augment-command.yazi

A Yazi plugin that enhances Yazi's default commands. This plugin is inspired by the Yazi tips page, the bypass.yazi plugin and the fast-enter.yazi plugin.

Table of Contents

• Requirements
• Installation
• Configuration
• What about the commands are augmented?
• Augmented commands
• New commands
• Usage
• Licence

Requirements

• Yazi v0.3.0+
• 7z or 7zz command
• file command

Installation

# Add the plugin
ya pack -a hankertrix/augment-command

# Install plugin
ya pack -i

# Update plugin
ya pack -u

Configuration

Configuration	Values	Default	Description
prompt	true or false	false	Create a prompt to choose between hovered and selected items when both exist. If this option is disabled, selected items will only be operated on when the hovered item is selected, otherwise the hovered item will be the default item that is operated on.
default_item_group_for_prompt	hovered, selected or none	hovered	The default item group to operate on when the prompt is submitted without any value. This only takes effect if prompt is set to true, otherwise this option doesn't do anything. hovered means the hovered item is operated on, selected means the selected items are operated on, and none just cancels the operation.
smart_enter	true or false	true	Use one command to open files or enter a directory. With this option set, the enter and open commands will both call the enter command when a directory is hovered and call the open command when a regular file is hovered.
smart_paste	true or false	false	Paste items into a directory without entering it. The behaviour is exactly the same as the smart-paste tip on Yazi's documentation. Setting this option to false will use the default paste behaviour. You can also enable smart pasting by passing the --smart flag to the paste command.
enter_archives	true or false	true	Automatically extract and enter archive files. This option requires the 7z or 7zz command to be present.
extract_retries	An integer, like 1, 3, 10, etc.	3	This option determines how many times the plugin will retry opening an encrypted or password-protected archive when a wrong password is given. This value plus 1 is the total number of times the plugin will try opening an encrypted or password-protected archive.
must_have_hovered_item	true or false	true	This option stops the plugin from executing any commands when there is no hovered item.
skip_single_subdirectory_on_enter	true or false	true	Skip directories when there is only one subdirectory and no other files when entering directories. This behaviour can be turned off by passing the --no-skip flag to the enter or open commands.
skip_single_subdirectory_on_leave	true or false	true	Skip directories when there is only one subdirectory and no other files when leaving directories. This behaviour can be turned off by passing the --no-skip flag to the leave command.
ignore_hidden_items	true or false	false	Ignore hidden items when determining whether a directory only has one subdirectory and no other items. Setting this option to false will mean that hidden items in a directory will stop the plugin from skipping the single subdirectory.
wraparound_file_navigation	true or false	false	Wrap around from the bottom to the top or from the top to the bottom when using the arrow or parent-arrow command to navigate.
sort_directories_first	true or false	true	This option tells the plugin if you have sorted directories first in your yazi.toml file, located at ~/.config/yazi/yazi.toml on Linux and macOS or C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\yazi\config\yazi.toml on Windows, where USERNAME is your Windows username. If you have set sort_dir_first to true in your yazi.toml file, set this option to true as well. If you have set sort_dir_first to false instead, set this option to false as well. This option only affects the parent-arrow command with wraparound_file_navigation set to true. If the sort_dir_first setting doesn't match the plugin's sort_directories_first setting, i.e. Yazi's sort_dir_first is true but the plugin's sort_directories_first is false, or Yazi's sort_dir_first is false but the plugin's sort_directories_first is true, the wraparound functionality of the parent-arrow command will not work properly and may act erratically. The default value of sort_directories_first follows Yazi's sort_dir_first default value, which is true.

If you would like to use the default configuration, which is shown below, you don't need to add anything to your ~/.config/yazi/init.lua file on Linux and macOS, or your C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\yazi\config\init.lua file on Windows, where USERNAME is your Windows username.

