Fd File Finding

---
created: 2025-12-16
modified: 2026-05-04
reviewed: 2026-04-25
name: fd-file-finding
description: "fd fast file finding: smart defaults, gitignore-aware, parallel. Use when searching for files by name, extension, or pattern across directories."
user-invocable: false
allowed-tools: Bash, Read, Grep, Glob
model: sonnet
---

# fd File Finding

Expert knowledge for using `fd` as a fast, user-friendly alternative to `find` with smart defaults and powerful filtering.

## When to Use This Skill

| Use this skill when... | Use rg-code-search instead when... |
|---|---|
| Finding files by name, extension, or path pattern | Searching inside file contents for text or regex |
| Filtering by mtime (`--changed-within`) or size (`--size`) | Filtering matches by file type (`-t py`, `-t js`) |
| Locating files to feed into `-x` / `-X` execution | Auditing source code for patterns across many files |

| Use this skill when... | Use jq-json-processing instead when... |
|---|---|
| Discovering JSON, YAML, or other files on disk | Querying or transforming the contents of those files |
| Building a file list for downstream batch processing | Extracting fields, filtering arrays, or reshaping JSON |

## Core Expertise

**fd Advantages**
- Fast parallel execution (written in Rust)
- Colorized output by default
- Respects `.gitignore` automatically
- Smart case-insensitive search
- Simpler syntax than `find`
- Regular expression support

## Basic Usage

### Simple File Search
```bash
# Find all files named config
fd config

# Find files with extension
fd -e rs                    # All Rust files
fd -e md                    # All Markdown files
fd -e js -e ts              # JavaScript and TypeScript

# Case-sensitive search
fd -s Config                # Only exact case match
```

### Pattern Matching
```bash
# Regex patterns
fd '^test_.*\.py$'          # Python test files
fd '\.config$'              # Files ending in .config
fd '^[A-Z]'                 # Files starting with uppercase

# Glob patterns
fd '*.lua'                  # All Lua files
fd 'test-*.js'              # test-*.js files
```

## Advanced Filtering

### Type Filtering
```bash
# Search only files
fd -t f pattern             # Files only
fd -t d pattern             # Directories only
fd -t l pattern             # Symlinks only
fd -t x pattern             # Executable files

# Multiple types
fd -t f -t l pattern        # Files and symlinks
```

### Depth Control
```bash
# Limit search depth
fd -d 1 pattern             # Only current directory
fd -d 3 pattern             # Max 3 levels deep
fd --max-depth 2 pattern    # Alternative syntax

# Minimum depth
fd --min-depth 2 pattern    # Skip current directory
```

### Hidden and Ignored Files
```bash
# Include hidden files
fd -H pattern               # Include hidden files (starting with .)

# Include ignored files
fd -I pattern               # Include .gitignore'd files
fd -u pattern               # Unrestricted: hidden + ignored

# Show all files
fd -H -I pattern            # Show everything
```

### Size Filtering
```bash
# File size filters
fd --size +10m              # Files larger than 10 MB
fd --size -1k               # Files smaller than 1 KB
fd --size +100k --size -10m # Between 100 KB and 10 MB
```

### Modification Time
```bash
# Files modified recently
fd --changed-within 1d      # Last 24 hours
fd --changed-within 2w      # Last 2 weeks
fd --changed-within 3m      # Last 3 months

# Files modified before
fd --changed-before 1y      # Older than 1 year
```

## Execution and Processing

### Execute Commands
```bash
# Execute command for each result
fd -e jpg -x convert {} {.}.png     # Convert all JPG to PNG

# Parallel execution
fd -e rs -x rustfmt                 # Format all Rust files

# Execute with multiple results
fd -e md -X wc -l                   # Word count on all Markdown files
```

### Output Formatting
```bash
# Custom output format using placeholders
fd -e tf --format '{//}'            # Parent directory of each file
fd -e rs --format '{/}'             # Filename without directory
fd -e md --format '{.}'             # Path without extension

# Placeholders:
# {}   - Full path (default)
# {/}  - Basename (filename only)
# {//} - Parent directory
# {.}  - Path without extension
# {/.} - Basename without extension
```

### Integration with Other Tools
```bash
# Prefer fd's native execution over xargs when possible:
fd -e log -x rm                     # Delete all log files (native)
fd -e rs -X wc -l                   # Count lines in Rust files (batch)

# Use with rg for powerful search
fd -e py -x rg "import numpy" {}    # Find numpy imports in Python files

# Open files in editor
fd -e md -X nvim                    # Open all Markdown in Neovim (batch)

# When xargs IS useful: complex pipelines or non-fd inputs
cat filelist.txt | xargs rg "TODO"  # Process file from external list
```

