Output the search-path as a result

[alewis001]

Hi,

I'm using fd as part of a tool I've written for managing my tmux sessions. The tool has an option to start a new session, which uses fd and --search-path to list a few root directories from which to do the searching.

Is it possible to have the value of the --search-path arguments be in the fd output (which is piped into fzf).

For example I have --search-path ~/.dotfiles --search-path ~/dev/projects. I'd like to have ~/.dotfiles appear in the output that goes to fzf so I can start a tmux session in that directory. At the moment, only sub-directories of the search paths are being output.

Thanks

[sergio-santiago]

Include --search-path roots in fd output (for piping into fzf/tmux)

You can include the search roots themselves alongside their subdirectories so they appear in the stream you pipe to fzf. Two simple approaches:

---

Option 1 — Prepend the roots (simple & fast)

paths=(~/.dotfiles ~/dev/projects)

sel=$(
  {
    # 1) Emit the roots themselves
    printf '%s\n' "${paths[@]}"
    # 2) Emit discovered subdirectories
    fd -t d -a -H -E .git . --search-path "${paths[@]}"
  } | fzf --prompt="session dir> "
)

[ -n "$sel" ] && tmux new -s "$(basename "$sel")" -c "$sel"

Notes

• -t d → directories only (good for tmux working dirs).
• -a → absolute paths (nice for tmux new -c).
• -H → include hidden entries (so dotfiles are visible).
• -E .git → ignore repo internals.
• printf ensures the roots themselves are selectable, not just their children.

---

Option 2 — Depth‑controlled fd (roots + children)

Ask fd for the roots (depth 0) and then for their descendants (depth ≥ 1):

paths=(~/.dotfiles ~/dev/projects)

sel=$(
  {
    # depth 0 → the roots themselves
    fd -t d -a -H -E .git . --exact-depth 0 --search-path "${paths[@]}"
    # depth ≥ 1 → subdirectories under those roots
    fd -t d -a -H -E .git . --min-depth 1    --search-path "${paths[@]}"
  } | fzf --prompt="session dir> "
)

[ -n "$sel" ] && tmux new -s "$(basename "$sel")" -c "$sel"

Using . as the pattern matches any basename, so --exact-depth 0 causes fd to emit the search paths themselves.

---

Optional tweaks

• Sort the combined list: add | sort -u before fzf if you have overlapping roots.
• Show relative paths: drop -a if you prefer paths relative to each root.
• Performance: if roots are large, consider --max-depth 2 (or similar) for faster listing.

Either option will put ~/.dotfiles and ~/dev/projects in the picker, letting you jump straight into a tmux session rooted at those directories.

[alewis001]

Great, I'll give that a go! Thank you for your help.

[sergio-santiago]

❤️

[tmccombs]

Does the --absolute-path do what you want?

[sergio-santiago]

Thanks! --absolute-path helps with absolute output, but the use-case here was to also include the --search-path roots themselves. fd -a doesn’t emit the roots, so I prepended them / used --exact-depth 0 + --min-depth 1 as shown above.