R(1) FSF R(1)

# [NAME](#NAME)

R - a language for data analysis and graphics

# [SYNOPSIS](#SYNOPSIS)

**R** \[*options*] \[*< infile*] \[*> outfile*]  
**R** *CMD command* \[*arguments*]

# [DESCRIPTION](#DESCRIPTION)

Start R, a system for statistical computation and graphics, with the specified options, or invoke an R tool via the 'R CMD' interface.

R is a language which bears a passing resemblance to the S language developed at AT&T Bell Laboratories. It provides support for a variety of statistical and graphical analyses. R is a true computer language which contains a number of control-flow constructions for iteration and alternation. It allows users to add additional functionality by defining new functions.

On systems which have the GNU [**readline**(3)](/man/os/R/readline.3) library, R will maintain a command history, so that commands can be recalled, edited and re-executed.

# [OPTIONS](#OPTIONS)

Most options control what happens at the beginning and at the end of an R session, in particular which files are being read and written, and how much memory is reserved for the R process.

[**-h**, **--help**](#h)

Print short help message and exit

[**--version**](#version)

Print version info and exit

[**--encoding**=*ENC*](#encoding)

Specify encoding to be used for stdin

**--encoding** ENC

[RHOME](#RHOME)

Print path to R home directory and exit

[**--save**](#save)

Do save workspace at the end of the session

[**--no-save**](#no)

Don't save it

[**--no-environ**](#no~2)

Don't read the site and user environment files

[**--no-site-file**](#no~3)

Don't read the site-wide Rprofile

[**--no-init-file**](#no~4)

Don't read the user R profile

[**--restore**](#restore)

Do restore previously saved objects at startup

[**--no-restore-data**](#no~5)

Don't restore previously saved objects

[**--no-restore-history**](#no~6)

Don't restore the R history file

[**--no-restore**](#no~7)

Don't restore anything

[**--vanilla**](#vanilla)

Combine **--no-save**, **--no-restore**, **--no-site-file**, **--no-init-file** and **--no-environ**

[**--no-readline**](#no~8)

Don't use readline for command-line editing

[**--max-connections**=*N*](#max)

Set max number of connections to N

[**--max-ppsize**=*N*](#max~2)

Set max size of protect stack to N

[**--min-nsize**=*N*](#min)

Set min number of fixed size obj's ("cons cells") to N

[**--min-vsize**=*N*](#min~2)

Set vector heap minimum to N bytes; '4M' = 4 MegaB

[**-q**, **--quiet**](#q)

Don't print startup message

[**--silent**](#silent)

Same as **--quiet**

[**-s**, **--no-echo**](#s)

Make R run as quietly as possible

[**--interactive**](#interactive)

Force an interactive session

[**--verbose**](#verbose)

Print more information about progress

[**-d**, **--debugger**=*NAME*](#d)

Run R through debugger NAME

[**--debugger-args**=*ARGS*](#debugger)

Pass ARGS as arguments to the debugger

[**-g** TYPE, **--gui**=*TYPE*](#g)

Use TYPE as GUI; possible values are 'X11' (default) and 'Tk'.

[**--arch**=*NAME*](#arch)

Specify a sub-architecture

[**--args**](#args)

Skip the rest of the command line

[**-f** FILE, **--file**=*FILE*](#f)

Take input from 'FILE'

[**-e** EXPR](#e)

Execute 'EXPR' and exit

FILE may contain spaces but not shell metacharacters.

## [Commands:](#Commands:)

[BATCH](#BATCH)

Run R in batch mode

[COMPILE](#COMPILE)

Compile files for use with R

[SHLIB](#SHLIB)

Build shared library for dynamic loading

[INSTALL](#INSTALL)

Install add-on packages

[REMOVE](#REMOVE)

Remove add-on packages

[build](#build)

Build add-on packages

[check](#check)

Check add-on packages

[LINK](#LINK)

Front-end for creating executable programs

[Rprof](#Rprof)

Post-process R profiling files

[Rdconv](#Rdconv)

Convert Rd format to various other formats

[Rd2pdf](#Rd2pdf)

Convert Rd format to PDF

[Rd2txt](#Rd2txt)

Convert Rd format to pretty text

[Stangle](#Stangle)

Extract S/R code from Sweave documentation

[Sweave](#Sweave)

Process Sweave documentation

[Rdiff](#Rdiff)

Diff R output ignoring headers etc

[config](#config)

Obtain configuration information about R

[javareconf](#javareconf)

Update the Java configuration variables

[rtags](#rtags)

Create Emacs-style tag files from C, R, and Rd files

Please use 'R CMD command **--help**' to obtain further information about the usage of 'command'.

Options **--arch**, **--no-environ**, **--no-init-file**, **--no-site-file** and **--vanilla** can be placed between R and CMD, to apply to R processes run by 'command'

# [REPORTING BUGS](#REPORTING_BUGS)

Report bugs at <https://bugs.R-project.org>.

# [COPYRIGHT](#COPYRIGHT)

Copyright © 2026 The R Foundation for Statistical Computing Platform: x86\_64-pc-linux-gnu

R is free software and comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY. You are welcome to redistribute it under the terms of the GNU General Public License versions 2 or 3. For more information about these matters see https://www.gnu.org/licenses/.

# [SEE ALSO](#SEE_ALSO)

The full documentation for R is provided by a collection of Texinfo manuals and individual help for R objects which is also available on-line.

Start R and type **?topic** at the R prompt to obtain on-line information for \`*topic*'.

If the processed manuals have been installed they will be available as DVI and/or PDF files in the doc/manual subdirectory of the documentation directory tree (default \`R RHOME\`).

If the **info** program and the R manuals are installed on your system, typing **info -f R-intro**, **info -f R-data**, **info -f R-exts**, **info -f R-FAQ**, **info -f R-lang** and **info -f R-ints** should give you access to \`\`An Introduction to R'' (the basic manual), the \`\`R Data Import/Export'' Guide, the \`\`R Extension Writer's Guide'', the \`\`R FAQ'', the \`\`The R Language Definition'', and the \`\`R Internals''.

October 2026 R 4.6.1

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Document: R(1) from R 4.6.1-r6 (Chainguard OS)
Source: https://cloud.r-project.org/src/base/R-4/R-4.6.1.tar.gz