diff --git a/hledger-lib/Hledger/Utils.hs b/hledger-lib/Hledger/Utils.hs
index cd54380a58e..f343b8c95c0 100644
--- a/hledger-lib/Hledger/Utils.hs
+++ b/hledger-lib/Hledger/Utils.hs
@@ -56,6 +56,7 @@ module Hledger.Utils (
 
   -- * Other
   module Hledger.Utils.Debug,
+  module Hledger.Utils.DocFiles,
   module Hledger.Utils.Parse,
   module Hledger.Utils.IO,
   module Hledger.Utils.Regex,
@@ -83,6 +84,7 @@ import Lens.Micro ((&), (.~))
 import Lens.Micro.TH (DefName(TopName), lensClass, lensField, makeLensesWith, classyRules)
 
 import Hledger.Utils.Debug
+import Hledger.Utils.DocFiles
 import Hledger.Utils.Parse
 import Hledger.Utils.IO
 import Hledger.Utils.Regex
diff --git a/hledger-lib/Hledger/Utils/DocFiles.hs b/hledger-lib/Hledger/Utils/DocFiles.hs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..b17c400a4d9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hledger-lib/Hledger/Utils/DocFiles.hs
@@ -0,0 +1,115 @@
+{-# LANGUAGE ScopedTypeVariables #-}
+{-|
+
+Helpers for viewing documentation files in various formats.
+
+|-}
+
+module Hledger.Utils.DocFiles (
+   Topic
+  ,TldrPage
+
+  ,printHelpForTopic'
+  ,runManForTopic'
+  ,runInfoForTopic'
+  ,runPagerForTopic'
+  ,runTldrForPage'
+
+  ) where
+
+import Control.Exception
+import Data.ByteString (ByteString)
+import qualified Data.ByteString.Char8 as BC
+import Data.Maybe (fromMaybe)
+import System.Environment (setEnv)
+import System.IO
+import System.IO.Temp
+import System.Process
+
+import Hledger.Utils.IO (error')
+import Text.Printf (printf)
+import System.Environment (lookupEnv)
+import Hledger.Utils.Debug
+
+-- The name of any hledger executable.
+type Tool = String
+
+-- Any heading in the hledger user manual (and perhaps later the hledger-ui/hledger-web manuals).
+type Topic = String
+
+-- Any name of a hledger tldr page (hledger, hledger-ui, hledger-print etc.)
+type TldrPage = String
+
+-- | Print plain text help for this tool.
+-- Takes an optional topic argument for convenience but it is currently ignored.
+printHelpForTopic' :: ByteString -> Maybe Topic -> IO ()
+printHelpForTopic' b _mtopic = BC.putStr b
+
+-- | Display an info manual for this topic, opened at the given topic if provided,
+-- using the "info" executable in $PATH.
+-- Topic can be an exact heading or a heading prefix; info will favour an exact match.
+runInfoForTopic' :: Tool -> ByteString -> Maybe Topic -> IO ()
+runInfoForTopic' tool b mtopic =
+  withSystemTempFile ("hledger-"++tool++".info") $ \f h -> do
+    BC.hPutStrLn h b
+    hClose h
+    callCommand $ dbg1 "info command" $
+      "info -f " ++ f ++ maybe "" (printf " -n '%s'") mtopic
+
+-- less with any vertical whitespace squashed, case-insensitive searching, the $ regex metacharacter accessible as \$.
+less = "less -s -i --use-backslash"
+
+-- | Display plain text help for this tool, scrolled to the given topic if any, using the users $PAGER or "less".
+-- When a topic is provided we always use less, ignoring $PAGER.
+--
+-- This is less robust than the newer Hledger.Utils.IO.runPager,
+-- but that one doesn't yet support scrolling to a topic.
+runPagerForTopic' :: Tool -> ByteString -> Maybe Topic -> IO ()
+runPagerForTopic' tool b mtopic = do
+  withSystemTempFile ("hledger-"++tool++".txt") $ \f h -> do
+    BC.hPutStrLn h b
+    hClose h
+    envpager <- fromMaybe less <$> lookupEnv "PAGER"
+    let
+      exactmatch = True
+      (pager, searcharg) =
+        case mtopic of
+          Nothing -> (envpager, "")
+          Just t  -> (less, "-p'^(   )?" ++ t ++ if exactmatch then "\\$'" else "")
+    callCommand $ dbg1 "pager command" $ unwords [pager, searcharg, f]
+
+-- | Display a man page for this tool, scrolled to the given topic if provided, using "man".
+-- When a topic is provided we force man to use "less", ignoring $MANPAGER and $PAGER.
+runManForTopic' :: Tool -> ByteString -> Maybe Topic -> IO ()
+runManForTopic' tool b mtopic =
+  -- This temp file path should have a slash in it, man requires at least one.
+  withSystemTempFile ("hledger-"++tool++".1") $ \f h -> do
+    BC.hPutStrLn h b
+    hClose h
+    let
+      exactmatch = True
+      pagerarg =
+        case mtopic of
+          Nothing -> ""
+          Just t  -> "-P \"" ++ less ++ " -p'^(   )?" ++ t ++ (if exactmatch then "\\\\$" else "") ++ "'\""
+    callCommand $ dbg1 "man command" $ unwords ["man", pagerarg, f]
