Rg Ripgrep

ripgrep (commonly known as rg) is a fast command-line search tool that is very similar to grep, but with more features and better performance. Here’s a basic tutorial to get you started with using rg.

Installation

brew install ripgrep

sudo apt-get install ripgrep

Basic Usage

1. Simple Search

The most basic usage of rg is to search for a pattern in files. For example, to search for the word "example" in the current directory and its subdirectories:

rg example

2. Search in a Specific File Type

To search for a pattern in files of a specific type, you can use the -t option. For example, to search for "example" only in Python files:

rg -t py example

3. Search in a Specific Directory

To search in a specific directory, you can specify the directory path after the search pattern:

rg example /path/to/directory

4. Ignoring Case

To ignore case sensitivity in your search, use the -i option:

rg -i example

5. Show Line Numbers

To show line numbers in the search results, use the -n option:

rg -n example

6. Search for Exact Matches

To search for an exact match (whole words), use the -w option:

rg -w example

7. Display Context Lines

To display lines of context around matches, you can use the -C, -B, or -A options.

• -C: Both before and after
• -B: Before
• -A: After

For example, to show 3 lines of context before and after each match:

rg -C 3 example

8. Excluding Files or Directories

To exclude files or directories from the search, use the --exclude option:

rg --exclude "*.log" example

To exclude a directory:

rg --exclude-dir node_modules example

9. Using Regular Expressions

rg supports regular expressions by default. For example, to search for lines that start with "example":

rg "^example"

10. Counting Matches

To count the number of matches, use the -c option:

rg -c example

Summary

Here's a quick reference for the options covered:

rg [options] PATTERN [PATH]

• -t <type>: Search only in files of a specific type.
• -i: Ignore case.
• -n: Show line numbers.
• -w: Search for exact matches.
• -C <num>: Show lines of context.
• --exclude <pattern>: Exclude files matching the pattern.
• --exclude-dir <dir>: Exclude directories matching the pattern.
• -c: Count the number of matches.

Example Commands

1. Search for "test" in Python files ignoring case:

   rg -t py -i test
   

2. Search for "TODO" in the current directory and show line numbers:

   rg -n TODO
   

3. Search for "error" in logs directory excluding .log files:

   rg --exclude "*.log" error logs/
   

4. Search for lines starting with "function" in JavaScript files:

   rg -t js "^function"
   

Additional Resources

• man rg: For the manual page with a full list of options.
• ripgrep GitHub Repository: For source code, issues, and updates.

This should give you a solid start with using ripgrep. Feel free to ask if you have any specific questions or need more advanced examples!

Command to reproduce:

gt.sandbox.checkout.commit e631ea5 \
&& cd "${GT_SANDBOX_REPO}/dir-with-files" \
&& cmd.run.announce "touch first_file && find . -mmin -10 -type f -print0 | xargs -0 rg . | fzf"

find . -mmin -10 -type f -print0 | xargs -0 rg . --hidden --with-filename --line-number --follow | fzf

Default Types