sift

A fast, interactive command-line fuzzy finder.

_{Static preview — run vhs docs/demo.tape to record an animated GIF (see docs/demo.tape).}

sift takes any list of lines — files, command history, git branches, anything — and lets you narrow it down to the one you want by typing just a few letters. The characters you type only have to appear in order, not next to each other, so rprt finds report_2024_final.txt. Matches are ranked so the most likely result floats to the top.

Pipe a list in, type to filter, press Enter, and sift prints what you picked.

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Features

• Fuzzy matching with smart ranking — word boundaries, camelCase humps, and consecutive runs are rewarded; long gaps are penalised.
• Extended search syntax — combine fuzzy, 'exact, ^prefix, suffix$, and !inverse terms in one query.
• Fast — matching is parallelised across every CPU core.
• Preview window — show file contents, a git diff, anything, for the highlighted item.
• Multi-select — mark several items with Tab.
• Shell key-bindings — Ctrl-T (files), Ctrl-R (history), Alt-C (cd) for bash, zsh, and fish.
• Single static binary — no runtime dependencies; trivial to distribute.

Installation

From source

Requires Go 1.25 or newer (older toolchains are fetched automatically by go build).

go install github.com/Anshika2203/sift@latest

…or clone and build:

git clone https://github.com/Anshika2203/sift.git
cd sift
make build          # produces ./sift (sift.exe on Windows); or: go build -o sift .

Via package managers

Homebrew (macOS/Linux):

brew install --cask Anshika2203/tap/sift
# or tap once, then use the short name:
#   brew tap Anshika2203/tap
#   brew install --cask sift

Scoop (Windows):

scoop bucket add Anshika2203 https://github.com/Anshika2203/scoop-bucket
scoop install sift

Debian/Ubuntu, Fedora/RHEL, Alpine — grab the package from the latest release:

sudo dpkg -i sift_*_linux_amd64.deb                    # Debian/Ubuntu
sudo rpm  -i sift_*_linux_amd64.rpm                    # Fedora/RHEL
sudo apk add --allow-untrusted sift_*_linux_amd64.apk  # Alpine

Why not a bare brew install sift? The short form (like brew install fzf) only works for tools accepted into Homebrew's official homebrew-core catalog, which is curated by Homebrew's maintainers and requires a project to be notable and well-established — you can't self-publish there. A personal tap always uses the owner/tap/ prefix (or a one-time brew tap). Once sift gains traction it can be submitted to homebrew-core, after which brew install sift would work for everyone. (Scoop, by contrast, lets you use the bare scoop install sift as soon as the bucket is added.)

Usage

📖 See COOKBOOK.md for a full cross-platform cookbook — every feature with PowerShell (Windows), Bash/Zsh (macOS/Linux), and Fish examples.

# Pick a file
find . -type f | sift

# Pick a git branch and check it out
git branch | sed 's/^[* ] //' | sift | xargs git checkout

# Preview file contents while you browse
find . -type f | sift --preview 'cat {}'

# Preview on the bottom, 40% tall
find . -type f | sift --preview 'cat {}' --preview-window 'down,40%'

# Multi-select with Tab
ls | sift --multi

With nothing piped in, sift lists files in the current directory:

sift

Search syntax

By default a query is a fuzzy match. Separate the query with spaces to add more terms — every term must match (logical AND). Markers change how a term matches:

Token	Match type	Example	Matches
foo	fuzzy	fbb	FooBarBaz
'foo	exact substring	'bar	foo**bar**baz
'foo'	exact at word boundary	'wild'	a **wild** thing (not wildcard)
^foo	prefix	^main	main.go
foo$	suffix	.go$	main.go
^foo$	exact equality	^README.md$	README.md
!foo	inverse (must not match)	!test	excludes main_test.go
a | b	OR	go$ | rb$	main.go or app.rb

The inverse marker combines with the others: !^foo, !foo$, !'foo.

# files containing "main", but not "test"
find . | sift --query 'main !test'

# Go or Ruby files
find . | sift --query 'go$ | rb$'

Matching is case-insensitive unless a term contains an uppercase letter (smart case). Override with -i/+i, or make terms exact by default with -e/--exact.

Fields

Restrict the search (or the display) to specific columns. Fields are split on whitespace by default, or on --delimiter. Indexes are 1-based; negatives count from the end; 2.., ..3, and 2..4 are ranges.

# search only the 2nd column, but keep the whole line
ps aux | sift --nth 2

# colon-separated, search the first field
sift -d ':' --nth 1 < /etc/passwd

# show only the last field while searching it
sift --with-nth -1

Preview

--preview CMD runs a command for the highlighted item and shows its output in a side pane. These placeholders are expanded (and shell-quoted) in CMD:

Placeholder	Expands to
{}	the current item
{q}	the current query
{n}	the current item's index
{+}	all selected items (or the current one)
{1}, {-1}, {2..3}	field(s) of the current item

# git branch picker with a diff preview
git branch | sed 's/^[* ] //' | sift --preview 'git log --oneline {1}'

Position and size it with --preview-window (e.g. up,40%, left,60%, hidden). In the finder, Ctrl-O toggles the preview and Shift/Alt+↑/↓ scroll it.

