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Splognosticus · 2013-04-13 11:20:38

Also bash has a built-in incremental history search.

http://www.gnu.org/software/bash/manual/bashref.html#Searchi...

imjustsaying | karma 467 | avg karma 1.33 · | 2017-04-13 04:22:59+00:00

I like this. It looks like a much better fleshed out version of a one-off python script I use to search bash history - it even coincidentally has the same name so it'll fit right into the muscle memory :D

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/43019250/made-quick-scri...

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personjerry | karma 6681 | avg karma 3.64 · | 2020-12-28 04:08:50+00:00

In case you didn't know, bash has a basic version of this already embedded. You can search your bash history from the command line with Control+R (not Cmd+R even for Macs).

commandersaki | karma 862 | avg karma 1.86 · | 2019-05-30 21:11:41

Probably the most useful thing I've done regarding bash history: https://eli.thegreenplace.net/2016/persistent-history-in-bas...

spinningarrow | karma 1101 | avg karma 4.67 · | 2018-01-26 16:47:14

Thanks, I didn’t know that! I use the fish shell, which does history searching differently but this is useful for those few times when I’m in bash.

nfg | karma 811 | avg karma 3.7 · | 2013-10-09 13:31:12+00:00

> you can do ctrl + r to achieve the same thing.

C-r will (usually?) invoke reverse-search-history (http://www.gnu.org/software/bash/manual/html_node/Commands-F...) in bash (and I'm sure some other shells also).

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yesenadam | karma 7117 | avg karma 1.95 · | 2018-11-06 23:24:37+00:00

Bash can do that, with Ctrl-r. Press Ctrl-r, then type beginning of command, then press Ctrl-r repeatedly to go back through history.

https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/how-to-use-...

That page also deals with stuff like getting bash not to delete history with each session, so searching history can be more useful.

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bhaak | karma 4181 | avg karma 3.13 · | 2020-04-25 14:07:42

I'm using a variant of this: https://spin.atomicobject.com/2016/05/28/log-bash-history/

Logging the entire bash history in files sorted by day: export PROMPT_COMMAND='if [ "$(id -u)" -ne 0 ]; then echo "$(date "+%Y-%m-%d.%H:%M:%S") $(pwd) $(history 1)" >> ~/.logs/bash-history-$(date "+%Y-%m-%d").log; fi'

I haven't overloaded ctrl-r yet to search in these files but that would be a possibility.

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pajju | karma 4137 | avg karma 5.69 · | 2013-04-17 19:52:44+00:00

I use fasd: Its the best bash tool out there. Jump, search the previous history based on frequency of usage. It updates your search with its algorithm matching the most predicted one.

https://github.com/clvv/fasd

worth mentioning, nothing comes close this one.

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sys_64738 | karma 3813 | avg karma 1.25 · | 2022-01-01 09:35:11

bash has a history search feature you can access via control-r.

tenken | karma 197 | avg karma 0.74 · | 2019-05-31 05:49:44+00:00

Meh. I prefer to leverage SQL.

I have yet to find a better way to store and search bash history than:

https://github.com/tkf/rash

More recent bash sqlite history attempts all seem to fall short than this implementation, they store less metrics or have other caveats.

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mindcrime | karma 37388 | avg karma 2.98 · | 2018-01-31 22:17:42+00:00

The feature I use the most is automatic history search by typing part of a command and hitting UP to search the history.

Doesn't bash have that same feature? Or is there some subtle difference between what you're describing and what bash does?

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nja | karma 436 | avg karma 4.59 · | 2013-09-10 19:23:03+00:00

Actually, after hitting C-R <keyword>, you can keep pressing C-R to search backwards through the history. Or C-S to search forwards. More info: (bash uses emacs editing mode by default) http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/manual/html_node/emacs/Bas...

grimgrin | karma 1524 | avg karma 4.03 · | 2019-06-03 05:20:15

Your machine probably has ^r for working through bash history

But that aside, if you’re into arrow pressing, a few lines in your .inputrc can go a long ways

Test this out sometime:

  # Incremental searching with Up and Down and Left and Right
  "\e[A": history-search-backward
  "\e[B": history-search-forward

Now you can type “find” and press up/down arrow to just cycle through history that starts with find

foobarian | karma 8038 | avg karma 2.62 · | 2017-12-27 16:31:22

I use an eternal history setup for bash, with bash session tags that let me sort history by tag for correct backward-search behavior.

(edit) Not to imply this functionality belongs to a terminal, far from it. But it's nice to have access to 2 years of shell commands :-)

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notfish | karma 272 | avg karma 3.24 · | 2024-01-12 01:07:07

Not quite a command, but ctrl+r in bash does a real useful history search

JetSpiegel | karma 3479 | avg karma 1.41 · | 2015-01-08 10:17:39+00:00

Just use Ctrl-R in bash to search backwards in the history

amackera | karma 1585 | avg karma 3.37 · | 2010-09-16 16:50:50

Thanks for the link! I've been looking for a writeup on bash history features for a while. These things are very useful day-to-day.

andrewflnr | karma 11547 | avg karma 2.11 · | 2013-08-17 04:56:29+00:00

I just want to throw in that you can get that nice up-arrow-history in bash too. It's the first thing I put in a new bash environment:

  bind '"\e[A":history-search-backward'
  bind '"\e[B":history-search-forward'

wespiser_2018 | karma 706 | avg karma 2.78 · | 2020-03-26 03:33:04+00:00

I came here to say this. In addition, searching through bash history is a terrible "save and fetch" interface