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hugows/fzf

:cherry_blossom: A command-line fuzzy finder written in Go

hugows/fzf.json
{
"createdAt": "2015-07-12T12:22:29Z",
"defaultBranch": "master",
"description": ":cherry_blossom: A command-line fuzzy finder written in Go",
"fullName": "hugows/fzf",
"homepage": "",
"language": "Go",
"name": "fzf",
"pushedAt": "2015-07-04T02:24:08Z",
"stargazersCount": 1,
"topics": [],
"updatedAt": "2015-10-08T23:06:35Z",
"url": "https://github.com/hugows/fzf"
}

fzf is a general-purpose command-line fuzzy finder.

  • No dependencies
  • Blazingly fast
    • e.g. locate / | fzf
  • Flexible layout
    • Runs in fullscreen or in horizontal/vertical split using tmux
  • The most comprehensive feature set
    • Try fzf --help and be surprised
  • Batteries included
    • Vim/Neovim plugin, key bindings and fuzzy auto-completion

fzf project consists of the followings:

  • fzf executable
  • fzf-tmux script for launching fzf in a tmux pane
  • Shell extensions
    • Key bindings (CTRL-T, CTRL-R, and ALT-C) (bash, zsh, fish)
    • Fuzzy auto-completion (bash, zsh)
  • Vim/Neovim plugin

You can [download fzf executable][bin] alone, but it’s recommended that you install the extra stuff using the attached install script.

[bin] !: https://github.com/junegunn/fzf-bin/releases

Clone this repository and run install script.

Terminal window
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/junegunn/fzf.git ~/.fzf
~/.fzf/install

On OS X, you can use Homebrew to install fzf.

Terminal window
brew reinstall --HEAD fzf
# Install shell extensions
/usr/local/Cellar/fzf/HEAD/install

Once you have cloned the repository, add the following line to your .vimrc.

set rtp+=~/.fzf

Or you can have vim-plug manage fzf (recommended):

Plug 'junegunn/fzf', { 'dir': '~/.fzf', 'do': 'yes \| ./install' }

fzf is being actively developed and you might want to upgrade it once in a while. Please follow the instruction below depending on the installation method.

  • git: cd ~/.fzf && git pull && ./install
  • brew: brew reinstall --HEAD fzf
  • vim-plug: :PlugUpdate fzf

fzf will launch curses-based finder, read the list from STDIN, and write the selected item to STDOUT.

Terminal window
find * -type f | fzf > selected

Without STDIN pipe, fzf will use find command to fetch the list of files excluding hidden ones. (You can override the default command with FZF_DEFAULT_COMMAND)

Terminal window
vim $(fzf)
  • CTRL-J / CTRL-K (or CTRL-N / CTRL-P) to move cursor up and down
  • Enter key to select the item, CTRL-C / CTRL-G / ESC to exit
  • On multi-select mode (-m), TAB and Shift-TAB to mark multiple items
  • Emacs style key bindings
  • Mouse: scroll, click, double-click; shift-click and shift-scroll on multi-select mode

With -x or --extended option, fzf will start in “extended-search mode”.

In this mode, you can specify multiple patterns delimited by spaces, such as: ^music .mp3$ sbtrkt !rmx

TokenDescriptionMatch type
^musicItems that start with musicprefix-exact-match
.mp3$Items that end with .mp3suffix-exact-match
sbtrktItems that match sbtrktfuzzy-match
!rmxItems that do not match rmxinverse-fuzzy-match
'wildItems that include wildexact-match (quoted)
!'fireItems that do not include fireinverse-exact-match

If you don’t need fuzzy matching and do not wish to “quote” every word, start fzf with -e or --extended-exact option.

  • FZF_DEFAULT_COMMAND
    • Default command to use when input is tty
  • FZF_DEFAULT_OPTS
    • Default options. e.g. export FZF_DEFAULT_OPTS="--extended --cycle"

Many useful examples can be found on the wiki page. Feel free to add your own as well.

