Modern CLI Tools

Discover the Rust-based CLI tools available in DotClaude as alternatives to traditional Unix commands.

Installation

# Install all modern tools (safe, non-destructive)
./scripts/setup-tools.sh

# Install specific categories
./scripts/setup-tools.sh rust-tools     # Core Rust tools
./scripts/setup-tools.sh additional     # Additional utilities

Learn As You Go

DotClaude includes a terminal tips system that teaches you these modern tools naturally. When you use traditional commands like cat or find, it will gently remind you about the modern alternatives. See Shell Enhancement for details.

Philosophy: Explicit Over Implicit

DotClaude does not alias traditional commands to modern replacements. Instead:

# Traditional commands work as expected
cat file.txt     # Standard cat
find . -name x   # Standard find
grep pattern     # Standard grep

# Modern tools are used explicitly
bat file.txt     # Syntax-highlighted viewing
fd "*.md"        # Fast file finding
rg pattern       # Blazing fast search

Why this approach?

• Scripts and tools (like Claude Code) work correctly
• No surprises on other machines without these tools
• The tips system teaches you to use modern tools directly

Tool Categories

File Operations

eza - Enhanced Directory Listings

Better directory listings with colors, git integration, and icons.

# Aliased for convenience (eza is ls-compatible)
ls          # eza with icons
ll          # eza with long format, git status, icons
la          # eza with all files, git status, icons
l           # eza with long format
tree        # eza tree view

# Extended aliases
ll_git      # Long format respecting .gitignore
ll_all      # Long format showing all files
tree_git    # Tree view respecting .gitignore
tree_all    # Tree view showing all files
tree_depth  # Tree view with depth control

Features:

• Git status integration
• File type icons (with Nerd Fonts)
• Better color schemes
• Human-readable file sizes
• Directory-first sorting

bat - Syntax-Highlighted Viewing

Syntax-highlighted file viewing with line numbers and git integration.

# Use directly
bat config.json     # Syntax highlighting + line numbers
bat -p file.txt     # Plain output (no decorations)

# Convenience aliases
preview file        # Alias for bat
catp file           # Plain bat (no decorations, no paging)
bat_plain file      # Plain output
bat_no_pager file   # Disable paging

Features:

• Syntax highlighting for 200+ languages
• Line numbers and git diff integration
• Automatic paging for long files
• Theme support (matches delta git diffs)

fd - Fast File Finding

Faster, more intuitive file searching with regex support.

# Use directly (simpler syntax than find)
fd "*.md"           # Find markdown files
fd -e js            # Find by extension
fd config           # Partial name match
fd -H pattern       # Include hidden files

# Convenience aliases
fd_hidden pattern   # Include hidden files
fd_no_ignore pat    # Don't respect .gitignore
fd_all pattern      # Hidden + ignore nothing

Features:

• 5-10x faster than traditional find
• Respects .gitignore automatically
• Colored output
• Unicode support
• Smart case sensitivity

Text Processing

ripgrep (rg) - Ultra-Fast Search

Blazingly fast text search with smart defaults.

# Use directly
rg "function" src/      # Search in directory
rg -i "pattern"         # Case-insensitive
rg -t js "import"       # Search only JS files
rg -C 3 "error"         # Show 3 lines context

# Convenience aliases
rg_hidden pattern       # Include hidden files
rg_all pattern          # Hidden + ignore nothing
rg_files pattern        # List matching files only

Features:

• 2-10x faster than grep
• Respects .gitignore
• Unicode support
• Multi-line search
• Automatic encoding detection

System Monitoring

dust - Visual Disk Usage

More intuitive disk usage visualization.

# Use directly
dust                # Interactive disk usage tree
dust ~/Downloads    # Specific directory
dust -d 2           # Limit depth

# Convenience alias
dust_depth 3        # Control tree depth

Features:

• Visual tree representation
• Sorted by size automatically
• Colored output
• Faster scanning

procs - Modern Process Viewer

Better process viewer with tree structure and search.