+
+-- | Display one of the tldr pages, using "tldr".
+runTldrForPage' :: [(TldrPage, ByteString)] -> TldrPage -> IO ()
+runTldrForPage' tldrs name =
+  case lookup name tldrs of
+    Nothing -> error' $ "sorry, there's no " <> name <> " tldr page yet"
+    Just b -> (do
+      withSystemTempFile (name++".md") $ \f h -> do
+        BC.hPutStrLn h b
+        hClose h
+        -- tldr clients tend to auto-update their data, try to discourage that here
+        -- tealdeer - doesn't auto-update by default
+        -- tlrc - ?
+        -- tldr-node-client - undocumented env var suggested in output
+        setEnv "TLDR_AUTO_UPDATE_DISABLED" "1"
+        callCommand $ dbg1 "tldr command" $ "tldr --render " <> f
+      ) `catch` (\(_e::IOException) -> do
+        hPutStrLn stderr $ "Warning: could not run tldr --render, using fallback viewer instead.\n"
+        BC.putStrLn b
+      )
diff --git a/hledger-lib/hledger-lib.cabal b/hledger-lib/hledger-lib.cabal
index b20dd9424b1..546d2171070 100644
--- a/hledger-lib/hledger-lib.cabal
+++ b/hledger-lib/hledger-lib.cabal
@@ -106,6 +106,7 @@ library
       Hledger.Reports.PostingsReport
       Hledger.Utils
       Hledger.Utils.Debug
+      Hledger.Utils.DocFiles
       Hledger.Utils.IO
       Hledger.Utils.Parse
       Hledger.Utils.Regex
@@ -160,6 +161,7 @@ library
     , tasty >=1.2.3
     , tasty-hunit >=0.10.0.2
     , template-haskell
+    , temporary
     , terminal-size >=0.3.3
     , text >=1.2.4.1
     , time >=1.5
@@ -220,6 +222,7 @@ test-suite doctest
     , tasty >=1.2.3
     , tasty-hunit >=0.10.0.2
     , template-haskell
+    , temporary
     , terminal-size >=0.3.3
     , text >=1.2.4.1
     , time >=1.5
@@ -282,6 +285,7 @@ test-suite unittest
     , tasty >=1.2.3
     , tasty-hunit >=0.10.0.2
     , template-haskell
+    , temporary
     , terminal-size >=0.3.3
     , text >=1.2.4.1
     , time >=1.5
diff --git a/hledger-lib/package.yaml b/hledger-lib/package.yaml
index ded3c37d9eb..e5a78a09a4d 100644
--- a/hledger-lib/package.yaml
+++ b/hledger-lib/package.yaml
@@ -76,6 +76,7 @@ dependencies:
 - tabular >=0.2
 - tasty >=1.2.3
 - tasty-hunit >=0.10.0.2
+- temporary
 - template-haskell
 - terminal-size >=0.3.3
 - text >=1.2.4.1
@@ -172,6 +173,7 @@ library:
   - Hledger.Reports.PostingsReport
   - Hledger.Utils
   - Hledger.Utils.Debug
+  - Hledger.Utils.DocFiles
   - Hledger.Utils.IO
   - Hledger.Utils.Parse
   - Hledger.Utils.Regex
diff --git a/hledger-ui/Hledger/UI/DocFiles.hs b/hledger-ui/Hledger/UI/DocFiles.hs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..02446adfbc3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hledger-ui/Hledger/UI/DocFiles.hs
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+{-# LANGUAGE TemplateHaskell #-}
+{-|
+
+Embedded documentation files in various formats, and helpers for viewing them.
+
+|-}
+
+module Hledger.UI.DocFiles (
+   printHelpForTopic
+  ,runManForTopic
+  ,runInfoForTopic
+  ,runPagerForTopic
+  ,runTldrForPage
+  ) where
+
+import Data.ByteString (ByteString)
+
+import Hledger.Utils (embedFileRelative)
+import Hledger.Utils.DocFiles
+
+-- | All hledger-ui pages from the tldr-pages project.
+tldrs :: [(TldrPage, ByteString)]
+tldrs = [
+   ("hledger-ui", $(embedFileRelative "embeddedfiles/hledger-ui.md"))
+  ]
+
+-- | The main hledger-ui manuals as source for man, info and as plain text.
+man :: ByteString
+man = $(embedFileRelative "embeddedfiles/hledger-ui.1")
+txt :: ByteString
+txt = $(embedFileRelative "embeddedfiles/hledger-ui.txt")
+info :: ByteString
+info = $(embedFileRelative "embeddedfiles/hledger-ui.info")
+
+printHelpForTopic :: Maybe Topic -> IO ()
+printHelpForTopic = printHelpForTopic' txt
+
+runManForTopic :: Maybe Topic -> IO ()
+runManForTopic = runManForTopic' "hledger-ui" man
+
+runInfoForTopic :: Maybe Topic -> IO ()
+runInfoForTopic = runInfoForTopic' "hledger-ui" info
+
+runPagerForTopic :: Maybe Topic -> IO ()
+runPagerForTopic = runPagerForTopic' "hledger-ui" txt
+
+runTldrForPage :: TldrPage -> IO ()
+runTldrForPage = runTldrForPage' tldrs
diff --git a/hledger-ui/Hledger/UI/Main.hs b/hledger-ui/Hledger/UI/Main.hs
index fda3c341305..cface27c761 100644
--- a/hledger-ui/Hledger/UI/Main.hs
+++ b/hledger-ui/Hledger/UI/Main.hs
@@ -35,7 +35,9 @@ import Brick hiding (bsDraw)
 import qualified Brick.BChan as BC
 
