Command Line

Introduction

While I do have a strong preference for single a.out binaries without large dependency trees that do not require additional runtimes, I’m also a strong believer of using the right technology for the right job. Hence, I obviously prefer C/C++ and Rust programs, but I also don’t mind using Python-, Node.js-, Ruby- or Elixir/Erlang-based helpers to get a job done. For an example, I would definitely want a C/C++ or Rust alternative to ls – glad you’re asking, have exa please and thank you – over a Node.js version, simply because I want it to be instantly available and chew up as little CPU and memory as possible. Especially CPU usage is an important metric to me, as I’m heavily reliant on my MacBook’s battery life. That’s also one of the reasons I try to stay at least 6 feet apart from everything Electron-based and why I consistently keep anything that requires the JVM out of my life.

The Environment

As for the overall environment, I’m using Alacritty with a
minimalist config, the Z shell with Oh My Zsh and a rather large .zshrc. I sometimes use tmux and my terminal font is the Nerd Fonts patched Fira Code.

My color schemes change from time to time, but you can check my dotfiles to see what I’m currently using.

The Collection

arduino-cli

Arduino command line tool.

asciinema

asciinema [as-kee-nuh-muh] is a free and open source solution for recording terminal sessions and sharing them on the web.

bandwhich

Terminal bandwidth utilization tool.

bat

A cat(1) clone with wings.

battop

battop is an interactive viewer, similar to top, htop and other top utilities, but about the batteries installed in your notebook.

bingrep

Universal Command Line Interface for Amazon Web Services.

bottom

A cross-platform graphical process/system monitor with a customizable interface and a multitude of features. Supports Linux, macOS, and Windows.

browsh

A fully-modern text-based browser, rendering to TTY and browsers.

chafa

Chafa is a command-line utility that converts all kinds of images, including animated GIFs, into sixel or ANSI/Unicode character output that can be displayed in a terminal.

code-minimap

This tool is for generating text minimaps at speed.

cointop

A fast and lightweight interactive terminal based UI application for tracking cryptocurrencies.

conclusive

Conclusive. A command line client for Plausible Analytics.

csview

A high performance csv viewer with cjk/emoji support.

ctop

Top-like interface for container metrics

dasel

Select, put and delete data from JSON, TOML, YAML, XML and CSV files with a single tool. Supports conversion between formats and can be used as a Go package.

delta

A viewer for git and diff output.

dijo

dijo is a habit tracker. It is curses-based, it runs in your terminal.

dust

du + rust = dust. Like du but more intuitive.

endlessh

SSH tarpit that slowly sends an endless banner.

eva

A calculator REPL, similar to bc(1).

exa

A modern version of ‘ls’.

fzf

A command-line fuzzy finder.

gfold

gfold is a CLI-driven application that helps you keep track of multiple Git repositories.

git-crypt

Transparent file encryption in git.

git-journal

The Git Commit Message and Changelog Generation Framework.

gitui

Blazing fast terminal-ui for Git written in Rust.

glow

Render markdown on the CLI, with pizzazz!

gomphotherium

Gomphotherium (/ˌɡɒmfəˈθɪəriəm/; “welded beast”), a command line Mastodon client.

gotty

Share your terminal as a web application.

gpg-tui

Manage your GnuPG keys with ease!

gping

Ping, but with a graph.

gron

Make JSON greppable!

hexyl

A command-line hex viewer.

htmlq

Like jq, but for HTML.

hugo

Hugo is a static HTML and CSS website generator written in Go.

hyperfine

A command-line benchmarking tool.

imager

Automated image compression for efficiently distributing images on the web.

irssi

The client of the future.

