bfs

bfs [options] [path...] [expression]

bfs is a breadth-first variant of the Unix find command. It traverses directories in breadth-first order rather than depth-first, which can be faster for certain operations and more intuitive when printing results.The tool is compatible with GNU find but uses a different traversal strategy.

-name pattern

Match filename pattern

File type (f, d, l, etc.)

File size

Modification time

Execute command

Delete matched files

Process directory contents before directory

Maximum depth to descend

-j n

Search with N threads in parallel (default: number of CPUs, up to 8)

Select the search strategy: breadth-first (default), depth-first, iterative deepening, or exponential deepening

Turn colors on or off (default: -color when output is a terminal)

Include or exclude hidden files (those beginning with .)

Exclude all paths matching the expression from the search

Skip files that have already been seen (useful with -L)

Do not descend into other mount points (same as -xdev)

Display a status bar while searching

Read NUL-separated starting paths from a file

Turn on a debugging flag

- Breadth-first traversal order- Generally faster for -quit operations- More intuitive output ordering- Compatible command-line syntax

Less widely available than find. Different traversal order may affect some operations. Not installed by default on most systems. For complex queries, behavior differences possible.

bfs was created by Tavian Barnes in 2015 as an optimized, breadth-first alternative to the traditional find command.

find(1), fd(1), locate(1)

Source code · Homepage