 import Hledger
-import Hledger.Cli hiding (progname,prognameandversion)
+import Hledger.Cli (withJournalDo)
+import Hledger.Cli.CliOptions hiding (progname,prognameandversion)
+import Hledger.UI.DocFiles
 import Hledger.UI.Theme
 import Hledger.UI.UIOptions
 import Hledger.UI.UITypes
@@ -100,8 +102,8 @@ hledgerUiMain = withGhcDebug' $ withProgName "hledger-ui.log" $ do  -- force Hle
   case True of
     _ | boolopt "help"    rawopts -> runPager $ showModeUsage uimode ++ "\n"
     _ | boolopt "tldr"    rawopts -> runTldrForPage "hledger-ui"
-    _ | boolopt "info"    rawopts -> runInfoForTopic "hledger-ui" Nothing
-    _ | boolopt "man"     rawopts -> runManForTopic  "hledger-ui" Nothing
+    _ | boolopt "info"    rawopts -> runInfoForTopic Nothing
+    _ | boolopt "man"     rawopts -> runManForTopic  Nothing
     _ | boolopt "version" rawopts -> putStrLn prognameandversion
     -- _ | boolopt "binary-filename" rawopts -> putStrLn (binaryfilename progname)
     _                                         -> withJournalDo copts' (runBrickUi opts)
diff --git a/hledger-ui/Hledger/UI/UIUtils.hs b/hledger-ui/Hledger/UI/UIUtils.hs
index 285239fbb20..fca6dc0abdf 100644
--- a/hledger-ui/Hledger/UI/UIUtils.hs
+++ b/hledger-ui/Hledger/UI/UIUtils.hs
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ import Lens.Micro.Platform
 
 import Hledger
 -- import Hledger.Cli.CliOptions (CliOpts(reportspec_))
-import Hledger.Cli.DocFiles
+import Hledger.UI.DocFiles
 -- import Hledger.UI.UIOptions (UIOpts(uoCliOpts))
 import Hledger.UI.UITypes
 
@@ -228,9 +228,9 @@ helpHandle ev = do
   let ui' = ui{aMode=Normal}
   case ev of
     VtyEvent e | e `elem` closeHelpEvents -> put' ui'
-    VtyEvent (EvKey (KChar 'p') []) -> suspendAndResume (runPagerForTopic "hledger-ui" Nothing >> return ui')
-    VtyEvent (EvKey (KChar 'm') []) -> suspendAndResume (runManForTopic   "hledger-ui" Nothing >> return ui')
-    VtyEvent (EvKey (KChar 'i') []) -> suspendAndResume (runInfoForTopic  "hledger-ui" Nothing >> return ui')
+    VtyEvent (EvKey (KChar 'p') []) -> suspendAndResume (runPagerForTopic Nothing >> return ui')
+    VtyEvent (EvKey (KChar 'm') []) -> suspendAndResume (runManForTopic   Nothing >> return ui')
+    VtyEvent (EvKey (KChar 'i') []) -> suspendAndResume (runInfoForTopic  Nothing >> return ui')
     _ -> return ()
   where
     closeHelpEvents = moveLeftEvents ++ [EvKey KEsc [], EvKey (KChar '?') [], EvKey (KChar 'q') []]
diff --git a/hledger-ui/embeddedfiles/hledger-ui.1 b/hledger-ui/embeddedfiles/hledger-ui.1
new file mode 120000
index 00000000000..bfade9d095c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hledger-ui/embeddedfiles/hledger-ui.1
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+../hledger-ui.1
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/hledger-ui/embeddedfiles/hledger-ui.info b/hledger-ui/embeddedfiles/hledger-ui.info
new file mode 120000
index 00000000000..717a740b9b1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hledger-ui/embeddedfiles/hledger-ui.info
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+../hledger-ui.info
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/hledger/embeddedfiles/hledger-ui.md b/hledger-ui/embeddedfiles/hledger-ui.md
similarity index 100%
rename from hledger/embeddedfiles/hledger-ui.md
rename to hledger-ui/embeddedfiles/hledger-ui.md
diff --git a/hledger-ui/embeddedfiles/hledger-ui.txt b/hledger-ui/embeddedfiles/hledger-ui.txt
new file mode 120000
index 00000000000..40860a74a23
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hledger-ui/embeddedfiles/hledger-ui.txt
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+../hledger-ui.txt
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/hledger-ui/hledger-ui.cabal b/hledger-ui/hledger-ui.cabal
index e77439522b0..7b446eca68e 100644
--- a/hledger-ui/hledger-ui.cabal
+++ b/hledger-ui/hledger-ui.cabal
@@ -31,9 +31,10 @@ tested-with:
 extra-source-files:
     CHANGES.md
     README.md
-    hledger-ui.1
-    hledger-ui.txt
-    hledger-ui.info
+    embeddedfiles/hledger-ui.md
+    embeddedfiles/hledger-ui.1
+    embeddedfiles/hledger-ui.txt
+    embeddedfiles/hledger-ui.info
 