The install script will setup the following key bindings for bash, zsh, and fish.

  • CTRL-T - Paste the selected files and directories onto the command line
    • Set FZF_CTRL_T_COMMAND to override the default command
  • CTRL-R - Paste the selected command from history onto the command line
    • Sort is disabled by default to respect chronological ordering
    • Press CTRL-R again to toggle sort
  • ALT-C - cd into the selected directory

If you’re on a tmux session, fzf will start in a split pane. You may disable this tmux integration by setting FZF_TMUX to 0, or change the height of the pane with FZF_TMUX_HEIGHT (e.g. 20, 50%).

If you use vi mode on bash, you need to add set -o vi before source ~/.fzf.bash in your .bashrc, so that it correctly sets up key bindings for vi mode.

[fzf-tmux]!(bin/fzf-tmux) is a bash script that opens fzf in a tmux pane.

Terminal window
# usage: fzf-tmux [-u|-d [HEIGHT[%]]] [-l|-r [WIDTH[%]]] [--] [FZF OPTIONS]
# (-[udlr] !: up/down/left/right)
# select git branches in horizontal split below (15 lines)
git branch | fzf-tmux -d 15
# select multiple words in vertical split on the left (20% of screen width)
cat /usr/share/dict/words | fzf-tmux -l 20% --multi --reverse

It will still work even when you’re not on tmux, silently ignoring -[udlr] options, so you can invariably use fzf-tmux in your scripts.

Fuzzy completion for files and directories can be triggered if the word before the cursor ends with the trigger sequence which is by default **.

  • COMMAND [DIRECTORY/][FUZZY_PATTERN]**<TAB>
Terminal window
# Files under current directory
# - You can select multiple items with TAB key
vim **<TAB>
# Files under parent directory
vim ../**<TAB>
# Files under parent directory that match `fzf`
vim ../fzf**<TAB>
# Files under your home directory
vim ~/**<TAB>
# Directories under current directory (single-selection)
cd **<TAB>
# Directories under ~/github that match `fzf`
cd ~/github/fzf**<TAB>

Fuzzy completion for PIDs is provided for kill command. In this case there is no trigger sequence, just press tab key after kill command.

Terminal window
# Can select multiple processes with <TAB> or <Shift-TAB> keys
kill -9 <TAB>

For ssh and telnet commands, fuzzy completion for host names is provided. The names are extracted from /etc/hosts and ~/.ssh/config.

Terminal window
ssh **<TAB>
telnet **<TAB>
Terminal window
unset **<TAB>
export **<TAB>
unalias **<TAB>
Terminal window
# Use ~~ as the trigger sequence instead of the default **
export FZF_COMPLETION_TRIGGER='~~'
# Options to fzf command
export FZF_COMPLETION_OPTS='+c -x'

(Note: To use fzf in GVim, an external terminal emulator is required.)

If you have set up fzf for Vim, :FZF command will be added.

" Look for files under current directory
:FZF
" Look for files under your home directory
:FZF ~
" With options
:FZF --no-sort -m /tmp
" Bang version starts in fullscreen instead of using tmux pane or Neovim split
:FZF!

Similarly to ctrlp.vim, use enter key, CTRL-T, CTRL-X or CTRL-V to open selected files in the current window, in new tabs, in horizontal splits, or in vertical splits respectively.

Note that the environment variables FZF_DEFAULT_COMMAND and FZF_DEFAULT_OPTS also apply here. Refer to [the wiki page][fzf-config] for customization.

