Yelp (software)
Help documentation viewer for GNOME
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Yelp, also known as the GNOME Help Browser[1] is the default help viewer for GNOME that allows users to access help documentation.[5] Yelp follows the freedesktop.org help system specification[6] and reads mallard, DocBook, man pages, info, and HTML documents.[7] HTML is available by using XSLT to render XML documents into HTML.[8]
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| Yelp | |
|---|---|
| |
 | |
| Original authors | Mikael Hallendal and Alexander Larsson[1] |
| Initial release | October 27, 2001[2] |
| Stable release | 49.0[3]
/ 13 September 2025 |
| License | GPLv2[4] |
| Website | wiki |
| Repository | gitlab |
Yelp has a search feature[9] as well as a toolbar at the top for navigation through previously viewed documentation.[10]
Yelp can be accessed by typing yelp either into GNOME Shell, after pressing Alt+F2 within GNOME, or within a terminal[11] using the yelp [file] format.[1][12] The command gnome-help can also be used to access Yelp.[13]
Although Yelp is not required for GNOME to function, it is required to view GNOME's help documentation.[14] Ubuntu also uses yelp to provide a customized help interface for its software.[15]
A format string vulnerability in GNOME versions 2.19.90 and 2.24 allowed arbitrary code execution through Yelp.[16]