bush

A tree command substitute that respects .gitignore, .dockerignore, .npmignore, .eslintignore, .prettierignore, .ignore — and any other ignore-file format you wire in — through one unified pipeline.

Built on the same ignore crate that powers ripgrep and fd, so traversal is fast and the ignore semantics are correct.

$ bush
.
├── Cargo.toml
├── src
│   ├── color.rs
│   ├── config.rs
│   ├── exit.rs
│   ├── filter.rs
│   ├── format.rs
│   ├── format_meta.rs
│   ├── main.rs
│   ├── tree.rs
│   └── walker.rs
└── tests
    └── cli.rs

2 directories, 11 files

Install

git clone <this-repo> bush && cd bush
cargo build --release
ln -s "$PWD/target/release/bush" ~/.local/bin/bush     # symlink (auto-updates on rebuild)
# or:
cp     target/release/bush       ~/.local/bin/bush     # copy   (frozen at this build)

Verify: bush --version → bush 0.2.0

Usage

bush [OPTIONS] [PATH]

  -I, --ignore-file <NAME>     Add an ignore filename to honor (repeatable)
      --no-ignore              Disable all ignore-file processing
  -H, --hidden                 Include dotfiles and dot-directories
  -L, --max-depth <N>          Limit traversal depth
  -o, --output <FILE>          Write to FILE instead of stdout
      --stdout                 Force stdout (overrides any output= in config)
  -d, --dirs-only              Show only directories
      --follow-symlinks        Traverse into symlinked directories
      --color <auto|always|never>
                               Color output (auto follows TTY)
  -s, --show-sizes             Show file sizes in [bracketed] form
  -D, --show-mtime             Show modification time (YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM, UTC)
  -p, --show-permissions       Show file mode (unix; e.g. [rwxr-xr-x])
  -l, --show-symlink-target    Print "name -> target" for symlinks
      --sort <name|size|mtime|none>
                               Sort key (default name; mtime is newest-first)
  -r, --reverse                Reverse the sort order
      --include <GLOB>         Only show files matching this glob (repeatable)
      --exclude <GLOB>         Exclude paths matching this glob (repeatable)
      --noreport               Suppress the "N directories, M files" footer
      --format <tree|json|html|xml>
                               Output format (default tree)
      --config <FILE>          Use a specific config file (skips discovery)
      --no-config              Skip .bush config discovery; use defaults + CLI
  -h, --help                   Print help
  -V, --version                Print version

Examples

bush                          # current directory, defaults
bush src/ -L 2 -d             # 2 levels, directories only
bush -H --no-ignore           # show absolutely everything
bush -s -D -p                 # size + mtime + permissions
bush --sort size -r           # largest files first
bush --include "*.rs"         # only Rust files (parent dirs auto-pruned)
bush --exclude target         # hide target/ entirely
bush --format json | jq       # structured output for scripting
bush --color=always | less -R # force color through pipes
bush -o STRUCTURE.txt         # write to file

Configuration

bush reads JSON config from several locations, merging them in a defined precedence. All keys are optional; unknown keys produce a clear error so typos surface immediately.

.bush (or .bush.json) example:

{
  "ignore_files": [".gitignore", ".ignore", ".dockerignore"],
  "include_hidden": false,
  "max_depth": 3,
  "output": "STRUCTURE.txt",
  "follow_symlinks": false,
  "directories_only": false,
  "use_ignore": true,
  "color": "auto",
  "show_sizes": false,
  "show_mtime": false,
  "show_permissions": false,
  "show_symlink_target": false,
  "sort": "name",
  "reverse": false,
  "include": [],
  "exclude": [],
  "no_report": false,
  "format": "tree"
}

Discovery & precedence (highest wins)

CLI flags
  > local .bush.json or .bush       (walked up from target dir)
  > $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/bush/config.json
  > ~/.config/bush/config.json
  > ~/.bush                         (legacy global)
  > built-in defaults

• --config <FILE> bypasses every discovery layer; CLI flags still layer on top.
• BUSH_CONFIG=<path> env var acts like --config but loses to an explicit --config flag.
• --no-config skips all discovery; built-in defaults still apply.
• Local lookup walks up from the target directory and stops at $HOME so ~/.bush is treated as global, not local.
• .bush.json is preferred over .bush when both exist in the same directory.

Built-in defaults

If no config is found, bush honors:

• .gitignore
• .ignore (the ripgrep/fd convention)
• .dockerignore
• .npmignore
• .eslintignore
• .prettierignore

Color palette (LS_COLORS-style)

Exit codes

Testing

cargo test               # ~275 tests across unit + integration
cargo clippy --all-targets -- -D warnings
cargo fmt -- --check

License

MIT — see LICENSE.