Tools Reference

A comprehensive guide to all 100+ tools included in this dotfiles setup. Each tool is documented with its purpose and practical examples.

Interactive Browser

Run tools --tui in your terminal for an interactive tool browser with search!

Shell & Terminal

Tool	Description	Example
zsh	Modern shell with plugins & completions	Tab-complete git branches, kubectl resources
starship	Beautiful prompt showing git, python, node status	See branch, venv, node version at a glance
tmux	Split terminal into panes, persist sessions	tmux new -s work → detach → reattach anywhere
sesh	Fuzzy-find and switch tmux sessions	sesh connect → pick project → instant switch
ghostty	GPU-rendered terminal, native feel	Smooth scrolling, ligatures, 60fps rendering

Editors & Writing

Tool	Description	Example
neovim	Vim but modern: LSP, Treesitter, Lua	<Space>ff fuzzy find, gd go to definition
dawn	Distraction-free writing, live markdown	dawn notes.md → headers scale, math renders
glow	Render markdown beautifully in terminal	glow README.md → styled output, no browser

Modern CLI Replacements

These tools replace classic Unix commands with faster, more intuitive alternatives:

Classic	Modern	Why It's Better
cat	bat	Syntax highlighting, line numbers, git integration
ls	eza	Icons, git status, tree view built-in
find	fd	Intuitive syntax, respects .gitignore
grep	ripgrep	10x faster, smart defaults, skips binaries
cd	zoxide	Learns your habits, z proj jumps anywhere
diff	difftastic	Understands code structure, semantic diffs
curl	httpie	Human-friendly, colored JSON output
man	tldr	Practical examples, not 50-page manuals
top	btop	Beautiful, shows CPU/RAM/disk/network
du	ncdu	Interactive disk usage explorer

File Management

Tool	Description	Example
yazi	Fastest file manager, vim keys, previews	yazi → j/k navigate, preview images/PDFs
broot	Navigate directories as tree, fuzzy search	br → type to filter, alt+enter to cd
fzf	Fuzzy find anything: files, history, processes	Ctrl+r → search command history
stow	Symlink manager for dotfiles	stow nvim → links config automatically
rename	Batch rename with regex	rename 's/IMG_/photo_/' *.jpg

Version Control

Tool	Description	Example
git	Distributed version control	git log --oneline --graph
gh	GitHub from terminal: PRs, issues, Actions	gh pr create → PR without leaving terminal
lazygit	Git TUI: stage hunks, rebase visually	lazygit → space to stage, c to commit
serie	Beautiful git commit graph	serie → see branch topology with colors
gitlogue	Replay commits like a movie	gitlogue → watch project evolve
git-lfs	Handle large files efficiently	git lfs track '*.psd'
difftastic	Structural diff tool	difft old.py new.py → semantic changes

Data & Databases

Tool	Description	Example
jq	Query & transform JSON	curl api | jq '.items[].name'
harlequin	Full SQL IDE in terminal	harlequin db.sqlite → autocomplete, export
tabiew	View CSV/Parquet with SQL queries	tw data.csv → spreadsheet + SQL filtering
dbt	Analytics engineering tool	dbt run → transform raw data
mongosh	MongoDB shell with autocomplete	db.users.find({age: {$gt: 21}})
snowsql	Snowflake CLI	snowsql -q 'SELECT * FROM users'
sqlit	Lazygit for databases	sqlit → connect, query, vim keys
lnav	Log file navigator	lnav *.log → time-synced, filterable

Development Tools

Tool	Description	Example
watchexec	Run command on file changes	watchexec -e py pytest → auto-test
hyperfine	Benchmark commands scientifically	hyperfine 'fd' 'find' → compare
act	Test GitHub Actions locally	act -j test → run without pushing
vhs	Record terminal as GIF	vhs demo.tape → reproducible recordings
scooter	Interactive find & replace	TUI for project-wide refactoring
resterm	Terminal API client	REST/GraphQL/gRPC/WebSocket testing
direnv	Auto-load env vars per directory	cd project → .envrc loads automatically

Infrastructure & Cloud

Tool	Description	Example
lima	Linux VMs on Mac, Docker alternative	lima → full Linux shell
lazydocker	Docker TUI	Manage containers without flags
slim	Minify containers by 30x	slim build my-image → optimized
temporal	Durable execution platform	temporal server start-dev
terraform	Infrastructure as code	terraform apply → provision cloud
azure-cli	Manage Azure resources	az vm list

Languages & Runtimes

Tool	Description	Example
uv	pip but 100x faster	uv pip install pandas → milliseconds
pixi	Conda-compatible, fast	pixi add numpy → Python + system deps
bun	Node.js but faster	bun run dev → 10x faster startup
go	Go programming language	go run main.go
rust	Systems programming	cargo run
gum	Beautiful shell script prompts	gum choose 'opt1' 'opt2'

AI & LLM Tools

Tool	Description	Example
opencode	AI coding agent in terminal	opencode → Claude helps you code
ollama	Run LLMs locally	ollama run llama2 → chat locally
llamabarn	Local LLM menu bar app	localhost:2276/v1 → OpenAI-compatible
llama.cpp	Efficient LLM inference	Run models on CPU

GNU Coreutils

GNU versions with more features than macOS defaults:

Tool	Description	Example
coreutils	GNU cp, mv, rm with progress	gcp --progress file.iso /mnt
gnu-sed	sed that works as expected	gsed -i 's/old/new/g' file
gawk	Full-featured awk	gawk '{sum+=$1} END {print sum}'
wget	Download & mirror websites	wget -r site.com
gnupg	Encrypt files & sign commits	gpg -c secrets.txt

Media & Documents

Tool	Description	Example
ffmpeg	Convert any media format	ffmpeg -i vid.mov out.mp4
imagemagick	Batch process images	convert -resize 50% img.png thumb.png
mermaid-cli	Diagrams from text	mmdc -i diagram.md -o out.png
slides	Terminal presentations	slides deck.md
figlet	ASCII art text	figlet 'Hello'

Productivity Apps

Tool	Description	Example
1password	Password manager + CLI	op item get 'AWS' --fields password
raycast	Spotlight replacement	Clipboard history, snippets, emoji
cleanshot	Screenshot & annotate	Cmd+Shift+4 → draw → share
espanso	Text expansion	:sig → full email signature
shortcat	Click UI with keyboard	Cmd+Shift+Space → type to click

Window Management

Tool	Description	Example
aerospace	Tiling window manager	Alt+Enter → windows auto-tile
skhd	Global hotkeys	Ctrl+Alt+T → terminal anywhere
alt-tab	Windows-style alt-tab	See window previews

System & Security

Tool	Description	Example
wireguard	Modern VPN	wg-quick up vpn
lulu	Block outgoing connections	Firewall for outbound traffic
aldente	Battery charge limiter	Stop at 80% for battery health
jolt	Battery & energy monitor	Track power-hungry processes

Exploring Tools

CLI Commands

# Show all categories
tools

# Show tools in a category
tools -s vc          # Version control
tools -s cli         # Modern CLI tools
tools -s data        # Database tools

# Get details about a tool
tools -d lazygit

# Interactive TUI browser
tools --tui

Version Management

# Show installed versions
update --versions

# Filter by package manager
update --versions brew
update --versions uv
update --versions cargo

# Check for updates
update --outdated

# Update a specific tool
update bat