`fzf` (Fuzzy Finder)¶

Default Options for fzf¶

By default, fzf will start in "Extended Search Mode"

This allows regex-like pattern matching.
You can use ^ and $ anchors in the patterns.
Prefixing a pattern with a ' (single quote) will make it an "Exact Match" (non-fuzzy).
Prefixing a pattern with a ! (exclamation) will make it exclude lines that match the
pattern.
- This makes it perform an exact match by default.

You can specify multiple, space-delimited patterns. E.g.,

'wild ^music .mp3$ sbtrkt !rmx

Use escaped spaces (\) to match spaces.

A pipe char | acts as an OR operator.

^core go$ | rb$ | py$

Key Bindings / Event Bindings¶

Keybinds can be set using the --bind option.
--bind takes a comma-separated list of binding expressions.
Example of keybinding expressions:

fzf --bind=ctrl-j:accept,ctrl-k:kill-line

Availble keys for fzf keybinding: `man fzf` -> `/AVAILBLE KEYS`¶

The ones that involve the CTRL key:

Ctrl-[a-z]
Ctrl-space
Ctrl-\
Ctrl-]
Ctrl-^ (Ctrl-6)
Ctrl-/ (Ctrl-_)
Ctrl-Alt-[a-z]

Some other common keys:

tab
btab (Shift-tab)
esc
Cursor Key
Shift-CursorKey
Any single character

Available Events:¶

change
- Triggered whenever the query string is changed
- E.g., Move cursor to the first entry whenever the query is changed:
```
fzf --bind change:first  
```
backward-eof
- Triggered when the query string is already empty and you try to delete it backward.
- e.g.
```
fzf --bind backward-eof:abort  
```

Available Actions¶

Action	Default Bindings (Notes)
`abort`	`Ctrl-c` `Ctrl-g` `Ctrl-q` esc
`accept`	`Enter` double-click
`accept-non-empty`	(same as accept except that it prevents fzf from exiting without selection)
`backward-char`	`Ctrl-b` left
`backward-delete-char`	`Ctrl-h` bspace
`backward-delete-char/eof`	(same as `backward-delete-char` except aborts fzf if query is empty)
`backward-kill-word`	`Alt-bs`
`backward-word`	`Alt-b` shift-left
`beginning-of-line`	`Ctrl-a` home
`cancel`	(clear query string if not empty, abort fzf otherwise)
`change-preview(...)`	(change `--preview` option)
`change-preview-window(...)`	(change `--preview-window` option; rotate through the multiple option sets separated by `\\|`)
`change-prompt(...)`	(change prompt to the given string)
`clear-screen`	`Ctrl-l`
`clear-selection`	(clear multi-selection)
`close`	(close preview window if open, abort fzf otherwise)
`clear-query`	(clear query string)
`delete-char`	`del`
`delete-char/eof`	`Ctrl-d` (same as `delete-char` except aborts fzf if query is empty)
`deselect`
`deselect-all`	(deselect all matches)
`disable-search`	(disable search functionality)
`down`	`Ctrl-j` `Ctrl-n` down
`enable-search`	(enable search functionality)
`end-of-line`	`Ctrl-e` end
`execute(...)`	(See man page)
`execute-silent(...)`	(See man page)
`first`	(move to the first match)
`forward-char`	`Ctrl-f` right
`forward-word`	`Alt-f` shift-right
`ignore`
`jump`	(EasyMotion-like 2-keystroke movement)
`jump-accept`	(jump and accept)
`kill-line`
`kill-word`	`Alt-d`
`last`	(move to the last match)
`next-history`	(`Ctrl-n`on `--history`)
`page-down`	pgdn
`page-up`	pgup
`half-page-down`
`half-page-up`
`preview(...)`	(See man page)
`preview-down`	shift-down
`preview-up`	shift-up
`preview-page-down`
`preview-page-up`
`preview-half-page-down`
`preview-half-page-up`
`preview-bottom`
`preview-top`
`previous-history`	(`Ctrl-p`on `--history`)
`print-query`	(print query and exit)
`put`	(put the character to the prompt)
`refresh-preview`
`reload(...)`	(See man page)
`replace-query`	(replace query string with the current selection)
`select`
`select-all`	(select all matches)
`toggle`	(right-click)
`toggle-all`	(toggle all matches)
`toggle+down`	`Ctrl-i` (tab)
`toggle-in`	(`--layout=reverse* ? toggle+up : toggle+down`)
`toggle-out`	(`--layout=reverse* ? toggle+down : toggle+up`)
`toggle-preview`
`toggle-preview-wrap`
`toggle-search`	(toggle search functionality)
`toggle-sort`
`toggle+up`	`btab` (`shift-tab`)
`unbind(...)`	(unbind bindings)
`unix-line-discard`	`Ctrl-u`
`unix-word-rubout`	`Ctrl-w`
`up`	`Ctrl-k` `Ctrl-p` up
`yank`	`Ctrl-y`

