rfgrep

A command-line utility for recursively searching and listing files with advanced filtering capabilities. Built in Rust.

Features

• Advanced Search

  • Regex, plain text, and whole-word matching
  • Recursive directory traversal
  • Binary file detection
  • Extension filtering
  • Size limits

• File Listing

  • Detailed/simple output formats
  • Extension statistics
  • Size filtering
  • Hidden file handling

• Utilities

  • Clipboard copy support
  • Dry-run mode
  • Logging to file
  • Progress indicators

• Unix Pipeline Integration

  • Automatic quiet mode when piped
  • Seamless integration with grep, awk, sed, xargs
  • Count-only mode (-c)
  • Files-with-matches mode (-l)

• Output Formats (v0.4.0)

  • CSV export for spreadsheet analysis
  • TSV export for tab-separated data
  • JSON, XML, HTML, Markdown formats
  • NDJSON for streaming JSON

Installation

Assuming you have Rust installed, run:

Via Cargo

cargo install rfgrep

From GitHub

cargo install --git https://github.com/kh3rld/rfgrep.git

From Source

git clone https://github.com/kh3rld/rfgrep.git
cargo build --release

Installing Man Pages

After installing rfgrep, you can install the comprehensive man pages:

System-wide Installation (requires sudo)

cd man
sudo make install

User Installation (no sudo required)

cd man
make install-user

Then add to your shell profile (.bashrc, .zshrc, etc.):

export MANPATH=$MANPATH:$HOME/.local/share/man

Installing Shell Completions

rfgrep supports tab completion for all major shells:

Bash

# Generate and source completion
rfgrep completions bash >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc

Zsh

# Generate completion file
rfgrep completions zsh > ~/.zsh/completions/_rfgrep
# Add to .zshrc
echo 'fpath=(~/.zsh/completions $fpath)' >> ~/.zshrc
autoload -U compinit && compinit

Fish

# Generate and install
rfgrep completions fish --install --user

PowerShell

# Generate and import
rfgrep completions powershell > rfgrep-completion.ps1
. rfgrep-completion.ps1

Usage

Basic Search

rfgrep search "pattern"

Search with Options

rfgrep search "pattern" \
    --mode regex \
    --extensions rs,toml \
    --max-size 5 \
    --skip-binary \
    --copy

File Listing

# Simple list
rfgrep list

# Detailed view
rfgrep list --long --recursive

# With filters
rfgrep list --extensions rs,toml --max-size 10 --show-hidden

Documentation

See DESIGN_OPTIMIZATION.md for the latest simulation findings and the optimized framework proposal, including cross-disciplinary applications and roadmap.

Simulations

Quickly run built-in simulations and write a CSV report to ./results/simulations.csv:

rfgrep simulate

You can change the working directory with --path to select a corpus (defaults to . and prefers ./bench_data if present).

Man Pages

After installation, comprehensive man pages are available:

# Main man page
man rfgrep

# Command-specific man pages
man rfgrep-search
man rfgrep-interactive
man rfgrep-list
man rfgrep-completions

The man pages include:

• Complete command reference
• Detailed option descriptions
• Practical examples
• Performance tips
• Troubleshooting guides

Shell Completions

Once installed, tab completion provides:

• Command completion (rfgrep <TAB>)
• Option completion (rfgrep search --<TAB>)
• Extension completion (--extensions <TAB>)
• File path completion (src/<TAB>)

Troubleshooting

Man Pages Not Found

# Check if man pages are installed
ls ~/.local/share/man/man1/rfgrep*

# Add to shell profile if needed
echo 'export MANPATH=$MANPATH:$HOME/.local/share/man' >> ~/.bashrc

Completions Not Working

# Regenerate completions
rfgrep completions bash > ~/.bash_completion.d/rfgrep

# Reload shell configuration
source ~/.bashrc

# For zsh, ensure completion directory exists
mkdir -p ~/.zsh/completions
rfgrep completions zsh > ~/.zsh/completions/_rfgrep

# For fish, install to user directory
rfgrep completions fish --install --user

Performance Issues

# Use dry-run to preview
rfgrep search "pattern" --dry-run

# Skip binary files
rfgrep search "pattern" --skip-binary

# Limit file size
rfgrep search "pattern" --max-size 10

# Use specific extensions
rfgrep search "pattern" --extensions rs,py,js

Shell-Specific Troubleshooting

Bash:

