fzf - The fuzzy finder

Sep 13, 2022 · 2 min read · text filter cli  ·
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fzf is an interactive Unix filter for command-line that can be used with any list: files, command history, processes, hostnames, bookmarks, git commits, etc., which is portable with no dependencies, blazingly fast, the most comprehensive feature set, flexible layout.

Introduction

By default, fzf displays the list of files in the current directory and sub-directories, allowing a fuzzy search-as-you-type selection of the desired line in the list.

However, the output of any command can be filtered by piping it to the standard input of fzf. Depending on the command that generates the input for fzf, it makes it possible to apply the search-as-you-type approach to the list of lines generated by the command. Being written in Go, the program is ultra-fast and responsive. The repository of fzf contains tons of examples of usage for different tasks.

For example, fzf can be used to select an item from the shell history. It even comes with a shell command to perform this specific operation. This is one of my favourite usages of this tool.

In my opinion,fzf sets a standard for general-purpose filters both in terms of features and performance.

Among relevant features, it includes the possibility to run custom commands during the selection of the iterms in the list. This is useful, for example, to provide a preview of the content of a file.

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