GitHub - sysid/rsnip: A powerful command-line snippet manager

rsnip

Smart Snippet Management with Template Support

A powerful command-line snippet manager that helps organize, find, and reuse text snippets with advanced templating capabilities. It features fuzzy search, intelligent shell integration, and dynamic template rendering.

Fast, Reliable, Yours: Why Snippets Outshine LLMs for boring Tasks

Note: Development of rsnip has been discontinued in favor of bkmr, which integrates snippet management with advanced bookmark handling, semantic and fuzzy search capabilities, and a unified interface to streamline developer productivity. See bkmr reborn for details on how bkmr enhances and expands upon the functionality of rsnip.

🌟 Key Features

Multiple Snippet Formats:
- Native format with rich template support
- VSCode snippets compatibility
- SCLS (Simple Completion Language Server) format (ZED, Helix, etc.)
Smart Organization: Categorize snippets into types (shell commands, code, notes, etc.)
Fuzzy Search: Lightning-fast fuzzy finding with interactive fzf-style interface
Deep Shell Integration (Inspired by zoxide):
- Tab completion for snippets in bash
- Customizable aliases per snippet type
- Interactive fuzzy completion
Dynamic Templates:
- Jinja2-style template syntax
- Date manipulation filters
- Environment variable access
- Safe shell command execution
Flexible Configuration:
- TOML-based configuration
- Per-snippet-type settings
Developer-Friendly: Comprehensive debugging support

🚀 Quick Start

Installation

Basic Setup

Initialize configuration:

# Generate default config
rsnip --generate-config > ~/.config/rsnip/config.toml

Add shell integration to your .bashrc:

# Enable tab completion and aliases
source <(rsnip --generate bash)

Create your first snippet file:

Configuration

RSnip uses TOML configuration with rich customization options:

[snippet_types.shell]
source_file = "~/.config/rsnip/shell_snippets.txt"
description = "Shell commands and scripts"
alias = ","  # Quick access alias

[snippet_types.rust]
source_file = "~/.config/rsnip/rust_snippets.json"
description = "Rust snippets in VSCode format"
format = "vcode"

[snippet_types.python]
source_file = "~/.config/rsnip/python_snippets.toml"
description = "Python snippets in SCLS format"
format = "scls"

Configuration is searched in: ~/.config/rsnip/config.toml

Snippet Formats

RSnip supports multiple snippet formats to make it easy to integrate with existing snippet collections:

Native Format - RSnip's native format with comments and template support:

: Optional file-level comments

--- snippet_name
: Comment describing the snippet (optional)
: Additional comment lines
Content goes here
Multiple lines supported
---

--- template_example
: Example using templates
Hello {{ env_USER }}!
Created on: {{ current_date|strftime('%Y-%m-%d') }}
---

There is also a Vim plugin for syntax highlighting and editing of rsnip snippet files: rsnip-vim

VSCode Format - Compatible with Visual Studio Code snippets:

{
    "Rust Hello World": {
        "prefix": "rust-hello",
        "body": [
            "fn main() {",
            "    println!(\"Hello, world!\");",
            "}"
        ],
        "description": "Insert a simple Rust Hello World program"
    },
    "Rust Function": {
        "prefix": "rust-fn",
        "body": [
            "fn ${1:function_name}(${2:params}) -> ${3:ReturnType} {",
                "    ${4:// function body}",
            "}"
        ],
        "description": "Create a Rust function template"
    }
}

SCLS Format - Simple Completion Language Server format (TOML-based):

[[snippets]]
prefix = "log"
scope = ["python"]
body = "print($1)"
description = "Simple print statement"

[[snippets]]
prefix = "func"
scope = ["python", "javascript"]
body = "def ${1:name}(${2:args}):\n    ${3:pass}"

🛠️ Advanced Features

Shell Integration & Aliases

RSnip provides powerful shell integration:

Type-Specific Aliases: Configure quick access aliases per snippet type:

[snippet_types.shell]
alias = ","    # Use as: , mysnippet

For every alias an associated "edit" alias will be generated automatically (prefix e): e,.

