sk

Start skim to interactively select from input

$ sk

$ sk | xargs [vim]

$ sk --preview '[cat {}]'

$ sk -m

$ sk -i -c '[rg --color=always {}]'

$ [ls -la] | sk

$ sk --regex

$ sk --shell [bash]

sk [options]

sk (skim) is a fast fuzzy finder written in Rust, serving as an alternative to fzf. It provides an interactive interface for filtering and selecting items from any list, making it ideal for file selection, command history search, and process management.
Search syntax supports AND (space-separated terms), OR (pipe-separated with spaces), exact match (prefix with '), and negation (prefix with !). For example, src main finds items containing both terms, while .md$ | .markdown$ matches either extension.
The -i flag enables interactive mode where the command specified with -c is re-executed as you type. The --preview option shows a preview of the currently highlighted item, useful for viewing file contents or command help.
Skim can be used as a Rust library as well as a standalone binary, enabling integration into other Rust applications.

-m

Enable multi-select mode; press TAB to select multiple items

Interactive mode; re-execute command as query changes

Command to execute; {} is replaced with current query

Parse and display ANSI color codes in input

Use regex patterns instead of fuzzy matching

Display preview of selected item; {} is replaced with item

Configure preview pane (position, size, border)

Bind key to action; multiple bindings comma-separated

Color scheme: dark, light, 16, bw, none, molokai

Sorting criteria: score, index, begin, end, length

Generate completions for bash, zsh, fish, powershell, elvish

Start with initial query string

Display height in lines or percentage

Reverse layout (prompt at top)

The fuzzy matching algorithm differs from fzf, so results may vary. Key bindings and some flags have slightly different behavior compared to fzf. Large input sets may affect performance depending on available memory.

skim was created by Jinzhou Zhang (lotabout) and first released around 2016. Written in Rust, it was developed as a faster, memory-safe alternative to fzf while maintaining compatibility with most fzf features. The project is actively maintained by the skim-rs community.

fzf(1), grep(1), find(1), rg(1), fd(1)