 source-repository head
   type: git
@@ -59,6 +60,7 @@ library
       Hledger.UI.AccountsScreen
       Hledger.UI.BalancesheetScreen
       Hledger.UI.CashScreen
+      Hledger.UI.DocFiles
       Hledger.UI.Editor
       Hledger.UI.ErrorScreen
       Hledger.UI.IncomestatementScreen
@@ -79,6 +81,7 @@ library
     , async
     , base >=4.14 && <4.21
     , brick >=2.1.1 && <2.3.2 || >2.3.2 && <2.9
+    , bytestring
     , cmdargs >=0.8
     , containers >=0.5.9
     , data-default
diff --git a/hledger-ui/package.yaml b/hledger-ui/package.yaml
index ead28cd45a7..1e631caac88 100644
--- a/hledger-ui/package.yaml
+++ b/hledger-ui/package.yaml
@@ -24,11 +24,12 @@ stability   : stable
 tested-with: GHC==8.10.7, GHC==9.0.2, GHC==9.2.8, GHC==9.4.5, GHC==9.6.2
 
 extra-source-files:
-  - CHANGES.md
-  - README.md
-  - hledger-ui.1
-  - hledger-ui.txt
-  - hledger-ui.info
+- CHANGES.md
+- README.md
+- embeddedfiles/hledger-ui.md
+- embeddedfiles/hledger-ui.1
+- embeddedfiles/hledger-ui.txt
+- embeddedfiles/hledger-ui.info
 
 #data-files:
 
@@ -95,6 +96,7 @@ library:
   - hledger >=1.42.99 && <1.43
   - ansi-terminal >=0.9
   - async
+  - bytestring
   - cmdargs >=0.8
   - containers >=0.5.9
   - data-default
diff --git a/hledger-web/Hledger/Web/DocFiles.hs b/hledger-web/Hledger/Web/DocFiles.hs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..f3023a60097
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hledger-web/Hledger/Web/DocFiles.hs
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+{-# LANGUAGE TemplateHaskell #-}
+{-|
+
+Embedded documentation files in various formats, and helpers for viewing them.
+
+|-}
+
+module Hledger.Web.DocFiles (
+   printHelpForTopic
+  ,runManForTopic
+  ,runInfoForTopic
+  ,runPagerForTopic
+  ,runTldrForPage
+  ) where
+
+import Data.ByteString (ByteString)
+
+import Hledger.Utils (embedFileRelative)
+import Hledger.Utils.DocFiles
+
+-- | All hledger-web pages from the tldr-pages project.
+tldrs :: [(TldrPage, ByteString)]
+tldrs = [
+   ("hledger-web", $(embedFileRelative "embeddedfiles/hledger-web.md"))
+  ]
+
+-- | The main hledger-web manuals as source for man, info and as plain text.
+man :: ByteString
+man = $(embedFileRelative "embeddedfiles/hledger-web.1")
+txt :: ByteString
+txt = $(embedFileRelative "embeddedfiles/hledger-web.txt")
+info :: ByteString
+info = $(embedFileRelative "embeddedfiles/hledger-web.info")
+
+printHelpForTopic :: Maybe Topic -> IO ()
+printHelpForTopic = printHelpForTopic' txt
+
+runManForTopic :: Maybe Topic -> IO ()
+runManForTopic = runManForTopic' "hledger-web" man
+
+runInfoForTopic :: Maybe Topic -> IO ()
+runInfoForTopic = runInfoForTopic' "hledger-web" info
+
+runPagerForTopic :: Maybe Topic -> IO ()
+runPagerForTopic = runPagerForTopic' "hledger-web" txt
+
+runTldrForPage :: TldrPage -> IO ()
+runTldrForPage = runTldrForPage' tldrs
diff --git a/hledger-web/Hledger/Web/Main.hs b/hledger-web/Hledger/Web/Main.hs
index ee1274433da..fe139590c2e 100644
--- a/hledger-web/Hledger/Web/Main.hs
+++ b/hledger-web/Hledger/Web/Main.hs
@@ -33,8 +33,10 @@ import Yesod.Default.Config
 import Yesod.Default.Main (defaultDevelApp)
 
