You might be interested in:
https://github.com/cantino/mcfly - fuzzy shell history (feels lighter than atuin to me, in rust)
https://github.com/watchexec/watchexec - rerun on file change, knows about .gitignore/.ignore etc (in rust)
https://github.com/jonas/tig - instead of lazygit, mostly for easier git log viewing for me as I use straight git most of the time
Otherwise a lot of crossover in what I use too.
In Ask HN: What dev tools do you rely on that nobody talks about?cantino
mcfly
Rust2018–2026
cantino / mcfly
mcfly
Fly through your shell history. Great Scott!
42Distinct people
55Mentions
1Explicit recommenders
7.8KGitHub stars
What to know before exploring
What it is
Fly through your shell history. Great Scott!
GitHub
Where it is used
No documented product use was verified in the last source check.
What people are saying
This can be made much more powerful by McFly, I recommend: https://github.com/cantino/mcfly
PufPufPuf used a recommendation phrase. One indexed comment matches. This is a phrase match, not a verdict.
No classified warning is attached to this page. Read the discussions before treating silence as approval.
Also in these discussions
- ellie/atuin · linked in 4 of the same discussions
- larkery/zsh-histdb · linked in 2 of the same discussions
Mentioned in the same Hacker News threads. That is not proof they are substitutes.
This week on Hacker News
Nov 7–Nov 14 UTC · Direct repository links and separately labeled related project stories. Indexed through 11/14/2026, 3:56:07 PM UTC.
No direct repository links were found in the indexed HN discussions over the past seven days. Older discussions are available below.
Mentions over time
HN mentions by year55 dated mentions
Observed mentions: 2018-12-03 21:08:18 UTC to 2026-04-02 11:34:14 UTC.
* An incomplete calendar period is marked with an outlined bar. Its count is not directly comparable with a full period.
Counts come from the repository’s dated source evidence. Index cutoff: 2026-11-02 08:16:59 UTC.
View mention counts and date ranges
| Period | Start (UTC) | End (exclusive, UTC) | Mentions | Submissions | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 2018-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2019-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 3 | 1 | 2 |
| 2019 | 2019-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2020-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 2020 | 2020-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2021-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| 2021 | 2021-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2022-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| 2022 | 2022-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2023-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 19 | 3 | 16 |
| 2023 | 2023-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2024-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 10 | 1 | 9 |
| 2024 | 2024-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2025-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 5 | 1 | 4 |
| 2025 | 2025-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2026-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| 2026 (partial) | 2026-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2027-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 3 | 0 | 3 |
From the project README
An excerpt from the repository, fetched Nov 13, 2026.
Read the project’s introduction
Seeking co-maintainers:
I don't have much time to maintain this project these days. If someone would like to jump in and become a co-maintainer, it would be appreciated!
McFly - fly through your shell history
McFly replaces your default ctrl-r shell history search with an intelligent search engine that takes into account
your working directory and the context of recently executed commands. McFly's suggestions are prioritized
in real time with a small neural network.
TL;DR: an upgraded ctrl-r where history results make sense for what you're working on right now.
Features
Rebinds ctrl-r to bring up a full-screen reverse history search prioritized with a small neural network.
Augments your shell history to track command exit status, timestamp, and execution directory in a SQLite database.
Maintains your normal shell history file as well so that you can stop using McFly whenever you want.
Unicode support throughout.
Includes a simple action to scrub any history item from the McFly database and your shell history files.
Designed to be extensible for other shells in the future.
Written in Rust, so it's fast and safe.
You can type % to match any number of characters when searching.
Supports Zsh, Bash (version 3+), and PowerShell (version 7+)
Prioritization
The key feature of McFly is smart command prioritization powered by a small neural network that runs
in real time. The goal is for the command you want to run to always be one of the top suggestions.
When suggesting a command, McFly takes into consideration:
The directory where you ran the command. You're likely to run that command in the same directory in the future.
What commands you typed before the command (e.g., the command's execution context).
How often you run the command.
When you last ran the command.
If you've selected the command in McFly before.
The command's historical exit status. You probably don't want to run old failed commands.
Installation
Install with Homebrew (on macOS or Linux)
Install mcfly:
brew install mcfly
Add the following to the end of your ~/.bashrc, ~/.zshrc, or ~/.config/fish/config.fish file:
Bash:
eval "$(mcfly init bash)"
Zsh:
eval "$(mcfly init zsh)"
Fish:
mcfly init fish | source
Run . ~/.bashrc / . ~/.zshrc / source ~/.config/fish/config.fish or restart your terminal emulator.
