# cdt
[](https://github.com/ro80t/cdtui/actions/workflows/ci.yml)
[](https://crates.io/crates/cdtui)
A neo-tree style terminal UI for picking a directory to `cd` into — browse the
tree, search it with ripgrep, press Enter, and your shell is there.
## Install
```sh
cargo install cdtui # installs two names for the same program: cdt and cdtui
```
The crate is `cdtui` because `cdt` was taken on crates.io. Both commands are
installed, so `cdt` works whether or not you remember the abbreviation.
Needs the `rg` binary on `PATH` for full-text search (`s`); browsing and
file-name search work without it.
## Shell setup
A process cannot change its parent's directory, so `cdt` draws its UI on stderr
and prints only the chosen path to stdout. A one-line shell wrapper does the
`cd`:
```sh
cdt install
```
This writes the wrapper into every shell found on the machine: `~/.bashrc`,
`~/.zshrc`, the PowerShell profile (`$PROFILE`), and — since cmd has no
functions — a `cdt.cmd` on `PATH` (`%USERPROFILE%\bin\cdt.cmd`). Existing
content in those files is left alone; re-running `install` updates its own
block in place rather than duplicating it.
Name one or more shells to set up only those: `cdt install powershell`
(`bash`, `zsh`, `powershell`, `cmd`). `cdt uninstall` removes exactly what
`install` added, the same way.
For cmd specifically, `cdt.cmd`'s directory still has to be on `PATH`
**before** `%USERPROFILE%\.cargo\bin` — within a single directory cmd prefers
`.EXE` over `.CMD`, so next to `cdt.exe` the wrapper would never run; `where
cdt` should list `cdt.cmd` first. `install` says so if it isn't. Inside your
own `.bat`, write `call cdt` — cmd ends a script when it runs another one.
Until a wrapper is in place `cdt` prints the path and says so on stderr,
rather than appearing to do nothing. Quitting with `q` prints nothing and
leaves the directory alone.
`cdt health` reports which shells have the wrapper installed, and whether
`rg` is on `PATH` for full-text search — a status check, not a gate; it
always exits 0.
## Usage
```sh
cdt # start at the current directory
cdt ~/src # start somewhere else
```
| `j` / `k` | move |
| `l` / `Space` / `Tab` | expand / collapse a directory |
| `h` | collapse, then step out to the parent, then re-root one level up |
| `g` / `G` | first / last |
| `/` | search names — files *and* folders (honours `.gitignore`) |
| `s` | full-text search of file contents with ripgrep |
| `.` | toggle hidden files |
| `Enter` | `cd` there and exit (a file resolves to its directory) |
| `q` / `Esc` | exit without changing directory |
While `/` or `s` is open every letter types into the query, so `q` and `.`
search rather than act:
| `↑` / `↓` / `Tab` | move through the hits |
| `Backspace` | edit the query |
| `Enter` | `cd` to the selected hit and exit |
| `Esc` | back to the tree |
`/` does not need ripgrep installed: it uses ripgrep's own walker (the `ignore`
crate) as a library. `s` shells out to `rg`. Both run on a worker thread, so
typing stays responsive on a large tree and the status bar shows `searching…`
until the hits land. A count shown as `500+` means the list was capped.
## Libraries
The parts are published separately and usable on their own:
[`cdt-tree`](https://crates.io/crates/cdt-tree) (tree model),
[`cdt-search`](https://crates.io/crates/cdt-search) (name and content search),
[`cdt-view`](https://crates.io/crates/cdt-view) (the ratatui picker).
## Contributing
Workspace layout, dev commands, CI and the release procedure:
[.github/CONTRIBUTING.md](.github/CONTRIBUTING.md).
## License
MIT