Terminal optimization plugin autojump — automatic folder jumping

🛠 Tools and Programming
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This article is transcoded by SimpRead, original URL zhuanlan.zhihu.com

Overview

  • Autojump is a command-line tool for quickly jumping to directories you have previously visited
  • It records your visit history and assigns weights to frequently used directories, allowing you to navigate using short commands
  • Greatly improves terminal directory navigation efficiency, reducing the need to type full paths

Installation

macOS

brew install autojump

Configuration

Oh-My-Zsh Configuration

Add autojump to the plugins list in your ~/.zshrc file:

plugins=(git autojump)

Or use the following command to add it automatically:

if ! grep -q "plugins=.*autojump" ~/.zshrc; then
  sed -i '' '/^plugins=/s/)/ autojump)/' ~/.zshrc
fi

Manual Configuration (Non-Oh-My-Zsh)

Add the following to your ~/.zshrc file:

[ -f /usr/local/etc/profile.d/autojump.sh ] && . /usr/local/etc/profile.d/autojump.sh

Usage Guide

Basic Commands

Jumping to a Directory

Autojump records directories you have entered via cd, and afterwards you can quickly jump to them with the j command:

j directory_name

For example:

# Jump to ~/projects/website from anywhere
j website

Smart Matching

Autojump intelligently matches partial directory names; the full name is not required:

# Match frequently used directories containing "doc"
j doc

Open File Browser

Open the directory in the graphical interface:

jo directory_name

Advanced Usage

View Directory History and Weights

View Autojump’s recorded directory history and their weights:

j -s

Increase Directory Weight

Manually increase the weight of the current directory:

j -i [weight]

Decrease Directory Weight

Manually decrease the weight of the current directory:

j -d [weight]

Clean Up Invalid Paths

Remove non-existent directory history records:

j --purge

Automated Configuration Script

Here is a complete script for automatic installation and configuration:

#!/bin/bash

# Install autojump
if ! command -v autojump &> /dev/null; then
  echo "Installing autojump..."
  brew install autojump
else
  echo "autojump is already installed"
fi

# Configure Oh-My-Zsh plugin
if [ -f ~/.zshrc ]; then
  if ! grep -q "plugins=.*autojump" ~/.zshrc; then
    echo "Configuring autojump plugin..."
    sed -i '' '/^plugins=/s/)/ autojump)/' ~/.zshrc
    echo "Configuration complete, please reload your zsh configuration: source ~/.zshrc"
  else
    echo "autojump plugin is already configured"
  fi
else
  echo ".zshrc file not found, please configure manually"
fi

Frequently Asked Questions

  1. Why isn’t autojump working?
    Make sure you have reloaded the configuration: source ~/.zshrc

  2. How to reset the autojump database?
    Delete the data file: rm ~/.local/share/autojump/autojump.txt

  3. Why did it jump to the wrong directory?
    When multiple directories contain the same name parts, autojump jumps to the directory with the highest weight. Use j -s to check and use a more specific name.