junegunn/fzf
Type a few letters, find any file, command, or branch instantly
Type three letters. Find any file.
Every list becomes searchable.
fzf is a general-purpose fuzzy finder. Feed it any list and type fragments — it narrows thousands of lines down to the one you meant, as you type.
Your shell history, actually findable.
The habit that sticks: control R. Your whole shell history becomes fuzzy-searchable — that docker command from three weeks ago is four keystrokes away.
It's a pipe, not an app.
And it composes. Anything that prints lines can go through it — pick a git branch, a process, a hostname. It's a building block for your own little terminal tools.
It previews while you pick.
There's even a preview window — see the file's contents next to the list before you commit to opening it. This is it running.
82k stars. One binary. MIT.
Eighty-two thousand stars, written in Go, MIT licensed. The link's in the description — set it up once, keep it forever.