Functions for the Fish Shell, making common tasks more convenient.

Installation

Backup any existing ~/.config/fish, then:

git clone https://git.sr.ht/~razzi/fish-functions ~/.config/fish

In previous versions, other fish config including abbrs were included as well. That changed much more frequently than the functions, so I split them out.

Now they are at https://git.sr.ht/~razzi/.dotfiles (see that repository's README for installation instructions).

Contents

• fish Interactive Utilities
  • abbr-add
  • abbr-erase
  • clip
  • funced-last
  • funcsave-last
  • mkdir-cd
• File Manipulation
  • backup
  • copy
  • create-file
  • eat
  • move
  • move-last-download
  • remove
  • restore
• Zipfile Utilities
  • clean-unzip
  • unzip-cd
• Text Utilities
  • coln
  • row
  • skip-lines
  • take
  • word-count
  • line-count
  • char-count
• fish Scripting Utilities
  • string-empty
  • file-exists
  • is-dir
  • is-symlink
  • confirm
• Environment Utilities
  • curdir
  • echo-variable
  • readpass
• Symlink Utilities
  • symlink
  • unsymlink
  • symlinks
  • link-rc
• git Utilities
  • clone-cd
  • clone-shallow-cd
  • wip
  • git-add
  • git-commit
  • git-protocol-https-to-git
  • gitignore
  • hub
• lima Utilities
  • lima-ssh
  • lima-vnc
• vim Utilities
  • vim-plugin
• Postgres Utilities
  • ensuredb
  • renamedb
• Date Utilities
  • isodate
  • isodatetime
• debian Utilities
  • apt-description
• macOS Utilities
  • wifi-network-name
  • wifi-password
  • wifi-reset

fish Interactive Utilities

Fish functions designed to be typed and run in the shell.

abbr-add <name> <expansion> [<args>] (source)

Adds an abbr and syncs your abbrs to ~/.config/fish/conf.d/abbrs.fish.

This way the abbr will be loaded the next time you open your shell.

Without abbr-add, you can use abbr -a to make your own abbrs, and add abbr -a calls to your fish config manually, but I recommend using abbr-add and tracking ~/.config/fish/conf.d/abbrs.fish in version control.

All abbr options are passed to this command, so for example you can run:

$ abbr-add --position anywhere isntall install

Recommended abbreviation: abbr-add ab abbr-add

abbr-erase <name> (source)

Erases an abbr and removes it from ~/.config/fish/conf.d/abbrs.fish.

Recommended abbreviation: abbr-add ae abbr-erase

Completion: completes abbr names.

clip [args] (source)

Copies the arguments that follow clip to the clipboard.

$ clip cat ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub
# now "cat ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub" is on the clipboard
$ echo (fish_clipboard_paste)
cat ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub

This is useful when you want to copy a command to your clipboard (possibly to paste the command into documentation).

You can press the up arrow or control+p to get to the previous command, then hit control-a to move your cursor to the start, prepend clip , and you can quickly copy a command.

If you want to copy the output of a command, pipe it to fish_clipboard_copy:

$ echo 1 | fish_clipboard_copy
$ echo (fish_clipboard_paste)
1

funced-last (source)

Edit the last-edited fish function again.

funcsaved-last (source)

Save the last-edited fish function.

$ function hi
  echo hi
end
$ funcsave-last
funcsave: wrote /Users/razzi/.config/fish/functions/hi.fish

Recommended abbreviation: abbr-add fs funcsave-last

mkdir-cd (source)

Make a directory and cd into it.

$ mkdir-cd folder
folder $

Recommended abbreviation: abbr-add mc mkdir-cd

File Manipulation

backup <file> (source)

Creates a copy of file as file.bak.

$ ls
README.md
$ backup README.md
$ ls
README.md  README.md.bak

copy <source> ... [<destination>] (source)

cp with some extra behaviors.

Automatic recursive copy for directories. Rather than only copying the files from a directory, copies the directory itself.

Also uses -i flag by default, which will warn you if a copy would overwrite a destination file.

Example:

$ mkdir testdir
$ touch testdir/file.txt
$ mkdir destdir

# Standard cp needs -r flag
$ cp testdir/ destdir/
cp: testdir/ is a directory (not copied).

# And does not preserve the source folder
$ cp -r testdir/ destdir/
$ ls destdir/
file.txt

# Cleaning up...
$ rm destdir/file.txt

# In contrast, using `copy` function:
$ copy testdir/ destdir/
$ ls destdir/
testdir

Recommended abbreviation: abbr-add cp copy

If you do this abbreviation, use command cp for the low-level cp.

create-file <target> (source)

Creates a file, including parent directories as necessary.

$ create-file a/b/c
$ tree
.
└── a
    └── b
        └── c

eat <target> (source)

Moves a directory's contents to the current directory and removes the empty directory.

