fd An Alternative to the Linux find Command

The fd command is a popular alternative to the find command in Linux. It is a faster and more user-friendly version of find, written in Rust for performance. Key features of fd include the ability to search using regular expressions, a more natural syntax for specifying search parameters, and the ability to search using specific file extensions or names.

Installation

The fd command can be installed on Linux and macOS using the package manager of your distribution.

On Debian based distributions

sudo apt-get install fd-find

On Fedora and CentOS

sudo yum install fd-find

On Arch Linux and Manjaro

sudo pacman -S fd

On macOS

brew install fd

Alternatively, you can install fd from source using Cargo

cargo install fd-find

Basic Usage

The basic usage of fd is simpler than the traditional find command. Here are common examples

Finding all files in the current directory

fd

Finding all files with a specific name

fd testfile

Finding all files with a specific extension

fd -e txt

Finding all files that contain a specific string in the name

fd "test file"

Finding all directories

fd -t d

Finding all symbolic links

fd -t l

Advanced Search Criteria

The fd command allows you to specify various search criteria to narrow down your search results

Searching by File Size

Finding files larger than a certain size

fd -S +10M

Finding files smaller than a certain size

fd -S -1K

Using Regular Expressions

Searching using regular expressions

fd '^[a-z].*\.txt$'

This finds all text files that start with a lowercase letter.

Searching in Specific Paths

Searching in a specific directory

fd testfile /path/to/directory

Directory Traversal Control

The fd command allows you to control the depth of directory traversal when searching for files. By default, fd searches recursively through all subdirectories.

Limiting search depth

fd -d 2 -t f

This searches only in the current directory and immediate subdirectories.

Setting minimum depth

fd --min-depth 2 -t f

This searches only in directories that are two levels deep or more.

Combining depth limits

fd --max-depth 3 --min-depth 1 -t f

Symbolic Links and Hidden Files

By default, fd does not follow symbolic links. To follow symbolic links

fd -L -t f

To include hidden files and directories

fd --hidden -t f

To search in ignored directories (like .git or node_modules)

fd --no-ignore -t f

Execute Commands on Results

The fd command allows you to execute commands on search results using the -x or --exec option

Display contents of matching files

fd -e txt -x cat {}

Move matching files to a destination

fd -e log -x mv {} /path/to/backup/

The {} placeholder represents each found file.

Performance Comparison

Feature	find	fd
Performance	Standard	Faster (Rust-based)
Syntax	Complex	Intuitive
Regex Support	Limited	Native
Colored Output	No	Yes
Git-aware	No	Yes (ignores .gitignore)

Conclusion

The fd command is a powerful and modern alternative to the traditional find command, offering faster performance and more intuitive syntax. Its regex support, colored output, and Git integration make it an excellent choice for developers and system administrators who frequently search for files in complex directory structures.