Terminal productivity: the tools that transformed my workflow

The CLI ecosystem experienced a silent revolution. Tools written in Rust and Go replaced decades-old Unix binaries, adding colors, syntax highlighting, fuzzy search, and Git-awareness with almost no sacrifice in speed. These are the ones I use daily.

Table of contents

Shell: Zsh + Starship

Starship is undoubtedly the prompt that most improves the experience with the least effort. It works with any shell, is incredibly fast (written in Rust) and shows relevant context: Git branch, Node/Python/Rust version, last command status.

# Minimalist but informative style
format = """
$directory\
$git_branch\
$git_status\
$nodejs\
$rust\
$python\
$cmd_duration\
$line_break\
$character"""

[git_branch]
symbol = " "
style = "bold purple"

[git_status]
conflicted = "⚔️ "
ahead = "⇡${count}"
behind = "⇣${count}"
modified = "✎${count}"
untracked = "?${count}"

[cmd_duration]
min_time = 2_000
format = "took [$duration](bold yellow)"~/.config/starship.toml

Classic tool replacements

ls → eza (formerly exa)

eza --tree --level=2 --icons --git    # tree with icons and Git status
eza -la --sort=modified               # long list, sorted by date

find → fd

# find: verbose and poor ergonomics
find . -name "*.ts" -not -path "*/node_modules/*"

# fd: intuitive, respects .gitignore by default
fd -e ts                    # all .ts in the project          
fd -e ts --exec bat {}      # open each result with bat       

grep → ripgrep (rg)

# classic grep
grep -r "useEffect" src/ --include="*.tsx"

# rg: 5-10× faster, respects .gitignore
rg "useEffect" --type ts
rg "TODO|FIXME|HACK" --type ts --stats
rg "deprecated" -l                               # filenames only 

cat → bat

bat is cat with syntax highlighting, line numbers, paging, and built-in Git diff:

bat src/components/Header.astro     # with colors and lines
bat --diff file.ts                  # shows inline Git changes

cd → zoxide

It learns which directories you visit frequently and lets you jump to them with a few letters:

z astro      # jumps to ~/projects/my-astro-blog if it's the most visited
z blog src   # multiple match
zi           # interactive mode with fzf

Multiplexer: tmux with modern config

# More comfortable prefix
set -g prefix C-a
unbind C-b

# Split panes with intuitive keys
bind | split-window -h -c "#{pane_current_path}"
bind - split-window -v -c "#{pane_current_path}"

# Navigation with Alt+arrow (no prefix)
bind -n M-Left  select-pane -L
bind -n M-Right select-pane -R
bind -n M-Up    select-pane -U
bind -n M-Down  select-pane -D

# Mouse enabled
set -g mouse on

# 256 colors
set -g default-terminal "tmux-256color"~/.tmux.conf

Fuzzy finder: fzf — the multiplier of everything

fzf turns any list into an interactive finder. Just add | fzf to any command.

# Search in command history
CTRL+R with integrated fzf

# Checkout branch with preview
git branch | fzf --preview 'git log --oneline {}' | xargs git checkout

# Kill processes
ps aux | fzf --multi | awk '{print $2}' | xargs kill

# Find and open file
fd -e ts | fzf --preview 'bat --color=always {}' | xargs nvim

Modern Git: lazygit

A Git TUI (Terminal UI) that makes it obvious what’s happening in your repository:

lazygit   # opens the interface

Standout features:

• View diffs by file and by line
• Selective stage (individual lines, not just files)
• Resolve conflicts visually
• Interactive rebase with drag & drop

My optimized basic .zshrc

# Fast load with lazy loading
export PATH="$HOME/.cargo/bin:$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"

# Modern aliases
alias ls='eza --icons'
alias ll='eza -la --icons --git'
alias tree='eza --tree --icons'
alias cat='bat'
alias find='fd'
alias grep='rg'
alias lg='lazygit'

# fzf integration
source <(fzf --zsh)

# zoxide
eval "$(zoxide init zsh)"

# starship
eval "$(starship init zsh)"~/.zshrc

The best time investment in terminal productivity is not learning new tools — it’s mastering the ones you already have. But when a modern tool does the same thing 5× faster with better DX, the switch pays for itself in the first week.