Smart Tab Completion:

Works with both full command and aliases
Supports fuzzy matching
Shows preview window with snippet content

Example usage:

# Using alias
, back<tab>   # Fuzzy finds 'backup' snippet and copies to clipboard
e, back<tab>  # Fuzzy finds 'backup' snippet and edits it

# Using full command
rsnip copy --ctype shell --input back<tab>
rsnip edit --ctype shell --input back<tab>

Interactive Selection:

FZF-style interface
Live preview
Fuzzy search
Vim-style navigation

Shell Support: Currently supports bash. PRs welcome for other shells!

Template System

RSnip implements a template engine with:

Built-in Filters:

# Date formatting
{{ current_date|strftime('%Y-%m-%d') }}

# Date arithmetic
{{ current_date|add_days(7) }}
{{ current_date|subtract_days(7) }}

# Safe shell execution
{{ 'git rev-parse --short HEAD'|shell }}

Environment Variables:

{{ env_HOME }}     # Access $HOME
{{ env_USER }}     # Access $USER
{{ env_PATH }}     # Access $PATH

Dynamic Content:

--- git-commit
: Create a dated commit
git commit -m "Update: {{ current_date|strftime('%Y-%m-%d') }} - {{ 'git status -s|wc -l'|shell }} files"
---

Snippets to be handled as Literal Text:

If you have snippets which happen to contain Jinja2-style template syntax, you can escape them like:

{% raw %}
gh run list --workflow "$workflow" \
    --status success --json name,startedAt,headBranch,databaseId,status \
    --template '{{range .}}{{tablerow (autocolor "white+h" .name) (autocolor "blue+h" .startedAt) .headBranch (autocolor "cyan" .databaseId) (autocolor "grey+h" .status)}}{{end}}' \
    --limit 20
{% endraw %}

Command Reference

A universal command-line snippet manager

Usage: rsnip [OPTIONS] [COMMAND]

Commands:
  types     List available snippet types
  list      List all snippets
  edit      Edit snippet in system editor
  complete  Find completions with optional interactive selection
  copy      Copy text to clipboard

Options:
  -d, --debug...              Enable debug logging. Multiple flags (-d, -dd, -ddd) increase verbosity
      --generate <GENERATOR>  Generate shell completion scripts [possible values: bash, elvish, fish, powershell, zsh]
      --generate-config       Print default configuration to stdout
      --info                  Display version and configuration information
  -h, --help                  Print help
  -V, --version               Print version

Debug Support

Multiple verbosity levels for troubleshooting:

rsnip -d    # Info level
rsnip -dd   # Debug level
rsnip -ddd  # Trace level

View system information:

🔍 Usage Examples

Managing Shell Commands

Create shell snippets:

--- aws-profile
: Switch AWS profile
export AWS_PROFILE={{ env_AWS_PROFILE|default('default') }}
---

--- docker-clean
: Remove unused Docker resources
docker system prune -af
---

Use with aliases:

, aws<tab>     # Fuzzy finds aws-profile
,d clean<tab>  # Finds docker-clean using docker alias

Git Workflows

Create git snippets:

--- commit-wip
: Create WIP commit with date
git commit -m "WIP: {{ current_date|strftime('%Y-%m-%d %H:%M') }}"
---

Use with dedicated alias:

,g wip<tab>  # Finds and applies commit-wip

🤝 Contributing

Contributions welcome! Please check our Contributing Guide.

Development Setup

# Clone repository
git clone https://github.com/yourusername/rsnip
cd rsnip

# Run tests
cargo test

# Build release
cargo build --release

📄 License

BSD 3-Clause License - see LICENSE for details.

🙏 Acknowledgments

Built with excellent Rust crates:

clap: Command line parsing
minijinja: Template engine
skim: Fuzzy finder
anyhow/thiserror: Error handling
crossterm: Terminal UI

Shell integration inspired by: GitHub - ajeetdsouza/zoxide: A smarter cd command. Supports all major shells.