-- ~/.config/yazi/init.lua for Linux and macOS
-- C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\yazi\config\init.lua for Windows

-- Using the default configuration
require("augment-command"):setup({
    prompt = false,
    default_item_group_for_prompt = "hovered",
    smart_enter = true,
    smart_paste = false,
    enter_archives = true,
    extract_retries = 3,
    must_have_hovered_item = true,
    skip_single_subdirectory_on_enter = true,
    skip_single_subdirectory_on_leave = true,
    ignore_hidden_items = false,
    wraparound_file_navigation = false,
    sort_directories_first = true,
})

However, if you would like to configure the plugin, you can add your desired configuration options to your ~/.config/yazi/init.lua file on Linux and macOS, or your C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\yazi\config\init.lua file on Windows, where USERNAME is your Windows username. You can leave out configuration options that you would like to be left as default. An example configuration is shown below:

-- ~/.config/yazi/init.lua for Linux and macOS
-- C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\yazi\config\init.lua for Windows

-- Custom configuration
require("augment-command"):setup({
    prompt = true,
    default_item_group_for_prompt = "none",
    extract_retries = 5,
    ignore_hidden_items = true,
    wraparound_file_navigation = true,
    sort_directories_first = false,
})

What about the commands are augmented?

All commands that can operate on multiple files and directories, like open, rename, remove and shell, as well as the new commands editor and pager, now determine an item group to operate on. By default, the command will operate on the hovered item, unless the hovered item is also selected, then it will operate on the selected items.

• When must_have_hovered_item is set to true, having no hovered item means the plugin will cancel the operation.
• When must_have_hovered_item is set to false and there are selected items, the selected items will be operated on.
• With prompt is set to true, the plugin will always prompt you to choose an item group when there are both selected items and a hovered item.

Augmented commands

Open (open)

• When smart_enter is set to true, it calls the enter command when the hovered item is a directory.
• --no-skip flag, which only applies when smart_enter is used as it is passed to the enter command. More details about this flag can be found at the documentation for the enter command.
• Automatically extracts and enters archive files, with support for skipping directories that contain only one subdirectory in the extracted archive. This can be disabled by setting enter_archives to false in the configuration. This feature requires the 7z or 7zz command to be present to extract the archives.
• If the archive file contains only a single file, the command will automatically extract it to the current directory instead of creating a folder for the contents of the archive. If this extracted file is also an archive file, the command will automatically extract its contents before deleting it. This feature requires the file command to detect the mime type of the extracted file, and to check whether it is an archive file or not. This makes extracting binaries from compressed tarballs much easier, as there's no need to press a key twice to decompress and extract the compressed tarballs.

Enter (enter)

• When smart_enter is set to true, it calls the open command when the hovered item is a file.
• Automatically skips directories that contain only one subdirectory when entering directories. This can be turned off by setting skip_single_subdirectory_on_enter to false in the configuration.
• --no-skip flag. It stops the plugin from skipping directories that contain only one subdirectory when entering directories, even when skip_single_subdirectory_on_enter is set to true. This allows you to set a key to navigate into directories without skipping the directories that contain only one subdirectory.

Leave (leave)

• Automatically skips directories that contain only one subdirectory when leaving directories. This can be turned off by setting skip_single_subdirectory_on_leave to false in the configuration.
• --no-skip flag. It stops the plugin from skipping directories that contain only one subdirectory, even when skip_single_subdirectory_on_leave is set to true. This allows you to set a key to navigate out of directories without skipping the directories that contain only one subdirectory.

Rename (rename)

• The rename command is augmented as stated in this section above.

Remove (remove)

• The remove command is augmented as stated in this section above.

Paste (paste)

• When smart_paste is set to true, the paste command will paste items into a hovered directory without entering it. If the hovered item is not a directory, the command pastes in the current directory instead. Otherwise, when smart_paste is set to false, the paste command will behave like the default paste command.
• --smart flag to enable pasting in a hovered directory without entering the directory. This flag will cause the paste command to paste items into a hovered directory even when smart_paste is set to false. This allows you to set a key to use smart paste instead of using smart paste for every paste command.