[fzf-config] !: https://github.com/junegunn/fzf/wiki/Configuring-FZF-command-(vim)

For more advanced uses, you can call fzf#run() function which returns the list of the selected items.

fzf#run() may take an options-dictionary:

Option nameTypeDescription
sourcestringExternal command to generate input to fzf (e.g. find .)
sourcelistVim list as input to fzf
sinkstringVim command to handle the selected item (e.g. e, tabe)
sinkfuncrefReference to function to process each selected item
sink*funcrefSimilar to sink, but takes the list of output lines at once
optionsstringOptions to fzf
dirstringWorking directory
up/down/left/rightnumber/stringUse tmux pane with the given size (e.g. 20, 50%)
window (Neovim only)stringCommand to open fzf window (e.g. vertical aboveleft 30new)
launcherstringExternal terminal emulator to start fzf with (GVim only)
launcherfuncrefFunction for generating launcher string (GVim only)

However on Neovim fzf#run is asynchronous and does not return values so you should use sink or sink* to process the output from fzf.

If sink option is not given, fzf#run will simply return the list.

let items = fzf#run({ 'options': '-m +c', 'dir': '~', 'source': 'ls' })

But if sink is given as a string, the command will be executed for each selected item.

" Each selected item will be opened in a new tab
let items = fzf#run({ 'sink': 'tabe', 'options': '-m +c', 'dir': '~', 'source': 'ls' })

We can also use a Vim list as the source as follows:

" Choose a color scheme with fzf
nnoremap <silent> <Leader>C :call fzf#run({
\ 'source':
\ map(split(globpath(&rtp, "colors/*.vim"), "\n"),
\ "substitute(fnamemodify(v:val, ':t'), '\\..\\{-}$', '', '')"),
\ 'sink': 'colo',
\ 'options': '+m',
\ 'left': 20,
\ 'launcher': 'xterm -geometry 20x30 -e bash -ic %s'
\ })<CR>

sink option can be a function reference. The following example creates a handy mapping that selects an open buffer.

" List of buffers
function! s:buflist()
redir => ls
silent ls
redir END
return split(ls, '\n')
endfunction
function! s:bufopen(e)
execute 'buffer' matchstr(a:e, '^[ 0-9]*')
endfunction
nnoremap <silent> <Leader><Enter> :call fzf#run({
\ 'source': reverse(<sid>buflist()),
\ 'sink': function('<sid>bufopen'),
\ 'options': '+m',
\ 'down': len(<sid>buflist()) + 2
\ })<CR>

More examples can be found on the wiki page.

If you have any rendering issues, check the followings:

  1. Make sure $TERM is correctly set. fzf will use 256-color only if it contains 256 (e.g. xterm-256color)
  2. If you’re on screen or tmux, $TERM should be either screen or screen-256color
  3. Some terminal emulators (e.g. mintty) have problem displaying default background color and make some text unable to read. In that case, try --black option. And if it solves your problem, I recommend including it in FZF_DEFAULT_OPTS for further convenience.
  4. If you still have problem, try --no-256 option or even --no-color.

Respecting .gitignore, .hgignore, and svn:ignore

Section titled “Respecting .gitignore, .hgignore, and svn:ignore”

ag or pt will do the filtering:

Terminal window
# Feed the output of ag into fzf
ag -l -g "" | fzf
# Setting ag as the default source for fzf
export FZF_DEFAULT_COMMAND='ag -l -g ""'
# Now fzf (w/o pipe) will use ag instead of find
fzf
# To apply the command to CTRL-T as well
export FZF_CTRL_T_COMMAND="$FZF_DEFAULT_COMMAND"

If you’re running fzf in a large git repository, git ls-tree can boost up the speed of the traversal.

Terminal window
export FZF_DEFAULT_COMMAND='
(git ls-tree -r --name-only HEAD ||
find * -name ".*" -prune -o -type f -print -o -type l -print) 2> /dev/null'

It’s a known bug of fish that it doesn’t allow reading from STDIN in command substitution, which means simple vim (fzf) won’t work as expected. The workaround is to store the result of fzf to a temporary file.

Terminal window
fzf > $TMPDIR/fzf.result; and vim (cat $TMPDIR/fzf.result)

Use iconv to convert NFD paths to NFC:

Terminal window
find . | iconv -f utf-8-mac -t utf8//ignore | fzf

[MIT]!(LICENSE)

Junegunn Choi