# Use directly
procs               # Enhanced process list
procs node          # Search for processes
procs --tree        # Tree view

# Convenience aliases
procs_tree          # Tree view
procs_watch         # Watch mode
myps                # Traditional ps for current user

Features:

• Tree view of process relationships
• Colored output
• Search and filter capabilities
• Better memory/CPU display

bottom (btm) - System Monitor

Cross-platform system monitor with graphs and customization.

# Use directly
btm                 # Full system monitor
btm --basic         # Basic mode
btm --tree          # Process tree view

# Convenience aliases
btm_basic           # Basic mode
btm_tree            # Tree view

Features:

• CPU, memory, disk, and network graphs
• Process search and sorting
• Customizable layouts
• Mouse support

Navigation

zoxide (z) - Smart Directory Jumping

Learns your habits and jumps to frequently used directories.

# Use directly
z projects          # Jump to frecent "projects" directory
z doc down          # Fuzzy match multiple terms
zi                  # Interactive selection with fzf

# After using directories, zoxide learns patterns
cd ~/Documents/Projects/myapp   # Visit normally
z myapp                         # Later, jump directly

Features:

• Learns from your navigation patterns
• Fuzzy matching
• Works across shell sessions
• Interactive selection for conflicts

broot (br) - Interactive Tree

Navigate directory trees interactively with fuzzy search.

# Use directly
br                  # Interactive tree browser

Features:

• Interactive directory navigation
• Fuzzy search within trees
• File preview
• Quick actions (edit, copy, move)

Git Integration

delta - Better Git Diffs

Enhanced git diff viewer with syntax highlighting. Automatically used by git.

# Automatically used in git commands
git diff            # Uses delta
git log -p          # Beautiful commit diffs
git show            # Enhanced commit viewing

Features:

• Side-by-side diff view
• Syntax highlighting
• Line numbers and navigation
• Hyperlinks to files
• Word-level diff highlighting

difftastic - Syntax-Aware Diffs

Understands code structure for better diff analysis.

# Via shell aliases
gdifft              # Difftastic diff
glogdifft           # Log with difftastic
gshowdifft          # Show with difftastic

Features:

• Syntax tree-based diffing
• Understands 30+ programming languages
• Better handling of code refactoring
• Structural change detection

JavaScript Runtime

Bun - Fast JavaScript Runtime

Ultra-fast JavaScript runtime, bundler, and package manager.

# Check installation
bun --version

# Usage
bun run script.ts   # Run JavaScript/TypeScript
bun install         # Install packages (faster than npm)
bun run dev         # Run package.json scripts

Features:

• 3-4x faster than Node.js for many operations
• Built-in TypeScript support
• Native bundler and test runner
• npm-compatible package manager

Additional Utilities

jq - JSON Processing

jq '.users[0].name' data.json   # Query JSON
cat data.json | jq '.'          # Pretty print (auto-colored)

httpie - HTTP Client

http GET api.example.com/users
http POST api.example.com/users name=john

Learning the Tools

The terminal tips system helps you learn these tools:

# See a random tip
tip

# Browse tips by category
tips modern    # Rust tool alternatives
tips git       # Git shortcuts
tips tmux      # Tmux keybindings

# When you use traditional commands, you'll see reminders:
$ cat file.txt
# ... output ...
Tip (1/3): Use 'bat' instead of 'cat' for syntax highlighting

Tool Comparison

Category	Traditional	Modern	Speed
Listing	ls	ll (eza)	Similar + features
Viewing	cat	bat	Similar + features
Finding	find	fd	5-10x faster
Searching	grep	rg	2-10x faster
Disk usage	du	dust	2-3x faster
Processes	ps	procs	Similar + features
Monitor	top	btm	Similar + features
Navigation	cd	z	Smarter

Configuration

Many tools support configuration files:

• bat: ~/.config/bat/config
• bottom: ~/.config/bottom/bottom.toml
• git-delta: configured via .gitconfig

Troubleshooting

Tools not found after installation?

# Reload shell
exec $SHELL

# Check PATH
echo $PATH | tr ':' '\n' | grep -E "(\.local/bin|\.cargo/bin)"

Performance issues? Most modern tools have configuration options to tune performance for your system.

Next Steps

1. Shell Enhancement - Learn about the tips system and aliases
2. Quick Setup - Apply configurations
3. Safety Guide - Understand backup and rollback procedures