Uninstalling with Homebrew
Remove mcfly:
brew uninstall mcfly
Remove the lines you added to ~/.bashrc / ~/.zshrc / ~/.config/fish/config.fish.
Install with MacPorts (on macOS)
Update the ports tree
sudo port selfupdate
Install mcfly:
sudo port install mcfly
Add the following to the end of your ~/.bashrc, ~/.zshrc, or ~/.config/fish/config.fish file, as appropriate:
Bash:
eval "$(mcfly init bash)"
Zsh:
eval "$(mcfly init zsh)"
Fish:
mcfly init fish | source
Run . ~/.bashrc / . ~/.zshrc / source ~/.config/fish/config.fish or restart your terminal emulator.
Uninstalling with MacPorts
Remove mcfly:
sudo port uninstall mcfly
Remove the lines you added to ~/.bashrc / ~/.zshrc / ~/.config/fish/config.fish.
Install using WinGet on Windows (we do not maintain this install script and cannot vouch for its accuracy or safety)
Install mcfly:
winget install AndrewCantino.McFly
Add the following to your $PROFILE:
Invoke-Expression -Command $(mcfly init powershell | Out-String)
Restart your terminal
Uninstall using Winget
Remove mcfly:
winget uninstall AndrewCantino.McFly
Remove the lines you added to $PROFILE.
Installing using our install script (macOS or Linux)
curl -LSfs https://raw.githubusercontent.com/cantino/mcfly/master/ci/install.sh | sh -s -- --git cantino/mcfly (or, if the current user doesn't have permissions to edit /usr/local/bin, then use sudo sh -s.)
Add the following to the end of your ~/.bashrc, ~/.zshrc, or ~/.config/fish/config.fish file, respectively:
Bash:
eval "$(mcfly init bash)"
Zsh:
eval "$(mcfly init zsh)"
Fish:
mcfly init fish | source
Run . ~/.bashrc / . ~/.zshrc / source ~/.config/fish/config.fish or restart your terminal emulator.
Installing manually from GitHub (macOS or Linux)
Download the latest release from GitHub.
Install to a location in your $PATH. (For example, you could create a directory at ~/bin, copy mcfly to this location, and add export PATH="$PATH:$HOME/bin" to your .bashrc / .zshrc, or run set -Ua fish_user_paths "$HOME/bin" for fish.)
Add the following to the end of your ~/.bashrc, ~/.zshrc, or ~/.config/fish/config.fish, respectively:
Bash:
eval "$(mcfly init bash)"
Zsh:
eval "$(mcfly init zsh)"
Fish:
mcfly init fish | source
Run . ~/.bashrc / . ~/.zshrc / source ~/.config/fish/config.fish or restart your terminal emulator.
Install manually from source (macOS, Linux, or Windows)
Install Rust 1.40 or later
Run git clone https://github.com/cantino/mcfly and cd mcfly
Run cargo install --path .
Ensure ~/.cargo/bin is in your $PATH.
Add the following to the end of your ~/.bashrc, ~/.zshrc, ~/.config/fish/config.fish, or powershell $PROFILE, respectively:
Bash:
eval "$(mcfly init bash)"
Zsh:
eval "$(mcfly init zsh)"
Fish:
mcfly init fish | source
Powershell Core (pwsh)
Invoke-Expression -Command $(mcfly init powershell | out-string)
Run . ~/.bashrc / . ~/.zshrc / source ~/.config/fish/config.fish / . $PROFILE or restart your terminal emulator.
Install by Zinit
Add below code to your zshrc.
zinit ice lucid wait"0a" from"gh-r" as"program" atload'eval "$(mcfly init zsh)"'
zinit light cantino/mcfly
It will download mcfly and install for you.
$(mcfly init zsh) will be executed after prompt
iTerm2
To avoid McFly's UI messing up your scrollback history in iTerm2, make sure this option is unchecked:
Dump history
McFly can dump the command history into stdout.
For example:
mcfly dump --since '2023-01-01' --before '2023-09-12 09:15:30'
will dump the command run between 2023-01-01 00:00:00.0 to 2023-09-12 09:15:30(exclusive) as json.
