🚀 fzf-preview: A Simple and Versatile FZF Preview Script

fzf-preview is a lightweight and easy-to-understand script designed to enhance your fzf workflow with powerful previews. Whether you're working with symlinks pointing to the Nix store or need to preview different file formats, this script has you covered!

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✨ Features

• 🔗 Symlink Support: Preview files even if they are symlinks pointing to the Nix store.
• 🖼️ Image Previews: Supports sixel and symbolic image previews. Customize the image handler with the FZF_PREVIEW_IMAGE_HANDLER environment variable.
• 🎥 Video & PDF Previews: Display video thumbnails and PDF front pages easily.
• 📂 Archive Support: View contents of compressed files (e.g., zip, tar, etc.).
• 🔧 Extensive Format Support: Preview text files, images, videos, documents, archives, and more!
• ⚙️ Easy Customization: Tailor the script to your needs or contribute improvements via pull requests.

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💻 Installation

Using Nix with Flakes Enabled

To get started with Nix, add the following to your Nix Flake:

{
    inputs = {
        fzf-preview.url = "github:niksingh710/fzf-preview";
        fzf-preview.inputs.nixpkgs.follows = "nixpkgs";
    };
}

Add it to your system packages:

configuration.nix

{
    home.packages = [ inputs.fzf-preview.packages.${pkgs.system}.default ]; # for home-manager
    environment.systemPackages = [ inputs.fzf-preview.packages.${pkgs.system}.default ];
}

Quick Run Without Installation

If you want to test it without installing:

nix shell "github:niksingh710/fzf-preview"
fzf --preview 'fzf-preview {}'

Home-Manager Integration

To run the fzf-preview script in Ctrl-T mode:

{
    programs.fzf = let
      fzf-preview = inputs.fzf-preview.packages.${pkgs.system}.default;
    in {
      enable = true;
      fileWidgetOptions = binds ++ [ "--preview='${lib.getExe fzf-preview}'" ];
    };
}

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⚙️ For Non-Flake Users

The default.nix has been written with non-flake users in mind. If you're not using flakes, you can still test the project using the traditional nix-build command. To install it, you can fetch the package directly without needing to rely on flakes.

To test it:

nix-build

To install it:

nix-env -f default.nix -iA packageName

This makes it easy to use, regardless of whether you're using flakes or not!

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📦 For Non-NixOS Users

This repository provides a simple Bash script that can be used with FZF.

Installation

1. Download the fzf-preview script and place it in your PATH. A recommended location is the ~/.local/bin directory.

2. Add to PATH: Update your .bashrc or .zshrc file:

   export PATH="$PATH:$HOME/.local/bin"

3. Reload Configuration:

   source ~/.bashrc  # or ~/.zshrc

4. Install Dependencies: Make sure to manually install any required dependencies for the script. Ensure all tools it uses are available on your system.

Usage

Once installed, you can use the script with FZF like this:

fzf --preview 'fzf-preview {}'

🎉 Enjoy a seamless FZF preview experience!

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🛠️ Dependencies

The following tools are required to enable various preview features:

• 📝 file, jq, bat, glow, w3m, eza, openssl
• 📦 Archive tools: atool, p7zip, libcdio
• 📚 Document tools: odt2txt, catdoc, gnumeric
• 🎬 Media tools: exiftool, chafa, mediainfo, ffmpegthumbnailer, poppler_utils

Note: If you're using Nix, dependencies are automatically managed for you. 🎉

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🖼️ Image Previews

Image previews support video thumbnails, PDF front pages, and more. You can easily preview images in various formats, thanks to tools like chafa and ffmpegthumbnailer.

Need more preview capabilities? 🙌

• 📌 Open an issue
• 💡 Submit a pull request
• 💬 Share your ideas

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🤝 Contributing

We welcome contributions! 👐 If you'd like to improve fzf-preview or package it for other package managers, feel free to submit a PR. Here are some ways you can contribute:

• Bug fixes 🐛
• New preview formats ✨
• Documentation improvements 📖

📅 Planned Enhancements

• Add fzf-preview to nixpkgs. 🚀
• Detect commands and show help in the preview window. ⌨️

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Thanks for checking out fzf-preview! If you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to open an issue. Happy previewing! 😄