Shell (shell)

• This command runs the shell command given with the augment stated in this section above. You should only use this command if you need the plugin to determine a suitable item group for the command to operate on. Otherwise, you should just use the default shell command provided by Yazi.

• To use this command, the syntax is exactly the same as the default shell command provided by Yazi. You just provide the command you want and provide any Yazi shell variable, which is documented here. The plugin will automatically replace the shell variable you give with the file paths for the item group before executing the command.

• You will also need to escape the quotes when giving the shell command if you use the same quotes to quote the given arguments to the plugin. For example, if you pass the arguments to the plugin with double quotes, i.e. --args="shell", you will have to escape the double quotes with a backslash character, like shown below:

  # ~/.config/yazi/keymap.toml on Linux and macOS
  # C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\yazi\config\keymap.toml on Windows
  
  [[manager.prepend_keymap]]
  on = [ "o" ]
  run = 'plugin augment-command --args="shell \"$EDITOR $@\" --block --confirm"'
  desc = "Open the editor"

• Alternatively, you can use the triple single quote ''' delimiter for the run string and avoid the escaping the shell command altogether, like the two examples below:

  # ~/.config/yazi/keymap.toml on Linux and macOS
  # C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\yazi\config\keymap.toml on Windows
  
  [[manager.prepend_keymap]]
  on = [ "o" ]
  run = '''plugin augment-command --args='shell "$EDITOR $@" --block --confirm''''
  desc = "Open the editor"
  
  [[manager.prepend_keymap]]
  on = [ "i" ]
  run = '''plugin augment-command --args="shell '$PAGER $@' --block --confirm"'''
  desc = "Open the pager"

• --exit-if-directory flag to stop the shell command given from executing if the item group consists only of directories. For example, if the item group is the hovered item, then the shell command will not be executed if the hovered item is a directory. If the item group is the selected items group, then the shell command will not be executed if all the selected items are directories. This behaviour comes from it being used in the pager command. The pager command is essentially:

  # ~/.config/yazi/keymap.toml on Linux and macOS
  # C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\yazi\config\keymap.toml on Windows
  
  [[manager.prepend_keymap]]
  on = [ "i" ]
  run = '''plugin augment-command --args="shell '$PAGER $@' --block --confirm --exit-if-directory"'''
  desc = "Open the pager"

Arrow (arrow)

• When wraparound_file_navigation is set to true, the arrow command will wrap around from the bottom to the top or from the top to the bottom when navigating. Otherwise, it'll behave like the default arrow command.

New commands

Parent-arrow (parent-arrow)

• This command behaves like the arrow command, but in the parent directory. It allows you to navigate in the parent directory without leaving the current directory.

• When wraparound_file_navigation is set to true, this command will also wrap around from the bottom to the top or from top to the bottom when navigating in the parent directory. For this feature to work properly, the sort_dir_first option in your ~/.config/yazi/yazi.toml file on Linux and macOS, or your C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\yazi\config\yazi.toml file on Windows, where USERNAME is your Windows username, has to match the plugin's sort_directories_first option, i.e. if you have set the sort_dir_first to true in your ~/.config/yazi/yazi.toml file on Linux and macOS, or your C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\yazi\config\yazi.toml on Windows, like so:

  # ~/.config/yazi/yazi.toml on Linux and macOS
  # C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\yazi\config\yazi.toml on Windows
  
  [manager]
  sort_dir_first = true

  Then sort_directories_first should be set to true as well in your ~/.config/yazi/init.lua file on Linux and macOS, or your C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\yazi\config\yazi.toml file on Windows, where USERNAME is your Windows username, like so:

  -- ~/.config/yazi/init.lua on Linux and macOS
  -- C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\yazi\config\init.lua on Windows
  
  require("augment-command"):setup({
      sort_directories_first = true
  })

