Less version 690

Version 690 was released for beta testing on 2 Jan 2026.

These are the differences between version 685 and version 690:

• Add --autosave option (github #678).
• Add ESC-f command (github #680).
• Add column number to long prompt and = message.
• Add prompt prototype sequences %C, %W, %Q and ?Q (github #685).
• Map keypad keys, and use terminfo rather than termcap since keypad definitions don't exist in termcap (github #650).
• Change HOME key to scroll fully left and END key to scroll fully right. Add shift-HOME and ctrl-HOME to scroll left and jump to top, and add shift-END and ctrl-END to scroll right and jump to end (github #658).
• Add LESSNOCONFIG environment variable.
• Add --without-termlib to configure (github #701).
• When setting line number colors (-DN), don't force bold attribute. To set bold, you must append "d" or "*" to the color string (github #684).
• While waiting for file data, only ^C or ^X will interrupt, not any command. This reverts to behavior that existed before less-670 (github #700).
• When --save-marks is not used, retain any marks saved in the history file (github #662).
• Defer sending the terminal init string until the first char is read from the input file (github #682).
• Make SIGHUP do an orderly exit like SIGTERM.
• Implement modeline handling in Windows build.
• Fix bugs and improve behavior of screen resize on Windows.
• Fix bug when entering search modifier key at start of non-empty search string (github #668).
• Fix bug repainting screen with --form-feed (github #672).
• Fix bugs passing invalid negative values to some command line options (github #675).
• Fix incorrect display of Lit indicator (github #670).
• Fix incorrect display when returning to a mark after resizeing window (github #681).
• Fix bug using --pattern with --incsearch (github #696).
• Disallow mouse click to open OSC8 link in SECURE mode (github #676).
• Add SECURE_COMPILE environment variable for Windows builds.
• Update Unicode tables.