https://github.com/tassiovirginio/try-rs
A blazing fast, Rust-based workspace manager for your temporary experiments.
https://github.com/tassiovirginio/try-rs
cli ratatui rust try
Last synced: 3 months ago
JSON representation
A blazing fast, Rust-based workspace manager for your temporary experiments.
- Host: GitHub
- URL: https://github.com/tassiovirginio/try-rs
- Owner: tassiovirginio
- License: mit
- Created: 2025-12-17T02:34:47.000Z (4 months ago)
- Default Branch: main
- Last Pushed: 2026-01-06T23:39:15.000Z (4 months ago)
- Last Synced: 2026-01-07T19:34:32.002Z (4 months ago)
- Topics: cli, ratatui, rust, try
- Language: Rust
- Homepage: https://try-rs.org
- Size: 16 MB
- Stars: 82
- Watchers: 1
- Forks: 5
- Open Issues: 0
-
Metadata Files:
- Readme: README.md
- License: LICENSE
Awesome Lists containing this project
- fucking-awesome-rust - tassiovirginio/try-rs - rs](crates.io/crates/try-rs)] - Workspace manager CLI with a TUI to organize and navigate temporary experiments. (Applications / Productivity)
- awesome-rust - tassiovirginio/try-rs - rs](https://crates.io/crates/try-rs)] - Workspace manager CLI with a TUI to organize and navigate temporary experiments. (Applications / Productivity)
- awesome-rust-with-stars - tassiovirginio/try-rs - rs) | Workspace manager CLI with a TUI to organize and navigate temporary experiments. | 2026-02-08 | (Applications / Productivity)
README
try-rs.org
A blazing fast, Rust-based workspace manager for your temporary experiments.
**try-rs** is a CLI tool designed to manage the chaos of temporary projects. Instead of cluttering your Desktop or `/tmp` with `test1`, `new-test`, and `final-test`, `try-rs` organizes them into date-prefixed directories, offering a robust TUI (Terminal User Interface) to create, navigate, and clean up your experiments.
## Features
| Feature | Description |
| :----------------------- | :------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Blazing Fast** | Built in Rust, compiled to native binary. No interpreter lag. |
| **Rich TUI** | Beautiful terminal interface built with [Ratatui](https://github.com/ratatui/ratatui). |
| **Fuzzy Search** | Instantly find old experiments with smart matching. |
| **Auto-Dating** | Creates directories like `rust-test` automatically. |
| **Git Integration** | Auto-clones URLs (`try-rs `) and marks repos with (). |
| **Content Preview** | Inspect files inside a folder before entering it. |
| **Editor Integration** | Open experiments directly in your editor (`Ctrl+E`). |
| **Theming** | Switch themes at runtime (`Ctrl+T`) or customize via config. |
| **Safe Deletion** | Delete old experiments via UI with confirmation (`Ctrl+D`). |
| **Configurable** | Supports XDG Base Directory (view section [Configuration](#configuration)). |
| **Multi-Shell Support** | Supports Fish, Zsh, Bash, Power Shell and Nushell. |
| **Multi-OS Support** | Supports Linux, macOS and Windows. |
| **Icons Identification** | Supports icons identification projects (` `). |
## Installation
### Prerequisites
- A shell (Fish, Zsh, Bash, Power Shell or Nushell).
- A **Nerd Font** installed (required for icons like and 🦀).
### Building from source
```bash
git clone https://github.com/tassiovirginio/try-rs.git
cd try-rs
cargo install --path . --bin try-rs
```
### Cargo install try-rs
```bash
cargo install try-rs
```
### Eget
```bash
eget tassiovirginio/try-rs
```
### Install in Archlinux
```bash
yay -S try-rs-bin
```
### Ubuntu/Debian (APT Repository)
```bash
# Add the repository
echo "deb [trusted=yes] https://tassiovirginio.github.io/try-rs stable main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/try-rs.list
# Update and install
sudo apt update
sudo apt install try-rs
```
### Ubuntu/Debian (.deb manual)
- Download the latest `.deb` for your architecture (amd64/arm64) from the Releases page and install it:
```bash
# Replace X.Y.Z with the latest version and choose amd64 or arm64
wget https://github.com/tassiovirginio/try-rs/releases/download/vX.Y.Z/try-rs_X.Y.Z-1_amd64.deb
sudo apt install ./try-rs_X.Y.Z-1_amd64.deb
```
- Alternatively, browse all assets at:
### Windows (Releases)
- Download the Windows build from the Releases downloads:
- Unzip or place the binary somewhere on your `PATH` (e.g., add the folder to the System Environment `Path`) so you can run `try-rs` from any terminal (PowerShell, Command Prompt).