 import Hledger
-import Hledger.Cli hiding (progname,prognameandversion)
+import Hledger.Cli (withJournalDo)
+import Hledger.Cli.CliOptions hiding (progname,prognameandversion)
 import Hledger.Web.Application (makeApplication)
+import Hledger.Web.DocFiles
 import Hledger.Web.Settings (Extra(..), parseExtra)
 import Hledger.Web.Test (hledgerWebTest)
 import Hledger.Web.WebOptions
@@ -75,8 +77,8 @@ hledgerWebMain = withGhcDebug' $ do
   if
     | boolopt "help"            rawopts_ -> runPager $ showModeUsage webmode ++ "\n"
     | boolopt "tldr"            rawopts_ -> runTldrForPage "hledger-web"
-    | boolopt "info"            rawopts_ -> runInfoForTopic "hledger-web" Nothing
-    | boolopt "man"             rawopts_ -> runManForTopic  "hledger-web" Nothing
+    | boolopt "info"            rawopts_ -> runInfoForTopic Nothing
+    | boolopt "man"             rawopts_ -> runManForTopic  Nothing
     | boolopt "version"         rawopts_ -> putStrLn prognameandversion
     -- boolopt "binary-filename" rawopts_ -> putStrLn (binaryfilename progname)
     | boolopt "test"            rawopts_ -> do
diff --git a/hledger-web/embeddedfiles/hledger-web.1 b/hledger-web/embeddedfiles/hledger-web.1
new file mode 120000
index 00000000000..42793a18b1b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hledger-web/embeddedfiles/hledger-web.1
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+../hledger-web.1
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/hledger-web/embeddedfiles/hledger-web.info b/hledger-web/embeddedfiles/hledger-web.info
new file mode 120000
index 00000000000..64b870e7896
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hledger-web/embeddedfiles/hledger-web.info
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+../hledger-web.info
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/hledger/embeddedfiles/hledger-web.md b/hledger-web/embeddedfiles/hledger-web.md
similarity index 100%
rename from hledger/embeddedfiles/hledger-web.md
rename to hledger-web/embeddedfiles/hledger-web.md
diff --git a/hledger-web/embeddedfiles/hledger-web.txt b/hledger-web/embeddedfiles/hledger-web.txt
new file mode 120000
index 00000000000..825aabee2e4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hledger-web/embeddedfiles/hledger-web.txt
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+../hledger-web.txt
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/hledger-web/hledger-web.cabal b/hledger-web/hledger-web.cabal
index 62b42d86d3e..3435b50b40f 100644
--- a/hledger-web/hledger-web.cabal
+++ b/hledger-web/hledger-web.cabal
@@ -104,9 +104,10 @@ extra-source-files:
     templates/manage.hamlet
     templates/register.hamlet
     templates/upload-form.hamlet
-    hledger-web.1
-    hledger-web.txt
-    hledger-web.info
+    embeddedfiles/hledger-web.md
+    embeddedfiles/hledger-web.1
+    embeddedfiles/hledger-web.txt
+    embeddedfiles/hledger-web.info
 
 source-repository head
   type: git
@@ -142,6 +143,7 @@ library
       Hledger.Web.Test
   other-modules:
       Hledger.Web.App
+      Hledger.Web.DocFiles
       Hledger.Web.Handler.AddR
       Hledger.Web.Handler.EditR
       Hledger.Web.Handler.JournalR
diff --git a/hledger-web/package.yaml b/hledger-web/package.yaml
index fd0788004f1..33db8433d09 100644
--- a/hledger-web/package.yaml
+++ b/hledger-web/package.yaml
@@ -42,9 +42,10 @@ extra-source-files:
 - static/hledger.js
 - static/js/*.js
 - templates/*.hamlet
-- hledger-web.1
-- hledger-web.txt
-- hledger-web.info
+- embeddedfiles/hledger-web.md
+- embeddedfiles/hledger-web.1
+- embeddedfiles/hledger-web.txt
+- embeddedfiles/hledger-web.info
 
 flags:
   library-only:
diff --git a/hledger/Hledger/Cli.hs b/hledger/Hledger/Cli.hs
index 4adf6048bfc..5292c915d62 100644
--- a/hledger/Hledger/Cli.hs
+++ b/hledger/Hledger/Cli.hs
@@ -385,8 +385,8 @@ main = withGhcDebug' $ do
     -- 6.1. no command and a help/doc flag found - show general help/docs
     | nocmdprovided && helpFlag -> runPager $ showModeUsage (mainmode []) ++ "\n"
     | nocmdprovided && tldrFlag -> runTldrForPage  "hledger"
-    | nocmdprovided && infoFlag -> runInfoForTopic "hledger" Nothing
-    | nocmdprovided && manFlag  -> runManForTopic  "hledger" Nothing
+    | nocmdprovided && infoFlag -> runInfoForTopic Nothing
+    | nocmdprovided && manFlag  -> runManForTopic  Nothing
 
     -- 6.2. --version flag found and none of these other conditions - show version
     | versionFlag && not (isaddoncmd || helpFlag || tldrFlag || infoFlag || manFlag) -> putStrLn prognameandversion
@@ -409,8 +409,8 @@ main = withGhcDebug' $ do
         -- 6.5.1. help/doc flag - show command help/docs
         | helpFlag  -> runPager $ showModeUsage cmdmode ++ "\n"
         | tldrFlag  -> runTldrForPage $ maybe "hledger" (("hledger-"<>)) mmodecmdname
-        | infoFlag  -> runInfoForTopic "hledger" mmodecmdname
-        | manFlag   -> runManForTopic "hledger"  mmodecmdname
+        | infoFlag  -> runInfoForTopic mmodecmdname
+        | manFlag   -> runManForTopic  mmodecmdname
 
         -- 6.5.2. builtin command which should not require or read the journal - run it
         | cmdname `elem` ["commands","demo","help","test"] ->
diff --git a/hledger/Hledger/Cli/CliOptions.hs b/hledger/Hledger/Cli/CliOptions.hs
index 1c850127f05..e699714c8ac 100644
--- a/hledger/Hledger/Cli/CliOptions.hs
+++ b/hledger/Hledger/Cli/CliOptions.hs
@@ -78,9 +78,6 @@ module Hledger.Cli.CliOptions (
   -- | For register:
   registerWidthsFromOpts,
 