I use this IRC client in combination with ZNC.

jless

jless is a command-line JSON viewer designed for reading, exploring, and searching through JSON data.

jwt-cli

A super fast CLI tool to decode and encode JWTs built in Rust.

kmon

Linux Kernel Manager and Activity Monitor.

lemmeknow

The fastest way to identify anything!

lf

Terminal file manager.

lnav

Log file navigator.

matterhorn

Matterhorn is a terminal client for the Mattermost chat system.

mc

GNU Midnight Commander (also referred to as MC) is a user shell with text-mode full-screen interface.

mdcat

cat for markdown.

mosh

Mobile Shell.

Here is a good post on why Mosh makes sense.

ncdu

Ncdu is a disk usage analyzer with an ncurses interface.

neomutt

NeoMutt was created when Richard Russon took all the old Mutt patches, sorted through them, fixed them up and documented them.

neovim

Vim-fork focused on extensibility and usability.

oxipng

Multithreaded PNG optimizer written in Rust.

pastel

pastel is a command-line tool to generate, analyze, convert and manipulate colors.

pipe-rename

pipe-rename takes a list of files as input, opens your $EDITOR of choice, then renames those files accordingly.

procs

A modern replacement for ps written in Rust.

radicle-cli

Radicle CLI.

rates

Rates is a scriptable CLI tool that brings currency exchange rates right into your terminal and supports 30+ fiat and 10K+ crypto currencies.

reader

reader is for your command line what the “readability” view is for modern browsers: A lightweight tool offering better readability of web pages on the CLI.

restic

Fast, secure, efficient backup program.

resto

A CLI app that can send pretty HTTP & API requests with TUI.

ripgrep

ripgrep recursively searches directories for a regex pattern.

rsnapshot

A tool for backing up your data using rsync.

rustscan

The Modern Port Scanner.

shellcaster

Shellcaster is a terminal-based podcast manager, built in Rust.

silicon

Create beautiful image of your source code.

so

A terminal interface for StackOverflow written in Rust.

socat

“netcat++” (extended design, new implementation).

superhighway84

USENET-inspired, uncensorable, decentralized internet discussion system running on IPFS & OrbitDB

syncthing

Open Source Continuous File Synchronization.

I use this as an open source alternative to Resilio Sync in cases in which I only require system-to-system sync and hence don’t need mobile (iOS) support.

taskwarrior-tui

A Terminal User Interface for Taskwarrior.

tealdeer

A very fast implementation of tldr in Rust.

ticker

Terminal stock ticker with live updates and position tracking.

tickrs

Realtime ticker data in your terminal.

tmpmail

A temporary email right from your terminal written in POSIX sh.

tre

Tree command, improved.

tz

A time zone helper.

viu

A small command-line application to view images from the terminal written in Rust.

vocage

Vocage is a minimalistic terminal-based vocabulary-learning tool.

websocat

Netcat, curl and socat for WebSockets.

wikit

Wikipedia summaries from the command line.

xplr

A hackable, minimal, fast TUI file explorer.

yj

CLI - Convert between YAML, TOML, JSON, and HCL. Preserves map order.

zeit

Zeit, erfassen. A command line tool for tracking time spent on activities.

zenith

Sort of like top or htop but with zoom-able charts, network, and disk usage.

zoxide

A smarter cd command. Supports all major shells.

Snippets

This is a list of command snippets that I regularly need/use. I’m putting them here in order to persist them in case my zsh history should be gone one day.

• Stream DSLR viewfinder via USB-C to /dev/video0:

  gphoto2 --stdout --capture-movie \
  | ffmpeg -i - -vcodec rawvideo -pix_fmt yuv420p -threads 0 -f v4l2 /dev/video0
  

• Set GTK theme:

  gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface gtk-theme "$GTK_THEME" \
  && gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.wm.preferences theme "$GTK_THEME"
  

• Arduino compiling & uploading:

  arduino-cli compile --fqbn esp32:esp32:esp32s2 --clean -e ./ \
  && arduino-cli upload -p /dev/ttyUSB0 --fqbn esp32:esp32:esp32s2 \
    -i ./build/esp32.esp32.esp32s2/*.ino.elf
  

• Search font:

  fc-list | rg $FONT