2022-10-18

Alias in Zsh

A Guide to Setting Up Aliases for Efficient Command Line Operations

AliasZsh

Table of Contents

If you use the command line, there are probably some commands you run frequently. Some of these commands can be quite long, and copying or typing them each time can be tedious. In such cases, you can create an alias for a command.

For example, if you want to use h as a shortcut for cd ~, you can define it in your shell configuration file:

alias h='cd ~'

Add this line to your ~/.zshrc (or ~/.bashrc). If you don’t see such a file in your home directory, you can create one with:

touch ~/.zshrc

If you find any useful aliases below, add them to your ~/.zshrc file.

Basic

change directory

cs() { cd $@ && la }
alias cd='cs'
alias ..='cd ..'
alias ...='cd ../..'
alias ....='cd ../../..'
alias cb='cd -'
alias d='cd ~/Desktop'
alias dl="cd ~/Downloads"
alias h='cd ~'
alias /='cd /'

# Change working directory to the topmost Finder window location.
cdf() { cd "$(osascript -e 'tell app "Finder" to POSIX path of (insertion location as alias)')" }

show files

alias ls='gls --color --group-directories-first -F'
alias l='ls'
alias la='ls -A'
alias ll='ls -AhlS'
alias ds='du -d 1 -h 2>/dev/null | sort -h'
alias pwd='sed "s/ /\\\ /g" <<< ${PWD/#$HOME/"~"}'
alias p='pwd'
alias path='echo -e ${PATH//:/\\n}'

  • ls: To use gls, you need to install coreutils with brew install coreutils. You can use the same colorization as the tree command.

    • --color option colorize the output of gls command.
    • --group-directories-first option puts directories first.
    • -F option adds a trailing / to directory names, @ to symbolic links, and so on.

  • la, ll: ls is defined as gls --color --group-directories-first -F before la='ls -A'. This means la='gls --color --group-directories-first -F -A' and the same for ll.

    • -A option shows all files and directories except . and ...
    • -h option shows the size in human readable format.
    • -l option shows the file size, owner, group, and permissions.
    • -S option sorts by file size.

  • ds: du -d 1 shows the size of directories in the current directory.

    • -h option shows the size in human readable format.
    • 2>/dev/null hides error messages.
    • sort -h sorts by file size using pipe.

  • pwd: sed "s/ /\\\ /g" puts \ before every space. <<< is a "here string". ${PWD/#$HOME/"~"} replaces $HOME with ~ in the current directory path.

Tip

When you specify options, you can use ls -AhlS instead of ls -A -h -l -S.

edit files

alias v='vi'
alias cp='cp -iv'
alias mv='mv -iv'
alias rm='rm -iv'
alias rf='rm -rf'
  • -i option asks you before overwriting a file.
  • -v option shows the name of the file being copied, moved, or removed.
fb() { find . -size +$2M -type f -name $1 -exec ls -lhS "{}" +}
rn() { for filename in *.$1; do mv -f "$filename" $(echo "$filename" | sed -e "s/$2//g"); done }
dif(){ diff --color -u $1 $2 }
alias imgopt='open -a ImageOptim .'
alias grep='grep --color'
Function

You can make an alias with arguments, which is called a function. Functions are defined as function_name() { commands }. For example, fb takes two arguments, $1 and $2. $1 is the first argument and $2 is the second argument. Use it like fb "*.pdf" 10 to find files with the name pdf larger than 10 MB.

In addition to $1 and $2, there are other special variables: $0 is the function name. $@ is all arguments. $# is the number of arguments. $? is the exit status of the last command. $$ is the process ID of the current shell. $! is the process ID of the last command run in the background.

  • fb finds files larger than $2 MB with the name $1 in the current directory.
    • -size +$2M option finds files larger than $2 MB.
    • -type f option finds only files (-type d finds only directories).
    • -name $1 option finds files with the name $1.
    • -exec ls -lhS "{}" + option executes ls -lhS command for each file found.
  • rn renames files with the extension $1 by removing $2 from the file name. For example, rn txt asdf renames aaasdfff.txt to aaff.txt.
Note

-exec <command> {} + is a common syntax to execute <command> for each file found. {} is a placeholder for the file name. + is a delimiter to tell the end of the command.

open apps

alias hr='open .'
alias c='open /Applications/CotEditor.app'
alias vs='code'
alias chrome='open /Applications/Google\ Chrome.app'
  • hr opens the current directory.
  • c opens CotEditor.
  • vs opens Visual Studio Code.
  • chrome opens Google Chrome.

others

alias his='history'
alias rl='exec ${SHELL} -l' #reload

zip encryption

zipen(){
    zip -er enc.zip "$@"
}

zipen zips files and encrypts them with a password into enc.zip. Use like zipen file1 file2 dir1.

Note

"$@" is a special variable that expands to all arguments. For example, "$@" is expanded to file1 file2 dir1 in the above example.