-  -- * Other utils
-  topicForMode,
-
 --  -- * Convenience re-exports
 --  module Data.String.Here,
 --  module System.Console.CmdArgs.Explicit,
@@ -114,7 +111,6 @@ import Text.Megaparsec
 import Text.Megaparsec.Char
 
 import Hledger
-import Hledger.Cli.DocFiles
 import Hledger.Cli.Version
 import Data.Time.Clock.POSIX (POSIXTime)
 import Data.List (isPrefixOf, isSuffixOf)
@@ -511,15 +507,6 @@ highlightHelp
       --   ,"General flags"
       --   ,"Examples"
       --   ]
--- | Get the most appropriate documentation topic for a mode.
--- Currently, that is either the hledger, hledger-ui or hledger-web
--- manual.
-topicForMode :: Mode a -> Topic
-topicForMode m
-  | n == "hledger-ui"  = "ui"
-  | n == "hledger-web" = "web"
-  | otherwise          = "cli"
-  where n = headDef "" $ modeNames m
 
 -- | Add command aliases to the command's help string.
 withAliases :: String -> [String] -> String
diff --git a/hledger/Hledger/Cli/Commands/Help.hs b/hledger/Hledger/Cli/Commands/Help.hs
index d26ad1ff140..8b4b7fa6c88 100644
--- a/hledger/Hledger/Cli/Commands/Help.hs
+++ b/hledger/Hledger/Cli/Commands/Help.hs
@@ -67,4 +67,4 @@ help' opts _ = do
       | "less"    `elem` exes           = pager
       | otherwise                       = cat
 
-  viewer "hledger" mtopic
+  viewer mtopic
diff --git a/hledger/Hledger/Cli/Commands/Run.hs b/hledger/Hledger/Cli/Commands/Run.hs
index f36d342b79a..337840d1a72 100644
--- a/hledger/Hledger/Cli/Commands/Run.hs
+++ b/hledger/Hledger/Cli/Commands/Run.hs
@@ -153,8 +153,8 @@ runCommand defaultJournalOverride findBuiltinCommand addons cmdline = do
               if
                 | helpFlag  -> runPager $ showModeUsage cmdmode ++ "\n"
                 | tldrFlag  -> runTldrForPage $ maybe "hledger" (("hledger-"<>)) mmodecmdname
-                | infoFlag  -> runInfoForTopic "hledger" mmodecmdname
-                | manFlag   -> runManForTopic "hledger"  mmodecmdname
+                | infoFlag  -> runInfoForTopic mmodecmdname
+                | manFlag   -> runManForTopic  mmodecmdname
                 | otherwise -> do
                   withJournalCached (Just defaultJournalOverride) opts $ \(j,jpaths) -> do
                     if cmdname == "run" -- allow "run" to call "run"
diff --git a/hledger/Hledger/Cli/DocFiles.hs b/hledger/Hledger/Cli/DocFiles.hs
index 3b98ef609f4..d86eda292bf 100644
--- a/hledger/Hledger/Cli/DocFiles.hs
+++ b/hledger/Hledger/Cli/DocFiles.hs
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-{-# LANGUAGE TemplateHaskell, OverloadedStrings, PackageImports, ScopedTypeVariables #-}
+{-# LANGUAGE TemplateHaskell #-}
 {-|
 
 Embedded documentation files in various formats, and helpers for viewing them.
@@ -6,41 +6,19 @@ Embedded documentation files in various formats, and helpers for viewing them.
 |-}
 
 module Hledger.Cli.DocFiles (
-
-   Topic
-  ,printHelpForTopic
+   printHelpForTopic
   ,runManForTopic
   ,runInfoForTopic
   ,runPagerForTopic
   ,runTldrForPage
-
   ) where
 
-import Control.Exception
 import Data.ByteString (ByteString)
-import qualified Data.ByteString.Char8 as BC
-import Data.Maybe (fromMaybe)
-import Data.String
-import System.Environment (setEnv)
-import System.IO
-import System.IO.Temp
-import System.Process
-
-import Hledger.Utils (first3, second3, third3, embedFileRelative, error')
-import Text.Printf (printf)
-import System.Environment (lookupEnv)
-import Hledger.Utils.Debug
 
--- The name of any hledger executable.
-type Tool = String
+import Hledger.Utils (embedFileRelative)
+import Hledger.Utils.DocFiles
 
--- Any heading in the hledger user manual (and perhaps later the hledger-ui/hledger-web manuals).
-type Topic = String
-
--- Any name of a hledger tldr page (hledger, hledger-ui, hledger-print etc.)
-type TldrPage = String
-
--- | All hledger-related pages from the tldr-pages project.
+-- | All hledger (but not hledger-ui/web) pages from the tldr-pages project.
 -- All are symlinked into the hledger package directory to allow embeddeding.
 tldrs :: [(TldrPage, ByteString)]
 tldrs = [
@@ -52,118 +30,28 @@ tldrs = [
   ,("hledger-import",          $(embedFileRelative "embeddedfiles/hledger-import.md"))
   ,("hledger-incomestatement", $(embedFileRelative "embeddedfiles/hledger-incomestatement.md"))
   ,("hledger-print",           $(embedFileRelative "embeddedfiles/hledger-print.md"))
-  ,("hledger-ui",              $(embedFileRelative "embeddedfiles/hledger-ui.md"))
-  ,("hledger-web",             $(embedFileRelative "embeddedfiles/hledger-web.md"))
   ,("hledger",                 $(embedFileRelative "embeddedfiles/hledger.md"))
   ]
 
