cmdvault

A searchable vault for your CLI commands. Define them in YAML, find them with fuzzy search, fill in the blanks at runtime.

What it does

You write command definitions in YAML files:

commands:
  - name: container logs
    command: docker
    args: ["logs", "-f", "{{container}}"]
    description: Follow logs for a running container
    placeholders:
      container:
        source: "docker ps --format '{{.Names}}'"

Then you run cmdvault, pick a command, and it handles the rest — prompting for values, letting you select from dynamic sources via fzf, and running the command.

You can also run commands directly by alias (cmdvault container-logs), print them instead of executing (--print), or insert them at your cursor with Ctrl+F.

Install

# From source
git clone https://github.com/thassiov/cmdvault
cd cmdvault
make install    # builds and copies to ~/.local/bin

# Or via go install
go install github.com/thassiov/cmdvault/cmd/cmdvault@latest

Optional: install fzf for fuzzy finding. Without it, cmdvault falls back to a built-in picker.

Quick start

cmdvault                          # open the picker
cmdvault container-logs           # run by alias
cmdvault container-logs my-app    # fill placeholder from CLI
cmdvault --print                  # print the resolved command instead of running it
cmdvault -f ~/work/commands/      # load from a custom directory

On first run with no commands directory, cmdvault will offer to create ~/.config/cmdvault/commands/ for you.

Features

• Fuzzy search — fzf-powered picker with preview, or a built-in fallback
• Placeholders — {{name}} tokens in args, filled from CLI, dynamic sources, file picker, or interactive prompt
• Print mode — --print outputs the resolved command for piping, scripting, or clipboard
• Ctrl+F insertion — shell widget that inserts the picked command at your cursor
• Direct aliases — cmdvault my-alias arg1 arg2 skips the picker entirely
• Passthrough args — cmdvault my-alias arg1 -- --extra-flag forwards flags after --
• Execution history — every run logged to ~/.config/cmdvault/history.jsonl
• Categories — directory structure becomes categories automatically
• Shell integration — tab completion and keybindings for bash and zsh

Documentation

• Defining commands — YAML format, fields, aliases, categories
• Placeholders — dynamic sources, file picker, defaults, cross-references
• Shell integration — tab completion, Ctrl+F widget, setup for bash/zsh
• History — execution logging, format, location
• Print mode — composing commands, cursor insertion, scripting

Command collection

cmdvault-registry is a companion repo with 525+ ready-made command snippets organized in 33 YAML files. It covers system administration, networking, containers, security and cryptography, backup tools, development workflows, cloud CLIs, and package managers. Each command has a description and configured placeholders so it works out of the box.

git clone https://github.com/thassiov/cmdvault-registry
cmdvault -f /path/to/cmdvault-registry/registry/

License

MIT