fsel

(fast select)

Fast TUI app launcher and fuzzy finder for GNU/Linux and *BSD

Requirements
Quickstart
Documentation
Install
Usage
Configuration
- Environment variable overrides
Contributing
Troubleshooting
License

Start Here: Detailed Usage Guide

Requirements

Build Requirements:

Rust 1.94+ stable (NOT nightly)
- Install: curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh
- Verify: rustc --version (should show stable, not nightly)
- If using nightly: rustup default stable
Cargo (comes with Rust)

Runtime Requirements:

GNU/Linux or *BSD
Terminal emulator

Optional:

cclip - for clipboard history mode
Kitty, Sixel-, or Halfblocks-capable terminal - for native inline image previews in cclip mode (see ratatui-image)

Note: Image previews in cclip mode use built-in ratatui-image (no external viewer). Versions before 3.1.0 required chafa for image previews; 3.1.0 and later do not.

Quickstart

Get up and running in 30 seconds:

# Install with Nix (recommended)
nix run github:Mjoyufull/fsel

# Or install from Cargo
cargo install fsel@3.6.0-kiwicrab

# Launch fsel
fsel

# Use as dmenu replacement
echo -e "Option 1\nOption 2\nOption 3" | fsel --dmenu

# Browse clipboard history (requires cclip)
fsel --cclip

That's it. Type to search, arrow keys to navigate, Enter to launch.

Need install variants, launch methods, or mode-specific examples? See USAGE.md.

Install

Option 1: Nix Flake (Recommended)

Build and run with Nix flakes:
```
$ nix run github:Mjoyufull/fsel
```
Add to your profile:
```
$ nix profile add github:Mjoyufull/fsel
```

Add to your flake.nix inputs:

{
  inputs.fsel.url = "github:Mjoyufull/fsel";
  # ... rest of your flake
}

Option 2: Cargo (Latest Release)

Build and install via Cargo:
```
$ cargo install fsel@3.6.0-kiwicrab
```

To update later:

$ cargo install fsel@3.6.0-kiwicrab --force

Or install latest version (check releases):

$ cargo search fsel  # See available versions
$ cargo install fsel@<version>

Option 3: AUR (Arch Linux)

Install the git version with your favorite AUR helper:
```
$ yay -S fsel-bin
# or
$ paru -S fsel-git
```

Or manually:

$ git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/fsel-bin.git
$ cd fsel-bin
$ makepkg -si

Option 4: Void linux (Unoffical Repo)

Install fsel on void

echo repository=https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Event-Horizon-VL/blackhole-vl/repository-x86_64 | sudo tee /etc/xbps.d/20-repository-extra.conf
sudo xbps-install -S fsel

Option 5: Build from source

Install Rust stable

Build:

$ git clone https://github.com/Mjoyufull/fsel && cd fsel
$ cargo build --release

Copy target/release/fsel to somewhere in your $PATH
(Optional) Create a dmenu symlink for drop-in compatibility:
```
$ ./create_dmenu_symlink.sh
```
Or manually: ln -s $(which fsel) ~/.local/bin/dmenu

Optional Dependencies

uwsm - Universal Wayland Session Manager (for --uwsm flag)
systemd - For --systemd-run flag
cclip - Clipboard manager (for --cclip mode)
Kitty, Foot, WezTerm, or other Sixel/Kitty/Halfblocks-capable terminal - For native inline image previews in cclip mode (powered by ratatui-image; no chafa needed in 3.1.0+)
otter-launcher - Pairs nicely with fsel for a complete launcher setup see Usage

Usage

Interactive Mode

Run fsel from a terminal to open the interactive TUI launcher.

# Launch fsel
fsel

# Pre-fill search (must be last)
fsel -ss firefox

# Direct launch (no UI)
fsel -p firefox

Highlights:

Advanced Search Ranking: Configurable scoring with frecency, recency, or frequency
Smart Matching: Searches names, descriptions, keywords, and categories
Pin/Favorite Apps: Press Ctrl-Space to pin apps - pinned apps always appear first
Reversible Hiding: Press Alt-Delete to hide one exact launcher source and Alt-U to undo
Optional Deduplication: Enable deterministic XDG-aware duplicate suppression when wanted
Match Modes: Fuzzy (default) or exact matching

See USAGE.md - App Launcher for TTY mode, launch prefixes, --detach, cache management, --replace, and more.

