# try-rs 🦀
> **A blazing fast, Rust-based workspace manager for your temporary experiments.**
**try-rs** is a CLI tool designed to manage the chaos of temporary projects. Instead of cluttering your Desktop or `/tmp` with `test1`, `new-test`, and `final-test`, `try-rs` organizes them into date-prefixed directories, offering a robust TUI (Terminal User Interface) to create, navigate, and clean up your experiments.
## 💡 Inspiration
This project is a Rust port and re-imagination of the excellent [try](https://github.com/tobi/try) tool by **Tobi Lütke**.
While the original is a lightweight Ruby script, **try-rs** aims to bring the same philosophy, "Your experiments deserve a home", but with the performance, type safety, and modern TUI capabilities (using [Ratatui](https://github.com/ratatui/ratatui)) of the Rust ecosystem.
## 🤔 Why try-rs?
| **🏎️ Blazing Fast** | Built in Rust, it's compiled to a native binary. No more waiting for a script interpreter to start up. |
| **🖼️ Rich TUI** | A modern Ratatui interface makes browsing and managing projects a breeze. |
| **✅ Type Safe** | Say goodbye to runtime errors. Rust's strict compiler catches them before they become a problem. |
| **Git-Aware** | Clones repos with a single command, automatically naming them. |
## ✨ Features
* **Fuzzy Search:** Instantly find old experiments using a smart fuzzy matching algorithm.
* **Auto-Dating:** Creates directories like `2025-12-17-rust-test` automatically.
* **Git Integration:** Paste a GitHub/GitLab URL, and it will auto-clone it into a dated folder.
* `try-rs https://github.com/ratatui/ratatui` → clones to `.../2025-12-17-ratatui`
* **Terminal UI:** A beautiful TUI built with Ratatui to browse your projects.
* **Safe Deletion:** Delete old experiments directly from the UI (`Ctrl+D`) with a confirmation popup.
* **Configurable:** Supports `XDG Base Directory` specification (`~/.config/try-rs/config.toml`).
## 📦 Installation
### Prerequisites
* Rust & Cargo installed.
* A shell (Fish, Zsh, Bash).
### Building from source
```bash
git clone [https://github.com/tassiovirginio/try-rs.git](https://github.com/tassiovirginio/try-rs)
cd try-rs
cargo install --path . --bin try-rs
```
### Cargo install try-rs
```bash
cargo install try-rs
```
### Install in Archlinux
```bash
yay -S try-rs-bin
```
⚙️ Configuration
1. Setup the Shell Integration
Since try-rs needs to change your shell's current directory, it requires a small wrapper function.
🐟 Fish Shell (Recommended)
```bash
try-rs --setup fish
```
(Optional) Create an abbreviation:
```
abbr --add try try-rs
```
🐚 Zsh
```bash
try-rs --setup zsh
```
🐚 Bash
```bash
try-rs --setup bash
```
2. Config File
By default, experiments are stored in ~/src/tries, and colors. To change this, create ~/.config/try-rs/config.toml:
```toml
# ~/.config/try-rs/config.toml
tries_path = "~/Development/playground"
[colors]
title_try = "Magenta"
title_rs = "White"
search_box = "Green"
list_date = "Blue"
list_highlight_bg = "Magenta"
list_highlight_fg = "Black"
help_text = "DarkGray"
status_message = "Yellow"
popup_bg = "DarkGray"
popup_text = "LightRed"
```
🚀 Usage
Simply type try-rs (or your alias) in your terminal.
### Key Bindings
| `Type` | Filter the list (Fuzzy Search) |
| `↑` / `↓`| Navigate the list |
| `Enter` | Select directory (or create new if text doesn't match) |
| `Ctrl+D` | Delete the selected directory (triggers popup) |
| `Esc` | Cancel / Close Popup |
### CLI Commands
You can also bypass the UI:
| `try-rs` | Opens the TUI |
| `try-rs <name>` | Create (or jump to) a named experiment |
| `try-rs <https://github.com/user/repo>` | Clones a repository into a dated folder |
| `try-rs --setup <shell>` | setup shell integration (fish, zsh, bash) |
🤝 Contributing
Pull requests are welcome! For major changes, please open an issue first to discuss what you would like to change.
📄 License
[MIT](LICENSE)