fsel

A small interactive file selector for Bash using fzf.

It lets you browse directories, open files with your preferred editor, and visually distinguish folders from files using colors.

Features

• / always shown first to jump to the filesystem root
• .. always shown second to go up one directory
• Remaining files and directories sorted alphabetically
• Directories shown in color
• Files opened with $EDITOR
• Optional starting directory as argument
• Lightweight and easy to modify

Requirements

• Bash
• fzf
• find
• sort

Installation

Clone the repository or copy the script locally:

chmod +x fsel.sh

Make sure fzf is installed.

Debian / Ubuntu / Linux Mint

sudo apt install fzf

Usage

Run it with:

./fsel.sh

Or start from a specific directory:

./fsel.sh /path/to/start

Behavior

• Selecting / moves to the root directory
• Selecting .. goes to the parent directory
• Selecting a directory enters it
• Selecting a file opens it with $EDITOR

Example:

EDITOR=micro ./fsel.sh

If EDITOR is not set, the script uses nano by default.

Important note

This is a standalone Bash script, not a shell function.

Because of that, when you change directory inside the script, the directory change only affects the script itself, not the parent shell.

So this works:

• browse directories inside the selector
• open files from the selected location

But this does not persist after the script exits:

• changing the current directory of your terminal session

If you want persistent cd behavior, use a shell function instead of a normal executable script.

Example script

#!/usr/bin/env bash
set -euo pipefail

EDITOR_CMD="${EDITOR:-nano}"

if [[ $# -gt 0 ]]; then
    cd -- "$1" || exit 1
fi

while true; do
    row="$(
        {
            printf '\033[1;35m/\033[0m\t/\n'
            printf '\033[1;35m..\033[0m\t..\n'

            find . -maxdepth 1 -mindepth 1 -printf '%P\n' | sort | while IFS= read -r item; do
                if [[ -d "$item" ]]; then
                    printf '\033[1;34m%s/\033[0m\t%s\n' "$item" "$item"
                else
                    printf '%s\t%s\n' "$item" "$item"
                fi
            done
        } | fzf --ansi --delimiter=$'\t' --with-nth=1 --height 40% --reverse --prompt="$(pwd) > "
    )"

    [[ -n "$row" ]] || exit 0

    sel="${row#*$'\t'}"

    case "$sel" in
        /)
            cd / || exit 1
            ;;
        ..)
            cd .. || exit 1
            ;;
        *)
            if [[ -d "$sel" ]]; then
                cd -- "$sel" || exit 1
            else
                "$EDITOR_CMD" "$sel"
                exit 0
            fi
            ;;
    esac
done

Customization ideas

You can easily extend it to:

• color executable files differently
• color symbolic links differently
• preview files with fzf --preview
• show directories before files
• make sorting case-insensitive

License

MIT