 -- | The main hledger manuals as source for man, info and as plain text.
--- All are symlinked into the hledger package directory to allow embeddeding.
-manuals :: [(Tool, (ByteString, ByteString, ByteString))]
-manuals = [
-   ("hledger",
-    ($(embedFileRelative "embeddedfiles/hledger.1")
-    ,$(embedFileRelative "embeddedfiles/hledger.txt")
-    ,$(embedFileRelative "embeddedfiles/hledger.info")
-    ))
-  ,("hledger-ui",
-    ($(embedFileRelative "embeddedfiles/hledger-ui.1")
-    ,$(embedFileRelative "embeddedfiles/hledger-ui.txt")
-    ,$(embedFileRelative "embeddedfiles/hledger-ui.info")
-    ))
-  ,("hledger-web",
-    ($(embedFileRelative "embeddedfiles/hledger-web.1")
-    ,$(embedFileRelative "embeddedfiles/hledger-web.txt")
-    ,$(embedFileRelative "embeddedfiles/hledger-web.info")
-    ))
-  ]
-
--- | Get the manual as plain text for this tool, or a not found message.
-manualTxt :: Tool -> ByteString
-manualTxt name = maybe (fromString $ "No text manual found for tool: "++name) second3 $ lookup name manuals
-
--- | Get the manual as man source (nroff) for this tool, or a not found message.
-manualMan :: Tool -> ByteString
-manualMan name = maybe (fromString $ "No man page found for tool: "++name) first3 $ lookup name manuals
-
--- | Get the manual as info source (texinfo) for this tool, or a not found message.
-manualInfo :: Tool -> ByteString
-manualInfo name = maybe (fromString $ "No info manual found for tool: "++name) third3 $ lookup name manuals
-
--- | Print plain text help for this tool.
--- Takes an optional topic argument for convenience but it is currently ignored.
-printHelpForTopic :: Tool -> Maybe Topic -> IO ()
-printHelpForTopic tool _mtopic = BC.putStr (manualTxt tool)
-
--- | Display an info manual for this topic, opened at the given topic if provided,
--- using the "info" executable in $PATH.
--- Topic can be an exact heading or a heading prefix; info will favour an exact match.
-runInfoForTopic :: Tool -> Maybe Topic -> IO ()
-runInfoForTopic tool mtopic =
-  withSystemTempFile ("hledger-"++tool++".info") $ \f h -> do
-    BC.hPutStrLn h $ manualInfo tool
-    hClose h
-    callCommand $ dbg1 "info command" $
-      "info -f " ++ f ++ maybe "" (printf " -n '%s'") mtopic
+man :: ByteString
+man = $(embedFileRelative "embeddedfiles/hledger.1")
+txt :: ByteString
+txt = $(embedFileRelative "embeddedfiles/hledger.txt")
+info :: ByteString
+info = $(embedFileRelative "embeddedfiles/hledger.info")
 
--- less with any vertical whitespace squashed, case-insensitive searching, the $ regex metacharacter accessible as \$.
-less = "less -s -i --use-backslash"
+printHelpForTopic :: Maybe Topic -> IO ()
+printHelpForTopic = printHelpForTopic' txt
 
--- | Display plain text help for this tool, scrolled to the given topic if any, using the users $PAGER or "less".
--- When a topic is provided we always use less, ignoring $PAGER.
---
--- This is less robust than the newer Hledger.Utils.IO.runPager,
--- but that one doesn't yet support scrolling to a topic.
-runPagerForTopic :: Tool -> Maybe Topic -> IO ()
-runPagerForTopic tool mtopic = do
-  withSystemTempFile ("hledger-"++tool++".txt") $ \f h -> do
-    BC.hPutStrLn h $ manualTxt tool
-    hClose h
-    envpager <- fromMaybe less <$> lookupEnv "PAGER"
-    let
-      exactmatch = True
-      (pager, searcharg) =
-        case mtopic of
-          Nothing -> (envpager, "")
-          Just t  -> (less, "-p'^(   )?" ++ t ++ if exactmatch then "\\$'" else "")
-    callCommand $ dbg1 "pager command" $ unwords [pager, searcharg, f]
+runManForTopic :: Maybe Topic -> IO ()
+runManForTopic = runManForTopic' "hledger" man
 
--- | Display a man page for this tool, scrolled to the given topic if provided, using "man".
--- When a topic is provided we force man to use "less", ignoring $MANPAGER and $PAGER.
-runManForTopic :: Tool -> Maybe Topic -> IO ()
-runManForTopic tool mtopic =
-  -- This temp file path should have a slash in it, man requires at least one.
-  withSystemTempFile ("hledger-"++tool++".1") $ \f h -> do
-    BC.hPutStrLn h $ manualMan tool
-    hClose h
-    let
-      exactmatch = True
-      pagerarg =
-        case mtopic of
-          Nothing -> ""
-          Just t  -> "-P \"" ++ less ++ " -p'^(   )?" ++ t ++ (if exactmatch then "\\\\$" else "") ++ "'\""
-    callCommand $ dbg1 "man command" $ unwords ["man", pagerarg, f]
+runInfoForTopic :: Maybe Topic -> IO ()
+runInfoForTopic = runInfoForTopic' "hledger" info
 
--- | Get the named tldr page's source, if we know it.
-tldr :: TldrPage -> Maybe ByteString
-tldr name = lookup name tldrs
+runPagerForTopic :: Maybe Topic -> IO ()
+runPagerForTopic = runPagerForTopic' "hledger" txt
 
