@johnlindquist/try

Fresh directories for every vibe 🏠

A TypeScript/Bun port of tobi/try using Ink (React for CLIs).

Instantly navigate through experiment directories with fuzzy search, smart sorting, and auto-dating. Perfect for developers with ADHD who create test, test2, new-test, actually-working-test everywhere.

Features

• 🎯 Smart Fuzzy Search - Not just substring matching
• ⏰ Time-Aware - Recently accessed directories float to the top
• 🎨 Beautiful TUI - Built with Ink (React for terminals)
• 📁 Organized Chaos - Auto-prefixes with dates: 2025-10-06-your-idea
• ⚡ Fast - Powered by Bun runtime

Tech Stack

• Bun - Fast JavaScript runtime
• Ink 5.x - React for interactive CLIs
• React 18.x - Component-based UI
• TypeScript - Type safety
• meow - Minimal CLI parser

Installation

# Install globally with npm
npm install -g @johnlindquist/try

# Or use with bunx (no install needed!)
bunx @johnlindquist/try

# Or install with bun
bun install -g @johnlindquist/try

Development

# Clone the repo
git clone https://github.com/johnlindquist/try.git
cd try

# Install dependencies
bun install

# Run in dev mode
bun run dev

# Build executable
bun run build

Usage

Quick Start

# Interactive selector
try

# Search for existing directories
try redis

# Show help
try --help

Shell Integration

Add to your ~/.zshrc or ~/.bashrc:

# Generate the shell function
eval "$(try init)"

Then use it as a function:

try redis          # Jump to or create redis experiment
try                # Browse all experiments

Or use directly with bunx (no install):

bunx @johnlindquist/try          # Interactive selector
bunx @johnlindquist/try redis    # Search and create

Keyboard Shortcuts

• ↑/↓ or Ctrl-P/N - Navigate
• Enter - Select or create directory
• Backspace - Delete character from search
• ESC or Ctrl-C - Cancel

Configuration

Set TRY_PATH to change where experiments are stored:

export TRY_PATH=~/code/experiments

Default: ~/src/tries

How It Works

Fuzzy Scoring Algorithm

Directories are scored based on:

1. Match quality - Character proximity and word boundaries
2. Creation time - Newer directories score higher
3. Access time - Recently used directories float to the top
4. Name length - Shorter names preferred for equal matches
5. Date prefix bonus - YYYY-MM-DD-* format gets priority

Time Display

• just now - Less than 10 seconds
• 5m - Minutes ago
• 3h - Hours ago
• 2d - Days ago
• 1mo - Months ago
• 1y - Years ago

Comparison with Original

| Feature | tobi/try (Ruby) | @johnlindquist/try (TypeScript/Bun) | |---------|-----------------|--------------------------| | Runtime | Ruby | Bun | | UI Framework | Raw ANSI | Ink (React) | | Dependencies | 0 (single file) | Bundled (Ink, React) | | CLI Parser | Built-in | meow | | Type Safety | ❌ | ✅ TypeScript | | Speed | Fast | Faster (Bun) |

Why Bun + Ink?

• Ink - Battle-tested TUI framework (used by GitHub Copilot CLI and others)
• React - Component-based UI architecture
• Bun - Blazing fast runtime with built-in TypeScript support
• TypeScript - Type safety and better tooling

Inspired By

• tobi/try - Original Ruby implementation

License

MIT

Built for developers with ADHD by developers with ADHD.

Your experiments deserve a home. 🏠