Multiple actions can be chained using + separator.

fzf --multi --bind 'ctrl-a:select-all+accept'  
fzf --multi --bind 'ctrl-a:select-all' --bind 'ctrl-a:+accept'

Replacements for Parentheses¶

An action denoted with (...) suffix takes an argument.

fzf --bind 'ctrl-a:change-prompt(NewPrompt> )'  
fzf --bind 'ctrl-v:preview(cat {})' --preview-window hidden

If the argument contains parentheses, fzf may fail to parse the expression.
In that case,you can use any of the following alternative notations to avoid parse errors.

action-name[...]
action-name~...~
action-name!...!
action-name@...@
action-name#...#
action-name$...$
action-name%...%
action-name^...^
action-name&...&
action-name*...*
action-name;...;
action-name/.../
action-name|...|
action-name:...

The last one is the special form that frees you from parse errors; it doesn't expect
the closing character.
The catch is that it should be the last one in the comma-separated list of key-action pairs.

Running commands from fzf¶

With execute(...) action, you can execute arbitrary commands without leaving fzf. For example, you can turn fzf into a simple file browser by binding enter key to less command like follows.

fzf --bind "enter:execute(less {})"

Previewing with fzf¶

With preview(...) action, you can specify multiple different preview commands in addition to
the default preview command given by --preview option.

Show the contents of the file in the preview window by default:
```
fzf --preview 'cat {}'  
```

Default preview command with an extra preview binding

fzf --preview 'file {}' --bind '?:preview:cat {}'

A preview binding with no default preview command
- i.e., the preview window is initially empty
```
fzf --bind '?:preview:cat {}'  
```
Preview window hidden by default, it appears when you first hit '?'
```
fzf --bind '?:preview:cat {}' --preview-window hidden  
```

Customizing fzf Display¶

Changing the Preview Window's Attributes/Display¶

The change-preview-window action can be used to change the properties of the preview window.
Unlike the --preview-window option, you can specify multiple sets of options separated by | characters.

Rotate through the options using CTRL-/

fzf  --preview  'cat  {}' --bind 'ctrl-/:change-preview-window(right,70%|down,40%,border-horizontal|hidden|right)'

Changing Main Window's Display¶

There are a number of options you can pass to fzf to customize its display.

fzf --multi \
--height=50% \
--margin=5%,2%,2%,5% \
--layout=reverse-list \
--border=double \
--info=inline \
--prompt='$>' \
--pointer='→' \
--marker='♡' \
--header='CTRL-c or ESC to quit' \
--color='dark,fg:magenta'

--height
- --min-height
- You can pass in a number of rows or a screen percentage (--height=10%)

Multiple Selections with fzf¶

Enable multiple selections with the --multi (-m) option.
By default, the <Tab> and <Shift-Tab> keys are bound to toggle the current selection.
On <Enter>, all the selected files/directories are given to stdout.

Adding Line Numbers to fzf¶

You can use the nl command to add line numbers to the entries.
But, you'll need to let fzf know not to match those line numbers.
To do that, you'd use the --nth option.

find . -type f | nl | fzf --nth=2

The --nth option tells fzf which entry to match with the query.
The line numbers and the entries will be separated by whitespace, the numbers coming first, and the entries coming second.
So, --nth=2 is used.

Here are some examples of the possible values we can give to the --nth option:
| Value | Description
|-------|------------
| 2 | Only match the 2nd field.
| -1 | Only match the last field.
| -2 | Only match the 2nd to last field.
| 3..5| Only match from the 3rd to the 5th field.
| 2.. | Only match from the 2nd to the last field.
| ..-3| Only match from the 1st to the 3rd to last field.
| .. | Match all the fields.

man fzf -> /FIELD INDEX EXPRESSION

fzf (Fuzzy Finder)¶