  If your ~/.config/yazi/yazi.toml file on Linux and macOS, or your C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\yazi\config\yazi.toml file on Windows, where USERNAME is your Windows username, has sort_dir_first set to false, like so:

  # ~/.config/yazi/yazi.toml on Linux and macOS
  # C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\yazi\config\yazi.toml on Windows
  
  [manager]
  sort_dir_first = false

  Then sort_directories_first should be set to false as well in your ~/.config/yazi/init.lua file on Linux and macOS, or your C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\yazi\config\yazi.toml file on Windows, where USERNAME is your Windows username, like so:

  -- ~/.config/yazi/init.lua on Linux and macOS
  -- C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\yazi\config\init.lua on Windows
  
  require("augment-command"):setup({
      sort_directories_first = false
  })

  The default value of sort_directories_first follows Yazi's sort_dir_first default value, which is true.

• You can also replicate this using this series of commands below, but it doesn't work as well, and doesn't support wraparound navigation:

  # ~/.config/yazi/keymap.toml on Linux and macOS
  # C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\yazi\config\keymap.toml on Windows
  
  # Use K to move up in the parent directory
  [[manager.prepend_keymap]]
  on   = [ "K" ]
  run  = [ "leave", "arrow -1", "enter" ]
  desc = "Move up in the parent directory"
  
  
  # Use J to move down in the parent directory
  [[manager.prepend_keymap]]
  on   = [ "J" ]
  run  = [ "leave", "arrow 1", "enter" ]
  desc = "Move down in the parent directory"

Editor (editor)

• The editor command opens the default editor set by the $EDITOR environment variable.
• The command is also augmented as stated in this section above.

Pager (pager)

• The pager command opens the default pager set by the $PAGER environment variable.
• The command is also augmented as stated in this section above.
• The pager command will also skip opening directories, as the pager cannot open directories and will error out. Hence, the command will not do anything when the hovered item is a directory, or if all the selected items are directories. This makes the pager command less annoying as it will not try to open a directory and then immediately fail with an error, causing a flash and Yazi to send a notification.

Usage

Add the commands that you would like to use to your keymap.toml file, located at ~/.config/yazi/keymap.toml on Linux and macOS and at C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\yazi\config\keymap.toml on Windows, in this format:

# ~/.config/yazi/keymap.toml on Linux and macOS
# C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\yazi\config\keymap.toml on Windows

[[manager.prepend_keymap]]
on = [ "key" ]
run = "plugin augment-command --args='command arguments --flags --options=42'"
desc = "Description"

For example, to use the augmented enter command:

# ~/.config/yazi/keymap.toml on Linux and macOS
# C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\yazi\config\keymap.toml on Windows

[[manager.prepend_keymap]]
on = [ "l" ]
run = "plugin augment-command --args='enter'"
desc = "Enter a directory and skip directories with only a single subdirectory"

All the default arguments, flags and options provided by Yazi are also supported, for example:

# ~/.config/yazi/keymap.toml on Linux and macOS
# C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\yazi\config\keymap.toml on Windows

[[manager.prepend_keymap]]
on   = [ "k" ]
run  = "plugin augment-command --args='arrow -1'"
desc = "Move cursor up"

[[manager.prepend_keymap]]
on = [ "r" ]
run = "plugin augment-command --args='rename --cursor=before_ext'"
desc = "Rename a file or directory"

[[manager.prepend_keymap]]
on = [ "D" ]
run = "plugin augment-command --args='remove --permanently'"
desc = "Permanently delete the files"

For the default descriptions of the commands, you can refer to Yazi's keymap.toml file.

Essentially, all you need to do to use this plugin is to wrap a Yazi command in single quotes, like 'enter', then add plugin augment-command --args= in front of it, which results in plugin augment-command --args='enter'.

Full configuration example

For a full configuration example, you can take a look at my keymap.toml file.

Licence

This plugin is licenced under the GNU GPL v3 licence. You can view the full licence in the LICENSE file.