te (手)

Your helping hand for editing terminal commands

te (Japanese: 手, "hand") is an interactive TUI tool that makes editing commands much easier by separating navigation and editing into two distinct modes. Perfect for tweaking long commands from your shell history or current command line.

The Problem

Editing long commands in the terminal buffer is frustrating:

# You have this command in your terminal (maybe from history)
kubectl get pods -l app=asset -o custom-columns='POD:.metadata.name,RS:.metadata.ownerReferences[0].name' -w

# Want to change "asset" to "frontend"?
# - Arrow key through the entire line character by character
# - Easy to accidentally delete quotes, commas, or other syntax
# - Hard to see where you are in a long command

The Solution

te gives you a two-mode interface inspired by vim:

• Navigation Mode: Jump between command components with arrow keys
• Edit Mode: Focus on editing a single component without accidentally breaking the rest

Simply prefix your command with te:

te kubectl get pods -l app=asset -o custom-columns='POD:.metadata.name,RS:.metadata.ownerReferences[0].name' -w

te will:

• 🧩 Parse your command into logical components (base, flags, values)
• 🎯 Let you navigate between components with arrow keys (Navigation Mode)
• ✏️ Let you edit individual components safely (Edit Mode)
• 👁️ Show a real-time preview as you make changes
• ⚡ Output the final command when ready

Features

🎯 Two-Mode Interface

Clear separation between navigation and editing, inspired by modal editors:

• Navigation Mode: Use arrow keys to jump between command components instantly
• Edit Mode: Edit a single component in isolation without breaking the rest
• Visual distinction shows which mode you're in

🧩 Component-Based Parsing

Breaks commands into logical pieces:

• Base commands and subcommands
• Flags (--flag or -f)
• Values associated with flags
• Each component is independently editable

🔧 Universal Wrapper

Works with any CLI command. te simply parses your command string - no special support needed from the tool.

🚀 Edit, Don't Execute

te focuses on helping you build the right command:

• Shows the final command instead of executing it
• Copy-paste friendly output
• Safe to experiment - no accidental command execution

Installation

Homebrew (macOS/Linux)

brew tap yusukeshib/tap
brew install te

Cargo (crates.io)

cargo install te-cli

Pre-built Binaries

Download from GitHub Releases:

# macOS (Apple Silicon)
curl -L https://github.com/yusukeshib/te/releases/latest/download/te-aarch64-apple-darwin.tar.gz | tar xz
sudo mv te /usr/local/bin/

# macOS (Intel)
curl -L https://github.com/yusukeshib/te/releases/latest/download/te-x86_64-apple-darwin.tar.gz | tar xz
sudo mv te /usr/local/bin/

# Linux (x64)
curl -L https://github.com/yusukeshib/te/releases/latest/download/te-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu.tar.gz | tar xz
sudo mv te /usr/local/bin/

# Linux (ARM64)
curl -L https://github.com/yusukeshib/te/releases/latest/download/te-aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu.tar.gz | tar xz
sudo mv te /usr/local/bin/

From Source

git clone https://github.com/yusukeshib/te
cd te
cargo install --path .

Shell Integration (Strongly Recommended)

Enable shell integration to unlock te's full power, including direct command execution.

Zsh (~/.zshrc):

eval "$(te init zsh)"

Bash (~/.bashrc or ~/.bash_profile):

eval "$(te init bash)"

Fish (~/.config/fish/config.fish):

te init fish | source

With shell integration you get:

• ✅ te-run function - Execute commands directly and add them to history
• ✅ Zsh only: Ctrl+T keybinding to invoke te on your current command line

Usage with shell integration:

# Use te-run to execute commands
te-run kubectl get pods -l app=myapp

# In Zsh: Type a command and press Ctrl+T to edit it interactively
kubectl get pods -l app=myapp  # Press Ctrl+T here

Usage

Basic Usage

Simply prefix your existing command with te:

# Edit a kubectl command
te kubectl get pods -l app=myapp -o json

# Edit a docker command
te docker run -d -p 8080:80 --name myapp -e ENV=prod nginx

# Edit an ffmpeg command
te ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -c:v libx264 -crf 23 output.mp4

# Edit the last command from history
te !!

In the TUI

Navigation Mode (default):

• ↑/↓ or j/k: Move between command components
• Enter: Switch to Edit Mode for the selected component
• 1-9, then letters: Jump directly to a component by its displayed shortcut key
• i: Insert new component before current
• a: Append new component after current
• d or Delete or Backspace: Delete selected component
• u or Ctrl+Z: Undo
• Ctrl+R or Ctrl+Y: Redo
• G or End: Jump to last component
• Home: Jump to first component
• Ctrl+X or Ctrl+Enter: Confirm and output the final command
• q or Esc: Exit without outputting

Edit Mode (when editing a component):

• Type to edit the component value
• Enter: Save changes and return to Navigation Mode
• Esc: Cancel changes and return to Navigation Mode
• Shift+Enter or Ctrl+J: Insert newline (for multi-line editing)
• Ctrl+X or Ctrl+Enter: Save and output the final command
• Standard readline shortcuts supported (Ctrl+A/E/K/U/W/Y, etc.)

How It Works

1. Parse: te breaks your command into components (base command, flags, values)
2. Navigate: Use ↑/↓ to jump between components instantly
3. Edit: Press Enter to edit a component
4. Confirm: Press Ctrl+X to output the final command
5. Execute: With shell integration (te-run), the command runs automatically and is added to history

Comparison

te takes a unique approach to command editing:

Why "te" (手)?

In Japanese, 手 (te) means "hand" - representing:

• 🤝 A helping hand for complex commands
• ✋ Easy to type (just 2 characters)
• 🎌 Honoring the Unix philosophy with a Japanese touch

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

License

MIT License - see LICENSE for details

Credits

Built with:

• ratatui - Terminal UI framework
• crossterm - Cross-platform terminal manipulation
• clap - Command line argument parsing

Star ⭐ this repo if you find it useful!