In zsh, I know that I can search history with Ctrl+r. However, oftentimes I start to type a command directly at the prompt, but then realize I should be searching history. When I hit Ctrl+r, it brings up a blank history search prompt like this:
Notice how there is text at my prompt but not at the history search prompt. How do I start the history search with the text already in the prompt, so it looks like this:
You can use zle's history-search functionality:
bindkey "^[[A" history-beginning-search-backward
bindkey "^[[B" history-beginning-search-forwardThis binds Up and Down (adjust for your own escape sequences) to a history search, backwards and forwards, based upon what has already been entered at the prompt.
So, if you were to enter "vim" and hit Up, zsh will traverse backwards through your history for only those commands commencing with "vim".
You can additionally have the cursor placed at the end of the line once you have selected your desired command from zsh's history by using the history-search-end function (typically located in /usr/share/zsh/functions/Zle/) and appending -end to the end of each line, like so:
autoload -U history-search-end
zle -N history-beginning-search-backward-end history-search-end
zle -N history-beginning-search-forward-end history-search-end
bindkey "^[[A" history-beginning-search-backward-end
bindkey "^[[B" history-beginning-search-forward-end
bindkey "$terminfo[kcuu1]" history-beginning-search-backward-end using zzxyz's suggestion below.
Another useful option is history | grep
Assign an alias, e.g.
alias hg='history | grep'
then you can type hg whatever to search for commands you've used, e.g.
$ hg chmod
1309 chmod +x rotate_files.sh
1385 chmod +x rotate_files_270.sh
1512 chmod +x testy.sh
1528 chmod +x act_on_2_numbers.sh
2142 chmod +x ~/bin/display_tmux_pane_pwd.sh
4532 chmod +x cat_files.rb
I put this alias in my dot files.
history 1 (otherwise it will only grep over the most recent 15 history items) - see: stackoverflow.com/questions/26846738/zsh-history-is-too-short
If you are using oh-my-zsh, add history-substring-search to the plugins=(...) line.
Then add
bindkey "^[[A" history-substring-search-up
bindkey "^[[B" history-substring-search-down
somewhere below the line that read source $ZSH/oh-my-zsh.sh. Save and fire up a new terminal or run source ~/.zshrc in the current terminal.
Note: ^[[A is the escape sequence for up arrow in the terminal I use (kitty) and many others. To check in your terminal of choice, type in showkey -a and then press they key you want to find the escape sequence for.
brew install zsh-history-substring-search, checked the repo readme for instructions, I'll just go ahead and create an answer I'm really happy with the result.
showkey! It should be a common knowledge. How I even survived without it 10+ years including time spent in vim?
bindkey needs to be placed below source $ZSH/oh-my-zsh.sh.
I'd highly recommend using "$terminfo[kcuu1]" or "$key[Up]" rather than hard-coded stuff like "^[[A" which may or may not work on any particular system.
Check out /etc/zsh/zshrc for more keys. Here's what it looks like on my system. I think the terminfo keys are more likely to be defined.
key=(
BackSpace "${terminfo[kbs]}"
Home "${terminfo[khome]}"
End "${terminfo[kend]}"
Insert "${terminfo[kich1]}"
Delete "${terminfo[kdch1]}"
Up "${terminfo[kcuu1]}"
Down "${terminfo[kcud1]}"
Left "${terminfo[kcub1]}"
Right "${terminfo[kcuf1]}"
PageUp "${terminfo[kpp]}"
PageDown "${terminfo[knp]}"
)
^[[A? It seems to be the case for most (if not all) of my computers.
Commented
Apr 10, 2020 at 6:29
terminfo keys are almost always available and are definitely more reliable when they are.
^[[A didn't work in my tmux session but $key[Up] worked.
$key[Up] is the same as ^[[A. What escape code does your up-arrow produce? (You can tell with Ctrl-V mode.)
Commented
Aug 10, 2022 at 5:07
1 - What about using zsh-autosuggestions?
The thing is, for each command you type this plugin will show you some suggestions that could be accepted or not. Try it out and give us some feedback.