## Common Patterns

### Development Workflows
```bash
# Find test files
fd -e test.js -e spec.js            # JavaScript tests
fd '^test_.*\.py$'                  # Python tests
fd '_test\.go$'                     # Go tests

# Find configuration files
fd -g '*.config.js'                 # Config files
fd -g '.env*'                       # Environment files
fd -g '*rc' -H                      # RC files (include hidden)

# Find source files
fd -e rs -e toml -t f               # Rust project files
fd -e py --exclude __pycache__      # Python excluding cache
fd -e ts -e tsx src/                # TypeScript in src/
```

### Cleanup Operations
```bash
# Find and remove
fd -e pyc -x rm                     # Remove Python bytecode
fd node_modules -t d -x rm -rf      # Remove node_modules
fd -g '*.log' --changed-before 30d -X rm  # Remove old logs

# Find large files
fd --size +100m -t f                # Files over 100 MB
fd --size +1g -t f -x du -h         # Size of files over 1 GB
```

### Path-Based Search
```bash
# Search in specific directories
fd pattern src/                     # Only in src/
fd pattern src/ tests/              # Multiple directories

# Exclude paths
fd -e rs -E target/                 # Exclude target directory
fd -e js -E node_modules -E dist    # Exclude multiple paths

# Full path matching
fd -p src/components/.*\.tsx$       # Match full path
```

### Find Directories Containing Specific Files
```bash
# Find all directories with Terraform configs
fd -t f 'main\.tf$' --format '{//}'

# Find all directories with package.json
fd -t f '^package\.json$' --format '{//}'

# Find Go module directories
fd -t f '^go\.mod$' --format '{//}'

# Find Python project roots (with pyproject.toml)
fd -t f '^pyproject\.toml$' --format '{//}'

# Find Cargo.toml directories (Rust projects)
fd -t f '^Cargo\.toml$' --format '{//}'
```

**Note:** Use `--format '{//}'` instead of piping to xargs - it's faster and simpler.

## Best Practices

**When to Use fd**
- Finding files by name or pattern
- Searching with gitignore awareness
- Fast directory traversal
- Type-specific searches
- Time-based file queries

**When to Use find Instead**
- Complex boolean logic
- POSIX compatibility required
- Advanced permission checks
- Non-standard file attributes

**Performance Tips**
- Use `-j 1` for sequential search if order matters
- Combine with `--max-depth` to limit scope
- Use `-t f` to skip directory processing
- Leverage gitignore for faster searches in repos

**Integration with rg**
```bash
# Prefer native execution over xargs
fd -e py -x rg "class.*Test" {}     # Find test classes in Python
fd -e rs -x rg "TODO" {}            # Find TODOs in Rust files
fd -e md -x rg "# " {}              # Find headers in Markdown
```

**Use fd's Built-in Execution**
```bash
# fd can execute directly — no need for xargs
fd -t f 'main\.tf$' --format '{//}'    # Find dirs containing main.tf
fd -e log -x rm                         # Delete all .log files
```

## Quick Reference

### Essential Options

| Option | Purpose | Example |
|--------|---------|---------|
| `-e EXT` | Filter by extension | `fd -e rs` |
| `-t TYPE` | Filter by type (f/d/l/x) | `fd -t d` |
| `-d DEPTH` | Max search depth | `fd -d 3` |
| `-H` | Include hidden files | `fd -H .env` |
| `-I` | Include ignored files | `fd -I build` |
| `-u` | Unrestricted (no ignore) | `fd -u pattern` |
| `-E PATH` | Exclude path | `fd -E node_modules` |
| `-x CMD` | Execute command | `fd -e log -x rm` |
| `-X CMD` | Batch execute | `fd -e md -X cat` |
| `-s` | Case-sensitive | `fd -s Config` |
| `-g GLOB` | Glob pattern | `fd -g '*.json'` |
| `--format FMT` | Custom output format | `fd -e tf --format '{//}'` |

### Time Units
- `s` = seconds
- `m` = minutes
- `h` = hours
- `d` = days
- `w` = weeks
- `y` = years

### Size Units
- `b` = bytes
- `k` = kilobytes
- `m` = megabytes
- `g` = gigabytes
- `t` = terabytes

## Common Command Patterns

```bash
# Find recently modified source files
fd -e rs --changed-within 1d

# Find large files in current directory
fd -d 1 -t f --size +10m

# Find executable scripts
fd -t x -e sh

# Find config files including hidden
fd -H -g '*config*'

# Find and count lines
fd -e py -X wc -l

# Find files excluding build artifacts
fd -e js -E dist -E node_modules -E build

# Find all Terraform/IaC project directories
fd -t f 'main\.tf$' --format '{//}'

# Find all Node.js project roots
fd -t f '^package\.json$' --format '{//}'
```

This makes fd the preferred tool for fast, intuitive file finding in development workflows.