What does the -n option in xargs do?

The -n option in xargs limits the number of arguments passed to each command execution. Specifically, it specifies how many arguments xargs should use for each invocation of the command.

For example, if you use -n 2, xargs will take at most 2 arguments from the input for each command execution. Here's an example:

echo {1..10} | xargs -n 2 echo "Processing batch:"

This will output:

Processing batch: 1 2
Processing batch: 3 4
Processing batch: 5 6
Processing batch: 7 8
Processing batch: 9 10

In this case, each execution of the echo command receives exactly 2 arguments, allowing you to process items in smaller batches. This is useful for managing large lists or when commands have limits on the number of arguments they can handle.