Options

Flag	Description
-q, --query STR	start with an initial query
-p, --prompt STR	set the prompt (default > )
-m, --multi	enable multi-select
--preview CMD	run CMD for the highlighted item (see placeholders below)
--preview-window S	[up|down|left|right][,SIZE[%]][,hidden] (default right,50%)
--ansi	parse ANSI color codes in the input
--layout L	reverse (top-down, default) or default (bottom-up)
--reverse	shorthand for --layout reverse
--cycle	wrap-around cursor movement
--no-mouse	disable mouse (wheel + click are on by default)
--color SPEC	theme, e.g. prompt:cyan,hl:green,pointer:red
--history FILE	load/save query history (Ctrl-P/Ctrl-N)
--border[=STYLE]	draw a border (rounded, sharp, …)
--margin TRBL / --padding TRBL	space outside / inside the border
--style PRESET	default, minimal, or full
--header STR	show fixed header line(s) above the list
--footer STR	sticky footer line(s) at the very bottom
--bind K:ACT[,..]	bind keys/events to actions (repeatable) — see below
--jump-labels STR	label characters for the jump action
--listen [A:]PORT	HTTP control server (local only)
--header-lines N	treat the first N input lines as a sticky header
-e, --exact	exact-match by default (' flips a term to fuzzy)
-i / +i	force case-insensitive / case-sensitive matching
--algo v1|v2	fuzzy algorithm: optimal v2 (default) or greedy v1
--tiebreak C[,..]	tie-break order: length, begin, end, index
-n, --nth N[,..]	limit the search to certain fields
--with-nth N[,..]	display only certain fields
-d, --delimiter STR	field delimiter (default: whitespace)
+s, --no-sort	keep input order instead of ranking by score
--tac	reverse the input order
-f, --filter STR	non-interactive: print matches and exit
-1, --select-1	if exactly one item matches, pick it without the UI
-0, --exit-0	if nothing matches, exit immediately
--print-query	print the final query as the first output line
--expect KEYS	extra accept keys; prints which key was pressed first
--read0 / --print0	NUL-separated input / output
--bash / --zsh / --fish	print the shell key-binding script
-V, --version	print version
-h, --help	show help

Environment

Variable	Effect
SIFT_DEFAULT_COMMAND	command run to produce input when stdin is a terminal
SIFT_DEFAULT_OPTS	default options prepended to every invocation
SIFT_CTRL_T_COMMAND	command used by the CTRL-T key-binding

Keys

Key	Action
↑ / Ctrl-P, ↓ / Ctrl-N	move cursor
PgUp / PgDn	page up / down
Enter	accept selection
Esc / Ctrl-C	cancel
Tab	mark item (with --multi)
Ctrl-U	clear query
Ctrl-W	delete word
Backspace	delete character
Ctrl-O	toggle the preview window
Shift/Alt + ↑/↓	scroll the preview

Shell integration

Add the key-bindings to your shell to get Ctrl-T, Ctrl-R, and Alt-C:

# bash — in ~/.bashrc
eval "$(sift --bash)"

# zsh — in ~/.zshrc
eval "$(sift --zsh)"

# fish — in ~/.config/fish/config.fish
sift --fish | source

The bash and zsh scripts also enable fuzzy completion: type the trigger ** and press Tab to complete paths, e.g. vim **<Tab> or cd **<Tab>. Customise with SIFT_COMPLETION_TRIGGER and SIFT_COMPLETION_COMMAND.

Custom key bindings (--bind)

Map keys (or events) to actions: --bind 'KEY:ACTION[+ACTION...]', repeatable.

Actions: up down page-up page-down first last · accept abort toggle toggle-all select-all deselect-all · clear-query backward-delete-char change-query(..) put(..) change-prompt(..) · toggle-preview preview-up preview-down · jump jump-accept · backward · reload(..) execute(..) execute-silent(..) become(..)

Events: start, change, focus

Placeholders in command actions: {} {q} {n} {+} {1}/{-1}/{2..3}.

# open the highlighted file in your editor, replacing sift
find . -type f | sift --bind 'enter:become(${EDITOR:-vim} {})'

# live grep: re-run ripgrep on every keystroke
sift --bind 'change:reload(rg --line-number {q} || true)'

# jump mode: press ctrl-j, then a label key to leap to a row
sift --bind 'ctrl-j:jump'

# folder navigation: → descends, ← goes back up (preview intact)
find . | sift --preview '[ -d {} ] && ls {} || cat {}' \
  --bind 'right:reload(find {} -maxdepth 1)' --bind 'left:backward'

backward undoes the last reload, which is what makes ← "go up a level". --listen [addr:]port starts a local HTTP server so another program can POST an action string (e.g. reload(ls)) to a running sift.

How it works

input  ──▶  reader  ──▶  matcher  ──▶  ui
(stdin or          (lines)   (ranked    (interactive
 file walk)                   matches)    list + preview)

• internal/algo — the match + scoring engine. Fuzzy matching uses a greedy two-pass aligner (forward scan to locate the match, backward scan to tighten it) followed by a linear scoring pass that applies the boundary / camelCase / consecutive bonuses and gap penalties. The same scoring pass backs the exact / prefix / suffix / equal modes.
• internal/pattern — parses the extended search syntax into terms and evaluates them against an item.
• internal/matcher — runs the pattern across every item in parallel and sorts the results (score, then length, then input order).
• internal/reader — reads lines from stdin, or walks the filesystem when stdin is a terminal.
• internal/ui — the full-screen interactive interface (built on tcell), including the async preview pane.

Development

make build    # compile ./sift
make test     # run the test suite
make cross    # build release binaries for all platforms into dist/

Releasing

Releases are produced with GoReleaser (config in .goreleaser.yml), which builds the binaries and the Homebrew / Scoop / deb / rpm / apk artifacts:

git tag v0.1.0
git push --tags
GITHUB_TOKEN=... goreleaser release --clean

The brews: and scoops: steps publish to Anshika2203/homebrew-tap and Anshika2203/scoop-bucket; create those repos first, or comment the sections out to skip them.

License

MIT