fish shell Friendly interactive shell

Version 4.9 · source

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Start here

Right

Accept the grey suggestion

Tab

Complete and open the pager

abbr -a <name> <text>

Short name that expands

set -gx <NAME> <value>

Export a variable

function <name> ... end

Define a function

funcsave <name>

Keep a function for good

fish_add_path <dir>

Add a directory to PATH

fish_config

Pick prompt and theme

Concepts

Universal -U all sessions, saved

Global -g this shell

Function -f inside a function

Block -l inside if/for/begin

set scope, widest to narrowest

Suggestions & Completion

Right / Ctrl+F

Accept the whole autosuggestion

Alt+Right / Alt+F

Accept one word of the suggestion

Tab

Complete; with several matches open the pager

~/.config/fish/completions/<cmd>.fish

Where your own completions live

Command-line Keys

Ctrl+A / Ctrl+E

Start / end of line

Ctrl+W

Delete the previous path component

Ctrl+U

Delete to start of line

Ctrl+L

Clear the screen, keep the line

Ctrl+C

Cancel the current line

Ctrl+D

Delete char; exit on an empty line

Alt+E

Edit the line in $EDITOR

Alt+S

Prepend sudo to the line

Alt+H

Show the man page for this command

fish_vi_key_bindings

Switch to vi key bindings

Go back with fish_default_key_bindings. Esc leaves insert mode.

fish_key_reader

Show the name of a pressed key

History & Directories

Up / Down

Search history for what you typed

Ctrl+R

Open history in the pager

Alt+Up / Alt+Down

Search history for the token under cursor

history search <text>

List matching history entries

fish --private

Session that does not save history

prevd / nextd

Step through visited directories

Alt+Left / Alt+Right do the same on an empty line.

Variables & Lists

set <name> <value>

Set a variable

set -gx <NAME> <value>

Set global and export

set -U <name> <value>

Universal: kept across sessions

set -l <name> <value>

Local to the current block

set -e <name>

Erase a variable

set -q <name>

Succeeds if the variable is set

fish_add_path <dir>

Add a directory to PATH (saved)

set <name> a b c

A variable is a list

$name[2]

Element 2 (lists start at 1)

$name[-1]

Last element

$status

Exit status of the last command

$argv

Arguments of the function or script

Expansion

(<cmd>)

Command substitution, one arg per line

"$(<cmd>)"

Substitution kept as one string

file{,.bak}

Brace expansion

**/*.txt

Recurse into subdirectories

Control Flow

Conditions

if test -f <file>    echo yeselse if test -d <file>    echo direlse    echo noend

Loops

for f in *.txt    echo $fendwhile read -l line    echo $lineend < <file>

Switch

switch $xcase a b    echo abcase '*'    echo otherend

test -e <path>

True if the path exists

<a>; and <b>

Run b only if a succeeds

&& and || work too. not <cmd> negates a command.

<a>; or <b>

Run b only if a fails

read -l <var>

Read a line into a variable

math <a> + <b>

Arithmetic, floats included

argparse 'h/help' 'n/name=' -- $argv

Parse options into _flag_* vars

Functions & Abbreviations

function <name> ... end

Define a function ($argv holds args)

function <name> -w <cmd> -d
                    '<text>'

Inherit completions, add a description

funced <name>

Edit a function in $EDITOR

funcsave <name>

Save a function to ~/.config/fish/functions

command <cmd>

Run the program, skip a same-named function

abbr -a <name> <text>

Expand name to text on space or Enter

abbr -a --position anywhere <name> <text>

Expand anywhere on the line

Ctrl+Space

Space without expanding the abbreviation

Strings

string match -r '<regex>' <text>

Regex match, prints the match

string match -rg '<(re)>' <text>

Print only the capture groups

string replace -a <old> <new>
                    <text>

Replace all occurrences

string split <sep> <text>

Split into list items

string trim <text>

Strip surrounding whitespace

<cmd> | string collect

Keep multi-line output as one string

Redirection & Pipes

<cmd> > <file>

Stdout to a file

<cmd> >> <file>

Append stdout

<cmd> 2> <file>

Stderr to a file

<cmd> &> <file>

Stdout and stderr to a file

<cmd> &| less

Pipe stdout and stderr (2>&1 |)

Config & Prompt

~/.config/fish/config.fish

Runs at every start

~/.config/fish/functions/<name>.fish

Autoloaded one function per file

fish_config

Web UI for prompt and theme

set -U fish_greeting

Empty greeting (no welcome text)

Coming from bash

bash to fish

bash	fish
`export X=1`	`set -gx X 1`
`$?`	`$status`
`$(cmd)`	`(cmd) or $(cmd)`
`${v/a/b}`	`string replace a b $v`
`$((1+2))`	`math 1 + 2`
`<(cmd)`	`(cmd \| psub)`
`[[ $a == b ]]`	`test $a = b`
`f() { ...; }`	`function f ... end`
`cmd1 && cmd2`	`cmd1; and cmd2`

Recipes

Starter config.fish

# ~/.config/fish/config.fishfish_add_path ~/.local/binset -gx EDITOR vimabbr -a gco git checkoutabbr -a gs git statusset -g fish_greeting

Function with options

function greet -d 'Say hello'    argparse 'n/name=' -- $argv    echo Hello $_flag_nameendfuncsave greet

Rename in bulk

for f in *.jpeg    mv $f (string replace .jpeg .jpg $f)end

Capture multi-line output

set -l out (git status --short | string collect)echo "$out"# without collect, $out would be a list of lines

Help

help <topic>

Open the docs on a topic