--- | Display one of the hledger tldr pages, using "tldr".
 runTldrForPage :: TldrPage -> IO ()
-runTldrForPage name =
-  case tldr name of
-    Nothing -> error' $ "sorry, there's no " <> name <> " tldr page yet"
-    Just b -> (do
-      withSystemTempFile (name++".md") $ \f h -> do
-        BC.hPutStrLn h b
-        hClose h
-        -- tldr clients tend to auto-update their data, try to discourage that here
-        -- tealdeer - doesn't auto-update by default
-        -- tlrc - ?
-        -- tldr-node-client - undocumented env var suggested in output
-        setEnv "TLDR_AUTO_UPDATE_DISABLED" "1"
-        callCommand $ dbg1 "tldr command" $ "tldr --render " <> f
-      ) `catch` (\(_e::IOException) -> do
-        hPutStrLn stderr $ "Warning: could not run tldr --render, using fallback viewer instead.\n"
-        BC.putStrLn b
-      )
+runTldrForPage = runTldrForPage' tldrs
diff --git a/hledger/embeddedfiles/README b/hledger/embeddedfiles/README
index a86876a3d30..4262b5bd8ae 100644
--- a/hledger/embeddedfiles/README
+++ b/hledger/embeddedfiles/README
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@ These files are embedded into the hledger executable at compile time.
 They include:
 
 - symbolic links to all the main hledger manuals in several formats, for embedding in Hledger/Cli/DocFiles.hs.
-  (Having the hledger-ui/hledger-web files also symlinked here within the hledger package allows embedding them without using absolute paths.)
 
 - symbolic links to all the hledger tldr pages.
 
diff --git a/hledger/embeddedfiles/hledger-ui.1 b/hledger/embeddedfiles/hledger-ui.1
deleted file mode 120000
index 172714a7277..00000000000
--- a/hledger/embeddedfiles/hledger-ui.1
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-../../hledger-ui/hledger-ui.1
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/hledger/embeddedfiles/hledger-ui.info b/hledger/embeddedfiles/hledger-ui.info
deleted file mode 120000
index 7ce58155b1d..00000000000
--- a/hledger/embeddedfiles/hledger-ui.info
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-../../hledger-ui/hledger-ui.info
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/hledger/embeddedfiles/hledger-ui.txt b/hledger/embeddedfiles/hledger-ui.txt
deleted file mode 120000
index 97e5b31d927..00000000000
--- a/hledger/embeddedfiles/hledger-ui.txt
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-../../hledger-ui/hledger-ui.txt
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/hledger/embeddedfiles/hledger-web.1 b/hledger/embeddedfiles/hledger-web.1
deleted file mode 120000
index 56fa56b5b9e..00000000000
--- a/hledger/embeddedfiles/hledger-web.1
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-../../hledger-web/hledger-web.1
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/hledger/embeddedfiles/hledger-web.info b/hledger/embeddedfiles/hledger-web.info
deleted file mode 120000
index adc31deb002..00000000000
--- a/hledger/embeddedfiles/hledger-web.info
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-../../hledger-web/hledger-web.info
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/hledger/embeddedfiles/hledger-web.txt b/hledger/embeddedfiles/hledger-web.txt
deleted file mode 120000
index 3e423b3ba48..00000000000
--- a/hledger/embeddedfiles/hledger-web.txt
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-../../hledger-web/hledger-web.txt
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/hledger/hledger.cabal b/hledger/hledger.cabal
index 93e0341847c..b25ed804bb9 100644
--- a/hledger/hledger.cabal
+++ b/hledger/hledger.cabal
@@ -46,18 +46,10 @@ extra-source-files:
     embeddedfiles/hledger-import.md
     embeddedfiles/hledger-incomestatement.md
     embeddedfiles/hledger-print.md
-    embeddedfiles/hledger-ui.md
-    embeddedfiles/hledger-web.md
     embeddedfiles/hledger.md
     embeddedfiles/hledger.1
     embeddedfiles/hledger.txt
     embeddedfiles/hledger.info
-    embeddedfiles/hledger-ui.1
-    embeddedfiles/hledger-ui.txt
-    embeddedfiles/hledger-ui.info
-    embeddedfiles/hledger-web.1
-    embeddedfiles/hledger-web.txt
-    embeddedfiles/hledger-web.info
     Hledger/Cli/Commands/Accounts.txt
     Hledger/Cli/Commands/Activity.txt
     Hledger/Cli/Commands/Add.txt
diff --git a/hledger/package.yaml b/hledger/package.yaml
index 2e83d0274b3..d48e401034d 100644
--- a/hledger/package.yaml
+++ b/hledger/package.yaml
@@ -43,19 +43,11 @@ extra-source-files:
 - embeddedfiles/hledger-import.md
 - embeddedfiles/hledger-incomestatement.md
 - embeddedfiles/hledger-print.md
-- embeddedfiles/hledger-ui.md
-- embeddedfiles/hledger-web.md
 - embeddedfiles/hledger.md
 
 - embeddedfiles/hledger.1
 - embeddedfiles/hledger.txt
 - embeddedfiles/hledger.info
-- embeddedfiles/hledger-ui.1
-- embeddedfiles/hledger-ui.txt
-- embeddedfiles/hledger-ui.info
-- embeddedfiles/hledger-web.1
-- embeddedfiles/hledger-web.txt
-- embeddedfiles/hledger-web.info
 
 - Hledger/Cli/Commands/Accounts.txt
 - Hledger/Cli/Commands/Activity.txt