2 - The fzf after installed and properly configurated add an widget that changes your reversed search history (by default binded to fzf-history-widget Ctrlr), it adds some fuzzy search on your command history. I am using it and combined with the autosuggestions works like a charm.
With no plugins we can press Ctrlr to perform a reverse seach on the history, as soon as you start typing the matched commands will appear as suggestions.
You might want to use the script at https://github.com/zsh-users/zsh-history-substring-search
Where you can type in any part of any previously entered command and press the Up and Down keys to cycle through the matching commands.
None of the existing answers begin an incremental search with what's been typed so far, like the question asked. This is actually possible:
_history-incremental-search-backward () {
zle .history-incremental-search-backward -- $BUFFER
}
zle -N history-incremental-search-backward _history-incremental-search-backward
# this line is actually not necessary since this is default.
bindkey '^R' history-incremental-search-backward
history-incremental-search-backward and pass the $BUFFER variable which contains the contents of the zsh prompt typed so far. You can then continue typing in the minibuffer to further narrow your search.Naming the function after the widget allows us to simplify the code:
history-incremental-search-{back,for}ward() zle .$WIDGET -- $BUFFER
zle -N history-incremental-search-backward
zle -N history-incremental-search-forward
(here also extended to do it also for the forward search)
$BUFFER expands to the full contents of the editing buffer, replace with $LBUFFER if you only want to search based on what's left of the cursor.
start typing a command
realize you want to search in your history, press Ctrl-R, a minibuffer is opened and filled with the contents of the command line. As such, it first matches the command line just typed:
press Ctrl-R again, it matches a previous command, Tab or Ctrl-E to accept the result.
or continue typing to refine the search further
To avoid the first backward search matching on the current buffer, we can empty the buffer before calling the original search widget and restore it upon failure:
history-incremental-search-{back,for}ward() {
local saved_BUFFER=$BUFFER saved_CURSOR=$CURSOR error
BUFFER=
zle .$WIDGET -- $saved_BUFFER
error=$?
if (( error )) BUFFER=$saved_BUFFER CURSOR=$saved_CURSOR
return error
}
zle -N history-incremental-search-backward
zle -N history-incremental-search-forward
$BUFFER variable, and this is the closest thing to enabling truly vi-like search - both in the line and then across the history!
I use the vi-mode plugin. And then in my ~/.zshrc I have the following bindings:
bindkey "^P" history-beginning-search-backward
bindkey "^N" history-beginning-search-forward
That enables me to use the ^P and ^N as normal backward and forward search if I don't enter any text, and as filtered search if I do.
This worked for me (on macOS) to get substring history easily accessible via up/down arrow. The key binding is up to you.
Substring search history is better than just accessing commands that start with a string. This is more like ctrl-r in most cases, those without globs or regex matching.
Starting from instructions at zsh-users/zsh-history-substring-search
brew install zsh-history-substring-search
# add the following to .zshrc
source /usr/local/share/zsh-history-substring-search/zsh-history-substring-search.zsh
bindkey '^[[A' history-substring-search-up
bindkey '^[[B' history-substring-search-down
Now enjoying this thoroughly.
I agree with cheflo that "substring" search is more useful. I cannot comment there so I started a new answer. I use oh-my-zsh, and add "history-substring-search" to the plugins=(...) of ~/.zshrc. Then source ~/.zshrc. Do not need to add anything more. Use "bindkey" to verify:
"^[OA" history-substring-search-up "^[OB" history-substring-search-down
Later, you type "to" and up arrow, "history" will appear and "to" highlighted (if you used "history" command before).
You could instead use zaw, which completely replaces your search with a much better multi keyword super search, and fixes your problem as well - searching history is only one of the things zaw can search.
Small intro/discussion here
foo and bar then you can search for pattern of foo*bar.
