encrypt file in batch mode

[Fourhundred Thecat]

On 04/11/2019 12.34, Werner Koch wrote:
> On Sun,  3 Nov 2019 08:31, Fourhundred Thecat said:
>
>> $ gpg --list-secret-keys
>> gpg: can't connect to the agent: No such file or directory
>> gpg: failed to start agent '/usr/bin/gpg-agent': No such file or directory
>
> Your system is not properly installed.  It is missing the gpg-agent
> which is a mandatory part of GnuPG.  Except for some esoteric commands
> there is no way to use gpg without gpg-agent.  The gpg-agent is used for
> private keys as well as to provide a couple of other information like a
> useful iteration count for the S2K mechanism.

Yes, that is exactly the problem. Why should simple operations require
gpg agent ?

Imagine the authors of "cat" or "ls" decided that these utilities no
longer work without cat-agent or ls-agent.

What will be next? gpg will not work without gnome desktop ?