fzf-zsh-plugin

Table of Contents

• Contents
• Installing
  • Zgenom
  • Antigen
  • Oh-My-Zsh
  • Without using a framework
  • (optional) Install recommended tools
• Customization
  • A note on lessfilter-fzf
• Other FZF resources

This ZSH plugin enables using fzf to search your command history and do file searches.

It will automagically install fzf into your home directory if it isn't already there, and bind ^R to an fzf-powered search of your command history.

Created for the zsh-quickstart-kit to make the default setup have a more 'batteries included' feel.

Yes, there is a plugin baked into oh-my-zsh, this allows easy fzf integration for other frameworks and shells, and adds some helper scripts.

Note - while these scripts could all be ZSH functions instead of scripts in the bin directory, it uses standalone scripts so that non-ZSH users can also use the repository by adding its bin directory to their $PATH.

Contents

Name	Description	Author
asdf-install	Install one or more versions of the specified language with fzf and installs your selection with asdf	fzf wiki
asdf-uninstall	Select one or more versions of the specified language with fzf and uninstalls your selection with asdf	fzf wiki
chrome-bookmark-browser	Rummages through your Chrome bookmarks with fzf and opens the selected bookmark(s) in your default browser	fzf wiki
d-attach	Uses fzf to select docker containers to start and attach to.	From the fzf wiki
d-image-rm	Uses fzf to select docker images to remove.	From the fzf wiki
d-rm	Uses fzf to select docker containers to remove.	From the fzf wiki
d-stop-container	Stop a Docker container.
falias	Searches your ZSH aliases, then puts your selection on the mac clipboard (macOS only)
fif	Uses fzf and rg to find a term in files	Boost Your Command-Line Productivity With Fuzzy Finder
fzf-brew-cask-install	Uses fzf to select programs to install (or show the home page) based on the output of brew cask search	Boost Your Command-Line Productivity With Fuzzy Finder
fzf-brew-cask-uninstall	Uses fzf to select brew-installed programs to delete (or show the home page)	Boost Your Command-Line Productivity With Fuzzy Finder
fzf-brew-install	Uses fzf to select programs to install based on the output of brew search	Boost Your Command-Line Productivity With Fuzzy Finder
fzf-brew-uninstall	Uses fzf to select brew-installed programs to delete	Boost Your Command-Line Productivity With Fuzzy Finder
fzf-brew-update	Uses fzf to select brew-installed programs to update	Boost Your Command-Line Productivity With Fuzzy Finder
fzf-find-edit	Uses fzf to select files (displaying previews) to edit with $EDITOR	Boost Your Command-Line Productivity With Fuzzy Finder
fzf-git-branch	Uses fzf to select a branch name in a git repository for use in scripts	From Mark Nielsen's Fuzzy Git Checkout article
fzf-git-checkout	Uses fzf to check out a branch in a git repository	From Mark Nielsen's Fuzzy Git Checkout article
fzf-grep-edit	Uses fzf to select files (displaying previews) that contain a search term to edit with $EDITOR	Boost Your Command-Line Productivity With Fuzzy Finder
fzf-kill	Uses fzf to select processes to kill	Boost Your Command-Line Productivity With Fuzzy Finder
fzf-vscode	Uses fzf and rg to search for text and then open the file in vscode	Hangops post by Mark Carey
lessfilter-fzf	A less pre-processor to nicely display a wide range of file formats, including images and directories that can be used to show fzf previews (see Customization section).	Aloxaf/fzf-tab - Wiki/Preview
pr-list	Use fzf to select a PR using gh	?
tm	Uses fzf to search for a tmux session or create one if there are no matches.	From the fzf wiki
tmux-kill	Uses fzf to select a tmux session and kill it.	From the fzf wiki
tmux-search	Uses fzf to select a tmux session. Skips fzf if there's only one match, exits if no match.	From the fzf wiki
vagrant-box-search	Uses fzf to select a vagrant box and connect to it with ssh.	From the fzf wiki

Installing

You should set this plugin to be last, or near to last in your framework's list of plugins to load. It dynamically generates $FZF_DEFAULT_OPT and $FZF_DEFAULT_COMMAND based on whether it sees things like rg and bat in your $PATH, so it should come after other plugins have had a chance to extend your $PATH.

Zgenom

Add zgenom load unixorn/fzf-zsh-plugin to your .zshrc with your other load commands.

Antigen

Add antigen bundle unixorn/fzf-zsh-plugin@main to your .zshrc

☝ Note that until zsh-users/antigen#717 gets fixed in Antigen, it only recognizes plugins in master branch. So you need to explicitly specify @main here.

Oh-My-Zsh

1. git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/unixorn/fzf-zsh-plugin.git ${ZSH_CUSTOM:-~/.oh-my-zsh/custom}/plugins/fzf-zsh-plugin
2. Add fzf-zsh-plugin to your plugin list - edit ~.zshrc and change plugins=(...) to plugins=(... fzf-zsh-plugin)

Without using a framework

1. git clone --depth 1 [email protected]:unixorn/fzf-zsh-plugin.git, then add its bin directory to your $PATH.
2. Add source /path/to/repository/checkout/fzf-zsh-plugin.plugin.zsh to your .zshrc file.

The scripts in this collection don't actually require you to be using ZSH as your login shell, they're being distributed as an oh-my-zsh-compatible plugin because it's convenient for me.

(optional) Install recommended tools

Optionally, to make the most out of fzf preview (? toggle), install the following tools and enable the advanced preview (see Customization section):

• exa - improved file/directory listing,
• bat - a cat clone with syntax highlighting and Git integration,
• chafa - show images (the image can look better or worse depending on the terminal app you use),
• exiftool - also show image metadata,
• lesspipe.sh, e.g. brew install lesspipe - and other optional tools lesspipe.sh relies on. See https://github.com/wofr06/lesspipe ☝ Note: This is not the lesspipe already bundled in Ubuntu/Debian but an improved one (while package is called lesspipe, the binary is lesspipe.sh).

Customization

You can customize a few features by exporting the following environment variables in your init script (.zshrc/.bashrc or similar):

Export variable	Description
export FZF_PREVIEW_ADVANCED=true	Use less viewer with a pre-processor to display improved previews for a wide range of files (requires you to install at least exa, bat, chafa, exiftool; and very recommended lesspipe.sh and the tools it uses underneath: mdcat, in2csv,...). This is an opt-in feature.
export FZF_PREVIEW_WINDOW=''	Set any value supported by fzf --preview-window option, e.g. right:65%:nohidden will show the preview by default.
export FZF_PATH=''	Path to install fzf binary and script, e.g. ${HOME}/.config/fzf.

A note on lessfilter-fzf

You can also use it as a general less preprocessor to extend the less capabilities. To do that, place the following in your shell init scripts (.zshrc/.bashrc or equivalent):

export LESSOPEN='| lessfilter-fzf %s'

Ultimately, lesspipe.sh (if present) will still honor your own lessfilter if found in your PATH, leading to the following execution: lessfilter-fzf > lesspipe.sh > lessfilter.

Other FZF resources

• Fuzzy Git Checkout - Mark Nielsen wrote a good blog post showing how to use fzf for git checkouts.
• fzf-pass - ZSH plugin that uses fzf and pass for better password handling.
• fzf-tab - Replace ZSH's default completion with fzf
• So you've installed fzf. Now what? - Good blog post by Andrew Quinn with more tricks you can do with fzf.