Commented
Apr 10, 2020 at 6:45
For those who want to know more about jasonwryan'a answer
This is the mentioned file:
# function history-search-end {
#
# This implements functions like history-beginning-search-{back,for}ward,
# but takes the cursor to the end of the line after moving in the
# history, like history-search-{back,for}ward. To use them:
# zle -N history-beginning-search-backward-end history-search-end
# zle -N history-beginning-search-forward-end history-search-end
# bindkey '...' history-beginning-search-backward-end
# bindkey '...' history-beginning-search-forward-end
integer cursor=$CURSOR mark=$MARK
if [[ $LASTWIDGET = history-beginning-search-*-end ]]; then
# Last widget called set $MARK.
CURSOR=$MARK
else
MARK=$CURSOR
fi
if zle .${WIDGET%-end}; then
# success, go to end of line
zle .end-of-line
else
# failure, restore position
CURSOR=$cursor
MARK=$mark
return 1
fi
# }
zle -N widget [ function ] : Create a user-defined widget.
When the new widget is invoked from within the editor, the specified shell function is called.
If no function name is specified, it defaults to the same name as the widget.
It is recommended that user-defined widgets should not have names starting with ..
# To make history-beginning-search-{back,or}ward-end an alias for history-search-end
zle -N history-beginning-search-backward-end history-search-end
zle -N history-beginning-search-forward-end history-search-end
# why `history-beginning-search-{back,or}ward-end` is chosen?
# There is widgets named `history-beginning-search-{back,or}ward`,
# so just add 'end' to them, showing their relevance.
I think, (not quite sure), without this line if [[ $LASTWIDGET = history-beginning-search-*-end ]] in the file above file, the code
zle -N history-beginning-search-backward-end history-search-end
zle -N history-beginning-search-forward-end history-search-end
bindkey "^[[A" history-beginning-search-backward-end
bindkey "^[[B" history-beginning-search-forward-end
can be replaced by:
bindkey "^[[A" history-search-end
bindkey "^[[B" history-search-end
# less word to type
(Just to show the usage of zle and bindkey.
Now that we have that if line, don't use the simplified one.)
bindkey commandbindkey -v: select viins keymap and bind it to main
bindkey -e: select emacs keymap and bind it to main
-A : create alias (aka link)
bindkey -A viins main makes viins an alias for main
Either emacs or viins is linked to the name main.
If one of the VISUAL or EDITOR environment variables contain the string vi when the shell starts up,
then it will be viins,
otherwise it will be emacs.
Create a new keymap from emacs:
bindkey -N mymapname emacsTo use "mymap":
bindkey -A mymapname mainBecause I use oh-my-zsh, and I use the substring solution from joelostblom, James, I modify the .zshrc like this: (which at line 13, find the line "source $ZSH/oh-my-zsh.sh ", then modify code around it.)
plugins=(
git
history-substring-search
)
source $ZSH/oh-my-zsh.sh
bindkey -v
bindkey "^[[A" history-substring-search-up
bindkey "^[[B" history-substring-search-down
bindkey -v will break ctrl-a, ctrl-e. Most likely all ctrl commands.
Commented
Oct 15, 2019 at 2:55
My recommended solution for searching history with the text already entered at the prompt in zsh is to use the fzf utility. Fzf is a versatile command-line fuzzy finder that can greatly enhance your history search experience. Here's how you can set it up:
Install fzf: You can find installation instructions for fzf on its GitHub repository (https://github.com/junegunn/fzf). Follow the installation steps specific to your operating system.
Configure fzf in your ~/.zshrc file: Open the ~/.zshrc file in a text editor and add the following line at the end of the file:
source ~/.fzf.zsh
This line ensures that fzf is sourced every time you start a new zsh session.
Save the changes and open a new terminal tab or restart your terminal for the changes to take effect.
To search history with the text already entered at the prompt, simply press Ctrl+R as before. However, this time, the fzf utility will be activated, providing an interactive search experience.
Start typing the command or text you want to search for, and fzf will filter the history based on your input in real-time. You can use the Up and Down arrow keys to navigate through the search results. Press Enter to execute the selected command, or press Ctrl+C to cancel the search and return to the prompt without executing any command.
By integrating fzf into your zsh configuration, you'll have a powerful and efficient way to search your command history, even when you've already entered text at the prompt.
Open a new tab and press CTRL+R
You should see the following:
