% alf.conf(5) alf.conf(5) | File Formats Manual % Danny Ben Shitrit <https://github.com/dannyben\> % September 2023
alf.conf - configuration file for alf
The alf.conf file consists of aliases and the command associated with them.
Any line that does not start with a whitespace is considered a base alias.
dir: ls -l
Any line that starts with one or more whitespaces will be nested as a sub command of the previous base alias. Note that the command of the base alias will be used as a prefix to all nested commands.
g: git
s: status
c: add . --all && git commit -am
l: log --all --graph --date=relative
p: push
In this example, running g s will execute git status.
You can call an alias from another alias.
g: git
p: push
gg: g p
In this example, running gg will execute git push.
Sub commands that start with an exclamation mark will not be prefixed by their base command.
dc: docker-compose
deploy: !docker stack deploy -c docker-compose.yml
upd: up -d
When you do not need to prepend your sub aliases with the primary command, specify an exclamation mark in the primary command.
dns: !
check: host -t ns
flush: sudo systemd-resolve --flush-caches
This example provides two completely different aliases: dns check and dns flush.
By default, all arguments that are provided in the input are passed on to the alias, using "$@". If your command contains the $ symbol, then the array of arguments will NOT be appended to the command.
You can even provide a default value to the argument using the standard bash syntax, and use any bash construct, like inline functions.
count: find ${1:-.} -type f | wc -l
binlink: sudo ln -fs "$(realpath $1)" "/usr/local/bin/$1"
Any line starting with # will be considered a comment. Do not use inline comments.
# good
dir: ls -l
dir: ls -l # bad
alf(1)