Transform file content before ripgrep searches it.
Section: Preprocessors and compressed files
Use a preprocessor for unsupported formats
bash
bash
rg --pre 'pdftotext -layout' 'invoice' docs/*.pdfExplanation
Preprocessors are powerful when the raw file format is not plain text.
Learn the surrounding workflow
Compare similar commands or jump into common fixes when this command is part of a bigger troubleshooting path.
Related commands
Same sheet · prioritizing Preprocessors and compressed files
Apply preprocessing only to certain files
Limit preprocessors to matching paths.
Preview a simple replacement
Show what matched lines would look like after substitution.