Boosting CLI Productivity: An fzf Guide (Linux/macOS)

fzf is a general-purpose fuzzy finder. It brings “search + select” to the terminal: files, history, branches, processes, SSH targets—fast and interactive.

Installation

# macOS (Homebrew)
brew install fzf
$(brew --prefix)/opt/fzf/install    # 一键启用按键绑定与补全

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt install fzf

# Other Linux distros
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/junegunn/fzf ~/.fzf
~/.fzf/install

Run the install script to enable key bindings and completion. Common defaults:

• Ctrl-R: search command history
• Ctrl-T: insert selected file path into the command line
• Alt-C: fuzzy cd into a directory

Quick Start

Find files (faster with ripgrep):

rg --files | fzf            # list files then fuzzy search
rg -n "keyword" | fzf      # filter search results

Batch operations with xargs:

rg --files | fzf -m | xargs -I{} echo {}

History / Processes / Git

• History: press Ctrl-R, or run explicitly:

  fc -ln 0 | fzf | pbcopy   # macOS clipboard
  fc -ln 0 | fzf | xclip -sel clip
  

• Kill processes:

  ps aux | fzf -m | awk '{print $2}' | xargs kill
  

• Git: branches, commits, files

  # switch branches
  git branch | sed 's/* //' | fzf | xargs git switch
  
  # pick commits for cherry-pick
  git log --oneline | fzf -m | awk '{print $1}' | xargs git cherry-pick
  
  # open a changed file
  git diff --name-only | fzf | xargs -I{} ${EDITOR:-vim} {}
  

SSH / Service Ops

Jump via a host list:

cat ~/.ssh/hosts | fzf | xargs -I{} ssh {}

Or select a Kubernetes pod:

kubectl get pods -o name | fzf | xargs kubectl logs -f

Useful Flags

• -m: multi-select
• --preview '<cmd> {}': preview pane ({} is the current item)
• --bind 'enter:execute(<cmd> {})': run a command on enter
• --height 40% --layout=reverse: compact layout with results at the bottom

Example: preview Markdown and open with your editor

rg --files | fzf --preview 'bat --style=plain --color=always {}' \
  --bind 'enter:execute(${EDITOR:-vim} {+})+abort' -m

Handy Functions / Aliases

Add to ~/.zshrc or ~/.bashrc:

fd() { find "${1:-.}" -type f | fzf; }
fcd() { cd "$(fd "${1:-.}" | xargs -I{} dirname {} | fzf)"; }
fkill() { ps aux | fzf -m | awk '{print $2}' | xargs kill; }
fgrep() { rg -n "$1" | fzf; }

Wrap-up

Start with files and history, then extend with previews, binds, and multi-select. fzf quickly becomes the interactive command router for your terminal workflow.