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.
Fuzzy Search	Instantly find old experiments with smart matching.
Auto-Dating	Creates directories like rust-test automatically.
Git Integration	Auto-clones URLs (try-rs <url>) 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).
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

git clone [https://github.com/tassiovirginio/try-rs.git](https://github.com/tassiovirginio/try-rs)
cd try-rs
cargo install --path . --bin try-rs

Cargo install try-rs

cargo install try-rs

Install in Archlinux

yay -S try-rs-bin

Nix Install (flakes)

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)

try-rs --setup fish

(Optional) Create an abbreviation:

abbr --add try try-rs

• Zsh

try-rs --setup zsh

• Bash

try-rs --setup bash

• Power-shell

try-rs --setup power-shell

• Nushell

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/tassiovirginio/.config/try-rs
macOS	$HOME/Library/Application Support	/Users/tassiovirginio/Library/Application Support/try-rs
Windows	{FOLDERID_RoamingAppData}	C:\Users\tassiovirginio\AppData\Roaming\try-rs

By default, experiments are stored in ~/work/tries. You can customize the path and the UI colors (themes). To change this, create config.toml in the directory shown above:

# config.toml
tries_path = "~/Development/playground"
editor = "code" # Optional: code, nvim, hx, etc.

[colors]
title_try = "Magenta"
title_rs = "White"
search_box = "Green"
list_date = "Blue"
list_highlight_bg = "Magenta"
list_highlight_fg = "Black"
help_text = "DarkGray"
status_message = "Yellow"
popup_bg = "DarkGray"
popup_text = "LightRed"

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:

• Catppuccin Mocha (Default)
• Dracula
• JetBrains Darcula
• Gruvbox Dark
• Nord
• Tokyo Night

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 <name>	Create (or jump to) a named experiment
try-rs <https://github.com/user/repo>	Clones a repository into a dated folder
try-rs <https://github.com/user/repo> <name>	Clones a repository into a specific folder name
try-rs -s <url>	Shallow clone (depth 1)
try-rs -w <name>	Create a git worktree from current repository
try-rs --setup <shell>	setup shell integration (fish, zsh, bash, power-shell, nu-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 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) 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