### Nix Install (flakes)
```bash
nix profile install github:tassiovirginio/try-rs
```
### Automatic Setup
On the first run, **try-rs** will attempt to detect your shell and ask if you want to automatically configure the shell integration.
## Configuration
1. Setup the Shell Integration
Since try-rs needs to change your shell's current directory, it requires a small wrapper function.
- Fish Shell (Recommended)
```bash
try-rs --setup fish
```
(Optional) Create an alias:
```bash
alias try "try-rs"
```
- Zsh
```bash
try-rs --setup zsh
```
- Bash
```bash
try-rs --setup bash
```
- Power-shell
```bash
try-rs --setup power-shell
```
- Nushell
```bash
try-rs --setup nu-shell
```
### 2. Config File
The configuration file is stored in a platform-specific directory:
| Platform | Value | Example |
| :---------- | :------------------------------------ | :--------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Linux** | `$XDG_CONFIG_HOME` or `$HOME/.config` | `/home/tassio/.config/try-rs` |
| **macOS** | `$HOME/Library/Application Support` | `/Users/tassio/Library/Application Support/try-rs` |
| **Windows** | `{FOLDERID_RoamingAppData}` | `C:\Users\tassio\AppData\Roaming\try-rs` |
By default, experiments are stored in `~/work/tries`. You can customize the path, choose a theme, and configure the editor. To change this, create `config.toml` in the directory shown above:
```toml
# config.toml
tries_path = "~/Development/playground"
editor = "code" # Optional: code, nvim, hx, etc.
apply_date_prefix = true # optional, default is false
transparent_background = true # optional, default is true (uses terminal background)
# Theme configuration (choose one of the available themes)
theme = "Catppuccin Mocha"
```
**Background Transparency:**
By default, try-rs uses a transparent background (inherits from your terminal). Each theme includes its own background color that will be used when `transparent_background = false`. You can control this with:
```toml
# Use theme's background color (solid background)
transparent_background = false
# Use terminal's background (transparent/inherit) - default
transparent_background = true
```
**Available Themes:**
You can use any of these theme names in your configuration:
- `"Default"`
- `"Catppuccin Mocha"`
- `"Catppuccin Macchiato"`
- `"Dracula"`
- `"JetBrains Darcula"`
- `"Gruvbox Dark"`
- `"Nord"`
- `"Tokyo Night"`
- `"One Dark Pro"`
- `"Everforest"`
- `"SynthWave '84"`
- `"OLED True Black"`
- `"Silver Gray"`
- `"Black & White"`
- `"Matrix"`
- `"Tron"`
**Custom Colors (Optional):**
If you want to create a fully custom theme, you can define individual colors instead of using the `theme` option:
```toml
# config.toml
tries_path = "~/Development/playground"
editor = "code"
[colors]
# Background color (optional - omit for transparent)
background = "#1E1E2E"
# UI Colors
title_try = "Magenta"
title_rs = "White"
search_title = "Green"
search_border = "Gray"
folder_title = "Yellow"
folder_border = "Gray"
disk_title = "Orange"
disk_border = "Gray"
preview_title = "Blue"
preview_border = "Gray"
legends_title = "Purple"
legends_border = "Gray"
list_date = "Blue"
list_highlight_bg = "Magenta"
list_highlight_fg = "Black"
helpers_colors = "DarkGray"
status_message = "Yellow"
popup_bg = "DarkGray"
popup_text = "LightRed"
# Icons Colors
icon_rust = "Red"
icon_maven = "Orange"
icon_flutter = "Cyan"
icon_go = "Cyan"
icon_python = "Yellow"
icon_mise = "Orange"
icon_worktree = "Green"
icon_worktree_lock = "Gray"
icon_gitmodules = "Purple"
icon_git = "Red"
icon_folder = "Yellow"