$ tree
.
└── a
    └── b
        └── c
$ eat a
$ tree
.
└── b
    └── c

If a file in the current directory would be overwritten by eat, it will error with exit status 1.

An illustration of this:

$ tree
.
├── dir-a
│   └── dir-b
│       └── some_file
└── dir-b
    └── would_be_overwritten

3 directories, 3 files
$ eat dir-a
eat: file would be overwritten: ./dir-b

move <source> ... <destination> (source)

Like mv but uses -i flag by default, which will warn you if mv would overwrite a destination file.

Also warns you if you are trying to move a directory symlink which is ending in slash:

$ mkdir mydir
$ ln -s mydir mylink
$ mv mylink/ renamed
mv: cannot move 'mylink/' to 'renamed': Not a directory

move gives a more descriptive error:

$ move mylink/ renamed
move: `from` argument "mylink/" is a symlink with a trailing slash.
move: to rename a symlink, remove the trailing slash from the argument.

This arises because tab completion adds the slash. Completion for move could avoid the slash, but then again you might want to move a file within the symlinked directory.

move-last-download [<dest>] (source)

Move the latest download to destination directory, which is the current directory if none is specified.

Recommended abbreviation: abbr-add mvl move-last-download

remove <target> (source)

rm with an extra behavior.

If removing a directory with write-protected .git, confirm once to ensure the git directory is desired to be removed.

$ ls -a dodo
.  ..  .git  x
$ remove dodo
Remove .git directory dodo/.git?> y

Using plain rm:

$ rm -r dodo
override r--r--r--  razzi/staff for dodo/.git/objects/58/05b676e247eb9a8046ad0c4d249cd2fb2513df? y
override r--r--r--  razzi/staff for dodo/.git/objects/f3/7f81fa1f16e78ac451e2d9ce42eab8933bd99f? y
override r--r--r--  razzi/staff for dodo/.git/objects/e6/9de29bb2d1d6434b8b29ae775ad8c2e48c5391? ^C
$ rm -rf dodo

Recommended abbreviation: abbr-add rm remove

If you do this abbreviation, use command rm for the low-level rm.

restore <backup> (source)

Rename a backup such as file.bak to remove the .bak extension.

$ ls
README.md README.md.bak
$ restore README.md.bak
$ ls
README.md

Zipfile Utilities

clean-unzip <zipfile> (source)

Unzips a .zip archive without polluting the current directory, by creating a directory even if the zipfile does not have a folder level.

unzip-cd <zipfile> (source)

Unzip a zip directory and cd into it. Uses clean-unzip to create a folder if the zipfile doesn't have one.

$ unzip-cd files.zip
Archive:  files.zip
 extracting: out/a.txt
 extracting: out/b.txt
files $ ls
a.txt  b.txt

Text Utilities

coln <number> (source)

Splits input on whitespace and prints the column indicated.

$ echo 1 2 | coln 2
2

row <number> (source)

Prints the row of input indicated.

$ seq 3 | row 2
2

skip-lines <number> (source)

Skips the first n lines of stdin.

$ seq 5 | skip-lines 2
3
4
5

take <n> (source)

Take the first n lines of standard input.

$ seq 5 | take 3
1
2
3

word-count (source)

Count the words from standard input. Like wc -w but does not put spaces around the number.

$ echo a b | word-count
2
# Compare to:
$ echo a b | wc -w
       2

line-count (source)

Count the lines from standard input. Like wc -l but does not put spaces around the number.

$ seq 3 | line-count
3
# Compare to:
$ seq 3 | wc -l
       3

char-count (source)

Count the characters from standard input. Like wc -c but does not put spaces around the number.

$ echo -n a b | char-count
3
# Compare to:
$ echo -n a b | wc -c
       3

fish Scripting Utilities

string-empty <value> (source)

Test if the value is the empty string.

$ string-empty ''
$ echo $status
0

Can be used to test for arguments:

$ function something
    if string-empty $argv
        echo No arguments passed
    else
        echo Arguments were passed
    end
end
$ something
No arguments passed
$ something 1
Arguments were passed

If you use this on a variable, be sure to get the variable's value using $:

$ if string-empty $VIRTUAL_ENV
    echo in venv
  end

since string-empty VIRTUAL_ENV will always return false.

file-exists <file> (source)

Test if $file exists.

is-dir <path> (source)

Check if $path is a directory.

is-symlink <path> (source)

Check if $path is a symlink.

confirm (source)

Prompts the user for confirmation. Exit with status according to whether they answered y, Y, yes, or YES.

Environment Utilities

curdir (source)

Just the current directory name, please.

mydir $ curdir
mydir

You probably won't need this interactively since the current directory is usually part of your fish_prompt, but this is useful for scripting.

echo-variable <variable> (source)

Like echo, but without the $ or capitalization.

$ echo-variable user
razzi
$ echo $USER
razzi

Recommended abbreviation: abbr-add ev echo-variable

Completion: completes environment variable names.

readpass <name> (source)

Prompt for a password. Does not echo entered characters.

