` flags.
If no viewer can be found, or if running non-interactively, it just prints the manual to stdout.

When using `info`, TOPIC can match either the full heading or a prefix.
If your `info --version` is < 6, you'll need to upgrade it, eg with '`brew install texinfo`' on mac.

When using `man` or `less`, TOPIC must match the full heading.
For a prefix match, you can write '`TOPIC.*`'.

Examples
```cli
$ hledger help -h                 # show the help command's usage
$ hledger help                    # show the manual with info, man or $PAGER
$ hledger help 'time periods'     # show the manual's "Time periods" topic
$ hledger help 'time periods' -m  # use man, even if info is installed
```