icon_file = "Gray"
```
**Available Color Names:**
You can use the following color names in your custom color configuration:
- Basic colors: `Black`, `Red`, `Green`, `Yellow`, `Blue`, `Magenta`, `Cyan`, `Gray`, `DarkGray`, `LightRed`, `LightGreen`, `LightYellow`, `LightBlue`, `LightMagenta`, `LightCyan`, `White`
- RGB colors: You can also use RGB values like `"#FF5733"` or as a table: `{ r = 255, g = 87, b = 51 }`
### 3. Environment Variables
You can also configure **try-rs** using environment variables:
| Variable | Description |
| :------------------ | :--------------------------------------------------------- |
| `TRY_PATH` | Overrides the path where experiments are stored. |
| `TRY_CONFIG_DIR` | Overrides the default configuration directory. |
| `TRY_CONFIG` | Overrides the config filename (defaults to `config.toml`). |
| `VISUAL` / `EDITOR` | Default editor to use if not specified in `config.toml`. |
## Usage
Simply type try-rs (or your alias) in your terminal.
### Key Bindings
| Key | Action |
| ----------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------ |
| `Type` | Filter the list (Fuzzy Search) |
| `↑` / `↓` / `Ctrl+K` / `Ctrl+J` / `Ctrl+P` / `Ctrl+N` | Navigate the list |
| `Ctrl+U` | Clear the search box |
| `Enter` | Select directory (or create new if text doesn't match) |
| `Ctrl+D` | Delete the selected directory (triggers popup) |
| `Ctrl+E` | Open in editor (configured in config.toml) |
| `Ctrl+T` | Open theme selector |
| `Ctrl+A` | Open about popup |
| `Esc/Ctrl+C` | Cancel / Close Popup / Exit |
#### Theme Selector Key Bindings
| Key | Action |
| --------------------------------- | -------------------- |
| `↑` / `↓` / `j` / `k` / `n` / `p` | Navigate themes |
| `Enter` | Select theme |
| `Esc/Ctrl+C` | Close theme selector |
## Themes
You can switch between themes at runtime by pressing `Ctrl+T`. The following themes are available:
- **Default**
- **Catppuccin Mocha**
- **Catppuccin Macchiato**
- **Dracula**
- **JetBrains Darcula**
- **Gruvbox Dark**
- **Nord**
- **Tokyo Night**
- **One Dark Pro**
- **Everforest**
- **SynthWave '84**
- **OLED True Black**
- **Silver Gray**
- **Black & White**
- **Matrix**
- **Tron**
You can also define a custom theme in your `config.toml`.
## CLI Commands
You can also bypass the UI:
| Command | Description |
| ---------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `try-rs` | Opens the TUI |
| `try-rs ` | Create (or jump to) a named experiment |
| `try-rs ` | Clones a repository into a dated folder |
| `try-rs ` | Clones a repository into a specific folder name (destination) |
| `try-rs -s ` / `try-rs --shallow-clone` | Shallow clone (--depth 1) when cloning repositories |
| `try-rs -w ` / `try-rs --worktree` | Create a git worktree from current repository (must be inside repo) |
| `try-rs --setup ` | Setup shell integration (fish, zsh, bash, nu-shell, power-shell) |
| `try-rs --version` | Show application version |
| `try-rs --help` | Show help message |
## Inspiration
This project is a Rust port and re-imagination of the excellent [try](https://github.com/tobi/try) tool by **Tobi Lütke**.
While the original is a lightweight Ruby script, **try-rs** aims to bring the same philosophy, "Your experiments deserve a home", but with the performance, type safety, and modern TUI capabilities (using [Ratatui](https://github.com/ratatui/ratatui)) of the Rust ecosystem.
## Contributing
Pull requests are welcome! For major changes, please open an issue first to discuss what you would like to change.
📄 License
[MIT](LICENSE)