Autocomplete

Introduction to Autocomplete

Autocomplete, or autosuggest, is a common feature for many command-line applications. Most command-line users are familiar with autocomplete when they type part of a command and press tab to complete the rest of the command, or tab-tab to see a list of commands matching that prefix.

Beyond autocomplete of the command name itself, there are ways to autocomplete sub-commands and/or options and arguments. As support for autocomplete often depends on external applications, and/or the terminal application you are using, autocomplete is a varied topic.

Cement does not currently have any mechanisms to support autocomplete out of the box. This document will serve as a helper for known ways you might find suitable for your needs.

Fig

Fig is "The next-generation command line" (per their site), with a suit of products that includes IDE-Style Autocomplete for 500+ CLI tools.

video from their site

Fig has built a Cement Extension that can be installed via PyPi, and included in your applications that are Built on Cement™.

See:

• Fig Autocomplete & Cement

ZSH Auto Suggestions

Provides "Fish-like fast/unobtrusive autosuggestions for zsh".

See:

• github.com/zsh-users/zsh-autosuggestions

BASH Programmable Completion

BASH has mechanisms for implementing "Programmable Completion".

See:

• BASH Manual
• github.com/scop/bash-completion