You can specify csv as dump format via --format csv as well.
Each item in dumped commands has the followi
Read the full README on GitHubWhat Hacker News says
55 sourcesMy favourite QoL improvement to any shell I use is to improve the history function(Ctlr+R)I personally like https://github.com/cantino/mcfly
In Shell Tricks That Make Life Easier (and Save Your Sanity)You can try McFly [1] and Television [2]. I still prefer fzf.
[1] https://github.com/cantino/mcfly
[2] https://github.com/alexpasmantier/television
In Atuin v18.13 – better search, a PTY proxy, and AI for your shellMcfly[1] takes your working directory into account when searching shell history.
From the readme:
> The key feature of McFly is smart command prioritization powered by a small neural network that runs in real time. The goal is for the command you want to run to always be one of the top suggestions.
> When suggesting a command, McFly takes into consideration:
- The directory where you ran the command. You're likely to run that command in the same directory in the future.
- What commands you typed before the command (e.g., the command's execution context).
- How often you run the command.
- When you last ran the command.
- If you've selected the command in McFly before.
- The command's historical exit status. You probably don't want to run old failed commands.
[1] https://github.com/cantino/mcfly
In Zoxide: A Better CD CommandHow does it compare to mcfly? https://github.com/cantino/mcfly
In Atuin – Magical Shell Historyour sync is opt-in + optional, e2e encrypted, and self-hostable.
if that's not enough, you can disable all network features via a feature flag at compile time
if you don't care for sync, there are a bunch of other projects doing this (and supporting several shells), eg:
- mcfly: https://github.com/cantino/mcfly
- resh: https://github.com/curusarn/resh
In Atuin – Magical Shell HistoryI've been using McFly [1] recently, and like it a lot.
> McFly replaces your default ctrl-r shell history search with an intelligent search engine that takes into account your working directory and the context of recently executed commands. McFly's suggestions are prioritized in real time with a small neural network.
[1] https://github.com/cantino/mcfly
In Better Shell History Searchhttps://github.com/cantino/mcfly
https://github.com/atuinsh/atuin
You're welcome.
In Trick to find commands in the terminal quicklyMy current secrets:
* cht.sh is a great way to avoid a lot of this stuff - there's a commandline tool as well
* usable cli ai setup:
simonw's llm (https://github.com/simonw/llm)
+ openrouter (https://github.com/simonw/llm-openrouter)
+ free models (https://openrouter.ai/models?max_price=0)
+ glow (https://github.com/charmbracelet/glow)
+ adding this to your .rc file:
function lm {
local input="$*"
llm -s 'Answer as short and concise as possible' ${input} | glow
}
Here's an example,
$ lm "ssh command to forward the port 5050 on user@remote to my localhost:7001"
ssh -L 7001:localhost:5050 user@remote
$
Now for a sophisticated use-case I have a small tmux program where I can capture what's on the pane, enter a prompt and it will query
Read the rest
an llm so I can say things like "How do I fix this error" or "what debian package do I need to get this to run right?" ... both these are recent patterns I've started and they've been real game changers
Some lesser game-changers:
* tmux extrakto - opens an "fzf" like search of all the text on the screen. So after a "git status", I can do git add (run extracto - enter partial path, press tab) and continue: https://github.com/laktak/extrakto
* mcfly history: https://github.com/cantino/mcfly just watch the demo, you'll see
* ugrep: grep with a powerful tui: https://github.com/Genivia/ugrep - I became an instant convert.
* batcat: https://github.com/sharkdp/bat ... you really need to use some of its other features to leverage it. It's really nice.
It's actually quite neat, doesn't have to do anything with the current AI hype: https://github.com/cantino/mcfly/blob/master/src/network.rs
Just a few nodes, hardcoded weights. I wonder how it was trained.
In Fly through your shell historyIt is a custom pretrained NN with very few nodes, the full source code is here: https://github.com/cantino/mcfly/blob/master/src/network.rs
In Fly through your shell historySome discussion about cross pollination https://github.com/cantino/mcfly/issues/373
In Fly through your shell historyFly through your shell history
244 points · Open discussionTrue I use mcfly[1] works pretty smoothly for me
[1] https://github.com/cantino/mcfly
In I quit my job to work full time on my open source projectI've had a great time using McFly (https://github.com/cantino/mcfly) for going through my command history. It prioritizes showing commands that were previously run in your current directory!
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