better-fg

A more userfriendly and interactive version of fg.

Motivation

Are you like me and frequently use fg to switch between applications? Does the fg %[index of the job] workflow feel a bit less than optimal? Then better-fg is for you!

Features

• Interactive TUI for selecting from multiple background jobs
• Fuzzy searching for jobs
• Support for fg %<number> and fg <number>
• Falls back to normal fg behavior when there is only one background job

Installation

Using Homebrew (Recommended)

brew install super-smooth/tap/better-fg

Using Install Script

curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/super-smooth/better-fg/main/install.sh | bash

Using Nix

# Install directly from the repository
nix profile install github:super-smooth/better-fg

# Or run without installing
nix run github:super-smooth/better-fg

Manual Installation

Download the latest binary from the releases page and place it in your PATH.

Usage

To use better-fg, you need to initialize it in your shell. This is required because the tool needs to interact with your shell's job control.

1. Make sure the better-fg binary is in your system's PATH.

2. Add the following line to your shell's configuration file (e.g., ~/.zshrc, ~/.bashrc):

   eval "$(better-fg init)"

3. Restart your shell or source your configuration file (e.g., source ~/.zshrc).

Now you can use the bfg command to interactively select background jobs, or continue using fg for the traditional behavior.

Development

Prerequisites

• Go 1.21+
• Nix (optional, for development environment)

Setup

# Clone repository
git clone <repository-url>
cd better-fg

# Setup development environment
direnv allow  # if using Nix
# or
nix develop  # if using Nix without direnv
# or
go mod download  # if using Go directly

# Setup git hooks for commit message validation
./scripts/setup-git-hooks.sh

# Run tests
go test ./...

# Build using Go
go build -o better-fg ./cmd/better-fg

# Or build using Nix
nix build .#default