Hidden entries are stored in fsel's database; their .desktop files and executables are not changed. Manage persistent hides without opening the TUI:

fsel --list-hidden
fsel --unhide 12
fsel --unhide-all

Set auto_hide_duplicates = true under [app_launcher] to suppress entries with the same desktop-file ID or normalized visible name. It defaults to false; manual hiding always targets one exact source path, including duplicate entries in the same directory or across Bedrock strata.

Direct Launch Mode

Launch applications directly from the command line without opening the TUI:

# Launch Firefox directly
fsel -p firefox

# Launch the best fuzzy match for "terminal" (default match mode)
fsel -p terminal

# Partial names work while match_mode is fuzzy
fsel -p fire  # Finds Firefox

# Exact mode requires an exact app or executable name
fsel --match-mode=exact -p firefox
fsel --match-mode=exact -p fire   # Fails: no exact match

# Combine with launch options
fsel --launch-prefix="runapp --" -p discord
fsel --uwsm -p discord
fsel --systemd-run -vv -p code

Dmenu Mode

Fsel includes a full dmenu replacement mode that reads from stdin and outputs selections to stdout:

# Basic dmenu replacement
echo -e "Option 1\nOption 2\nOption 3" | fsel --dmenu

# Display only specific columns (like cut)
ps aux | fsel --dmenu --with-nth 2,11  # Show only PID and command

# Use custom delimiter
echo "foo:bar:baz" | fsel --dmenu --delimiter ":"

# Pipe from any command
ls -la | fsel --dmenu
find . -name "*.rs" | fsel --dmenu
git log --oneline | fsel --dmenu

See USAGE.md - Dmenu Mode for column operations, password input, pre-selection, exact matching, --dmenu0, and prompt-only mode.

Clipboard History Mode

Requires cclip.

Browse and select from your clipboard history with image previews:

# Browse clipboard history with cclip integration
fsel --cclip

# Filter by tag
fsel --cclip --tag prompt

# List all tags
fsel --cclip --tag list

# List items with specific tag (verbose shows details)
fsel --cclip --tag list prompt -vv

# Clear tag metadata from fsel database
fsel --cclip --tag clear

# Show tag color names in display
fsel --cclip --cclip-show-tag-color-names

See USAGE.md - Clipboard Mode for tag management, keybindings, inline image details, and more clipboard-specific behavior.

Command Line Help

# Quick overview grouped by mode/flags
fsel -h

# Full tree-style reference covering every option
fsel -H

# Show verbose output
fsel -vvv

See USAGE.md for more examples, launch methods, scripting recipes, debugging notes, environment variables, and advanced usage.

Configuration

Config file: ~/.config/fsel/config.toml

Basic Setup

# Colors
highlight_color = "LightBlue"
cursor = "█"

# App launcher
terminal_launcher = "alacritty -e"

# Pin/favorite settings (root-level UI options)
pin_color = "rgb(255,165,0)"       # Color for pin icon (orange)
pin_icon = "📌"                     # Icon for pinned apps

[app_launcher]
filter_desktop = true              # Filter apps by desktop environment
filter_actions = false            # Keep desktop actions visible; set true to hide them
auto_hide_duplicates = false      # Opt in to deterministic duplicate suppression
list_executables_in_path = false   # Show CLI tools from $PATH
match_mode = "fuzzy"               # "fuzzy" or "exact"
ranking_mode = "frecency"          # "frecency", "recency", or "frequency"
pinned_order = "ranking"           # "ranking", "alphabetical", "oldest_pinned", "newest_pinned"

Field placement matters. Root-level UI options and [app_launcher] / [dmenu] / [cclip] sections are validated separately. See config.toml and keybinds.toml for all options with detailed comments. [app_launcher].match_mode = "exact" also applies to -p/--program, where it requires an exact app or executable name.