# Check if completion is loaded
complete -p | grep rfgrep

# Manual installation
rfgrep completions bash >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc

Zsh:

# Check completion directory
ls ~/.zsh/completions/_rfgrep

# Reload completions
autoload -U compinit && compinit

Fish:

# Check if completion is installed
ls ~/.config/fish/completions/rfgrep.fish

# Manual installation
rfgrep completions fish > ~/.config/fish/completions/rfgrep.fish

Command Reference

Global Options

Search Command

List Command

Examples

1. Find all Rust files containing "HashMap":

rfgrep search "HashMap" --extensions rs

2. List all Markdown files under 1MB:

rfgrep list --extensions md --max-size 1

3. Search with regex and copy to clipboard:

rfgrep search "fn\s+\w+\s*\(" --mode regex --copy

4. New in v0.4.0: Count-only mode (like grep -c):

rfgrep search "error" --extensions log -c
# Output: 42

5. New in v0.4.0: Files-with-matches mode (like grep -l):

rfgrep search "TODO" --extensions rs -l
# Output: List of files containing TODO

6. New in v0.4.0: CSV export for analysis:

rfgrep search "HashMap" --extensions rs --output-format csv > results.csv

7. New in v0.4.0: Unix pipeline integration:

# Count matches per file
rfgrep search "error" --output-format csv | awk -F',' 'NR>1 {print $1}' | sort | uniq -c

# Process files with xargs
rfgrep list --extensions rs | xargs wc -l

# Filter with grep
rfgrep search "function" | grep "async"

8. Advanced file type control:

rfgrep search "pattern" --file-types comprehensive --include-extensions pdf,docx
rfgrep search "pattern" --text-only --safety-policy conservative
rfgrep search "pattern" --threads 4 --safety-policy performance

9. Simulation and benchmarking:

rfgrep simulate

Performance Tips

• Use --skip-binary to avoid unnecessary file checks
• Limit scope with --extensions and --max-size
• For large directories, --dry-run first to preview
• Use --safety-policy performance for faster processing
• Adjust --threads based on your CPU cores
• Use --file-types conservative for safe text-only search

Advanced Usage

Interactive Mode

# Start interactive search
rfgrep interactive "pattern"

# Interactive search with specific algorithm
rfgrep interactive "pattern" --algorithm boyer-moore

# Interactive search in specific file types
rfgrep interactive "pattern" --extensions rs,py

Output Formats

# JSON output for programmatic processing
rfgrep search "pattern" --output-format json

# NDJSON (newline-delimited JSON) for streaming
rfgrep search "pattern" --ndjson

# CSV output for spreadsheet analysis (v0.4.0)
rfgrep search "pattern" --output-format csv

# TSV output for tab-separated data (v0.4.0)
rfgrep search "pattern" --output-format tsv

# XML output for structured data
rfgrep search "pattern" --output-format xml

# HTML output for web display
rfgrep search "pattern" --output-format html

# Markdown output for documentation
rfgrep search "pattern" --output-format markdown

Search Algorithms

# Boyer-Moore (fast for plain text)
rfgrep search "pattern" --algorithm boyer-moore

# Regular expression
rfgrep search "pattern" --algorithm regex

# Simple linear search
rfgrep search "pattern" --algorithm simple

Verification

Test Man Pages

# Verify man pages are accessible
man rfgrep
man rfgrep-search
man rfgrep-interactive
man rfgrep-list
man rfgrep-completions

Test Shell Completions

# Bash: Type 'rfgrep ' and press TAB
rfgrep <TAB>

# Zsh: Type 'rfgrep ' and press TAB
rfgrep <TAB>

# Fish: Type 'rfgrep ' and press TAB
rfgrep <TAB>

Test Basic Functionality

# Test search functionality
rfgrep search "test" --extensions rs

# Test list functionality
rfgrep list --extensions rs

# Test interactive mode
rfgrep interactive "test" --extensions rs

Clipboard behavior in CI/headless environments

Note: the --copy option attempts to use the system clipboard and may fail in headless CI environments (X11/Wayland not available). In those environments run without --copy or provide a virtual display (Xvfb) or configure your CI to provide a clipboard service. The application will log a warning if the clipboard operation times out.

Automated Testing

# Test shell completions
./test_completions.sh

# Test man pages
./test_man_pages.sh

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please open an issue or PR for any:

• Bug reports
• Feature requests
• Performance improvements