Mac OS settings

Show/hide hidden files in Finder

alias show="defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles -bool true && killall Finder"
alias hide="defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles -bool false && killall Finder"
Tip

You can also use Command + Shift + . to show/hide hidden files in Finder.

Hide/show all desktop icons

alias dhide="defaults write com.apple.finder CreateDesktop -bool false && killall Finder"
alias dshow="defaults write com.apple.finder CreateDesktop -bool true && killall Finder"

Screenshot settings

alias dwl='defaults write com.apple.screencapture location'
alias ddl='defaults delete com.apple.screencapture location'
alias drl='defaults read com.apple.screencapture location'

You can change the location of screenshots by dwl ~/path/to/dir.

sleep setting

alias sleepon='sudo pmset -a disablesleep 0'
alias sleepoff='sudo pmset -a disablesleep 1'

Python

alias wpy='which python'

alias pip='pip3'
alias pin='pip install'
alias puin='pip uninstall'
alias pup='pip install --upgrade pip'
alias pinreq='pip install -r requirements.txt'
alias pf='pip list --format=freeze'
alias pfr='pip list --format=freeze > requirements.txt'

Activate, deactivate venv

alias acv='source venv/bin/activate'
alias deac='deactivate'

GitHub

alias g='git'
alias ga='git add'
alias gb='git branch'
alias gc='git commit'
alias gch='git checkout'
alias gcl='git clone'
alias gd='git diff'
alias gf='git fetch'
alias gi='git init'
alias gm='git merge'
alias gps='git push'
alias gpl='git pull'
alias gpom='git push origin main'
alias gs='git status'

Create a new GitHub repository and make the initial commit

You can define a function to make a new repository with just one command.

# Usage: ginit private[public]
ginit() {
    git init
    git add .
    git commit -m "🎉  Initial commit"
    gh repo create --"$1" --source=. --push
}

You need to install GitHub CLI to use the gh command.

Commit Messages with Emoji

# Git Commit, Add all and Push — in one step.
gacp() { git add . && git commit -m "$*" && git push origin main }

gini() { gacp "🎉 Initial commit"}
gnew() { gacp "✨ NEW: $@" }
gimp() { gacp "👌 IMPROVE: $@" }
gprg() { gacp "🚧 PROGRESS: $@" }

gmtn() { gacp "🔧 MAINTAIN: $@" }
gfix() { gacp "🐛 FIX: $@" }
ghot() { gacp "🚑 HOTFIX: $@" }
gbrk() { gacp "‼️ BREAKING: $@" }
grem() { gacp "🗑️ REMOVE: $@" }

gmrg() { gacp "🔀 MERGE: $@" }
gref() { gacp "♻️ REFACTOR: $@" }
gtst() { gacp "🧪 TEST: $@" }
gdoc() { gacp "📚 DOC: $@" }
grls() { gacp "🚀 RELEASE: $@" }
gsec() { gacp "👮 SECURITY: $@" }

# Show commit type
gtyp() {
NORMAL='\033[0;39m'
GREEN='\033[0;32m'
echo "$GREEN gini$NORMAL — 🎉 Initial commit
$GREEN gnew$NORMAL — ✨ NEW
$GREEN gimp$NORMAL — 👌 IMPROVE
$GREEN gprg$NORMAL — 🚧 PROGRESS
$GREEN gmtn$NORMAL — 🔧 MAINTAIN
$GREEN gfix$NORMAL — 🐛 FIX
$GREEN ghot$NORMAL — 🚑 HOTFIX
$GREEN gbrk$NORMAL — ‼️  BREAKING
$GREEN grem$NORMAL — 🗑️  REMOVE
$GREEN gmrg$NORMAL — 🔀 MERGE
$GREEN gref$NORMAL — ♻️  REFACTOR
$GREEN gtst$NORMAL — 🧪 TEST
$GREEN gdoc$NORMAL — 📚 DOC
$GREEN grls$NORMAL — 🚀 RELEASE
$GREEN gsec$NORMAL — 👮 SECURITY"
}

gitignore.io

gitignore.io enables us to make .gitignore file easily

function gi() { curl -sLw n https://www.toptal.com/developers/gitignore/api/$@ ;}

Extra: Customize and colorize PROMPT

PS1="%F{082}%n%f %F{051}%~%f %# "
RPROMPT='%T'
  • PS1 is the main (left) prompt and RPROMPT is the right prompt.
  • %n means username
  • %~ means current directory
  • %# shows # if you are root, % if not.
  • %T shows the current time in 24-hour format (%t for 12-hour format).
  • you can colorize your prompt by using %F{color number} ~ %f. You can find color numbers here.

Read more about Prompt Expansion in this link.

If you want to put a blank line before every prompt except the first one, you can use the following code:

precmd() { precmd() { echo } }

Reference