$ readpass email
●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●
$ echo $email
[email protected]

symlink utilities

symlink <from> <to> (source)

Create a symbolic link, using absolute paths.

~/dotfiles $ symlink .prettierrc ~
~/dotfiles $ cat ~/.prettierrc
singleQuote: true
semi: false

Without using absolute paths:

~/dotfiles $ ln -s .prettierrc ~
~/dotfiles $ cat ~/.prettierrc
cat: /Users/razzi/.prettierrc: Too many levels of symbolic links

unsymlink <file> (source)

Remove a symlink. Errors if the file is not a symlink.

Recommended abbreviation: abbr-add us unsymlink

symlinks [<dir>] (source)

List symlinks in the given directory, or the current directory if none is passed.

link-rc [<file>] (source)

Create a symlink from $file to the home directory (~).

Sample usage:

.dotfiles $ link-rc .tmux.conf
.dotfiles $ head -1 ~/.tmux.conf
set -g prefix ^Space

Recommended abbreviation: abbr-add lrc link-rc

git utilities

clone-cd url [destination] (source)

Clone a git repository into the current directory (or the optional $destination), and cd into it.

If a folder by that name already exists, great, you probably already cloned it, just cd into the directory and pull.

If it's trying to clone into a non-empty directory, make a new folder in that directory with the repository name and clone into that, instead of erroring.

Recommended abbreviation: abbr-add cc clone-cd

clone-shallow-cd url [destination] (source)

Like clone-cd but clones with --depth=1 for speed.

wip [message] (source)

Adds untracked changes and commits them with a WIP message. Additional arguments are added to the WIP message.

I use this instead of git stash so that changes are associated with the branch they're on, and the commit is tracked in the reflog.

$ git stat
## master
M      tests.py
$ git switch -c testing
$ wip failing tests
[testing 0078f7f] WIP failing tests
$ git switch -

git-add [paths] (source)

A wrapper for git add that defaults to git add . if no arguments given, rather than erroring.

Recommended abbreviation: abbr-add ga git-add

git-commit [message] (source)

Like git commit -m without the need to quote the commit message.

If no commit message is given and there's only 1 file changed, commit "(Add / Update / Delete) (that file)".

$ git-commit
[master c77868d] Update README.md
 1 file changed, 57 insertions(+), 18 deletions(-)
$ git reset @^
Unstaged changes after reset:
M       README.md
$ git-add
$ git-commit Fix typo in README.md
[master 0078f7f] Fix typo in README.md
1 file changed, 57 insertions(+), 18 deletions(-)

Recommended abbreviation: abbr-add gc git-commit

git-protocol-https-to-git (source)

Change the protocol of the current git repository to be git rather than https.

Useful if you clone an https url but you want to push or pull later.

Example usage:

ronin $ git push
fatal: unable to access 'https://git.sr.ht/~razzi/ronin/': The requested URL returned error: 403
ronin $ git-protocol-https-to-git
ronin $ git push
Everything up-to-date

Recommended abbreviation: abbr-add gpro git-protocol-https-to-git

gitignore <pattern> (source)

Add a pattern to the .gitignore.

Recommended abbreviation: abbr-add giti gitignore

hub [remote] (source)

Opens the url of your current git repository in the browser.

By default it will open the upstream remote, however you can pass the specific remote you'd like to open.

Some history here: before the gh cli was released, there was hub, a command to interact with github from the command line. It had a weird design; it wrapped git commands, and wanted you to alias git=hub (I never did). However one thing it did better than the gh command is that hub browse would open the (github) git repository in the browser. I stopped installing hub but I still wanted this functionality, so I recreated it as a single-purpose command and added the ability to open different remotes.

Completion: completes remote names.

lima Utilities

lima-ssh [name] (source)

Connect to a lima virtual machine. Defaults the machine named default.

Creates and starts the machine as necessary, so it works in 1 command.

lima-vnc (source)

Connect to a Lima virtual machine over VNC.

Creates and starts the machine as necessary, like lima-ssh.

vim Utilities

vim-plugin <url> (source)

Install a vim plugin using the builtin vim plugin mechanism.

Postgres Utilities

ensuredb <name> (source)

Ensure that a fresh database by the name given is created. Drops a database by that name if it exists, clearing database connections as necessary.

renamedb <from> <to> (source)

Renames a database.

Date Utilities

isodate (source)

Prints the date in ISO format.

$ isodate
2020-01-28

isodatetime (source)

Prints the date and time in ISO format.

$ isodatetime
2025-03-07T23:11:53

debian Utilities

apt-description <package> (source)

Show the apt description for a given package.

macOS Utilities

wifi-network-name (source)

Prints the current wifi network name.

wifi-password (source)

Prints the current wifi network password. It will pop up with an authentication modal; enter your login username and password and hit enter and it will print the wifi password to the command line.

wifi-reset (source)

Turns the wifi off and on again.