Environment variable overrides

After the config file is loaded, any FSEL_* variable set in the process environment overrides the corresponding setting. Use this for one-off launches, wrappers, or systemd units without editing config.toml.

Root / shared keys: FSEL_ plus the uppercase TOML key (e.g. match_mode → FSEL_MATCH_MODE).
Section keys: FSEL_DMENU_*, FSEL_CCLIP_*, and FSEL_APP_LAUNCHER_* mirror [dmenu], [cclip], and [app_launcher] fields.

FSEL_MATCH_MODE=exact fsel
FSEL_APP_LAUNCHER_FILTER_ACTIONS=true fsel
FSEL_HIGHLIGHT_COLOR=Cyan FSEL_DMENU_DELIMITER=: fsel --dmenu < items.txt

man fsel summarizes this under ENVIRONMENT. For the full variable list, see Environment variables in USAGE.md.

Window Manager Integration

Sway/i3:

# ~/.config/sway/config
set $menu alacritty --title launcher -e fsel
bindsym $mod+d exec $menu
for_window [title="^launcher$"] floating enable, resize set width 500 height 430, border none

# Clipboard history
bindsym $mod+v exec 'alacritty --title clipboard -e fsel --cclip'

Hyprland:

# ~/.config/hypr/hyprland.conf
bind = $mod, D, exec, alacritty --title launcher -e fsel
windowrule {
    match:title = launcher
    float = on 
    center = on 
    size = 500 430
}

Niri:

# ~/.config/niri/config.kdl
window-rule {
    match title="launcher"
    open-floating true
}

# Add inside binds { ... }
Mod+D { spawn "alacritty" "--title" "launcher" "-e" "fsel"; }

dwm/bspwm/any WM:

# Use dmenu mode
bindsym $mod+d exec "fsel --dmenu | xargs swaymsg exec --"

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Whether you're reporting bugs, suggesting features, or submitting code, we appreciate your help making fsel better.

How to Contribute

Bug Reports & Feature Requests: Open an issue on GitHub Issues
Pull Requests: Fork the repo, create a feature branch, and submit a PR
Code Style: Run cargo fmt and cargo clippy before submitting
Testing: Ensure cargo test and cargo build --release pass

Development Workflow

See CONTRIBUTING.md for detailed guidelines on:

Branch naming conventions
Commit message format
Pull request process
Code review standards
Release procedures

All contributors are valued and appreciated. Your name will be added to the contributors list, and significant contributions will be highlighted in release notes.

Thank you for helping improve fsel!

Philosophy

fsel is a unified TUI workflow tool built for terminal-centric setups. It combines app launching, dmenu functionality, and clipboard history into one scriptable interface with consistent keybinds and theming.

This means:

It's built for my workflow first, but PRs for bug fixes and useful features are welcome as long as they fit in scope.
Older versions and the original gyr exist if you want something more minimal.

Troubleshooting

Apps not showing up?

Check $XDG_DATA_DIRS includes /usr/share/applications
Try --filter-desktop=no to disable desktop filtering
Use -vvv for debug info

Mouse not working?

Check your terminal supports mouse input
Try disable_mouse = false in config

Images not showing in cclip mode?

Use a Kitty-, Sixel-, or Halfblocks-capable terminal (e.g. Kitty, Foot, WezTerm). Image preview uses built-in ratatui-image; no chafa or other external viewer is needed (3.1.0+).
Check image_preview = true in config
Images render inside the content panel; press Alt+i for fullscreen preview

Fuzzy matching too loose?

Try --match-mode=exact for stricter matching
Or set match_mode = "exact" in config

Too many desktop action entries?

Use --filter-actions to hide desktop actions like "New Window"
Or set filter_actions = true under [app_launcher]

Hidden the wrong launcher entry?

Press Alt-U before leaving the launcher to restore the most recent hide
Run fsel --list-hidden, then fsel --unhide <ID> to restore a specific entry
Run fsel --unhide-all to clear every manual hide

Terminal apps not launching?

Set terminal_launcher in config
Example: terminal_launcher = "kitty -e"

Credits

Fork of gyr by Namkhai B.

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