A lightning-fast, beautiful terminal-based code search tool with real-time results and instant editor integration.
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🚀 Real-time Search - Results update as you type
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🎨 Beautiful TUI - Modern, colorful interface with split-pane layout
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⚡ Lightning Fast - Optimized search with smart file filtering
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🎯 Instant Editor Integration - Press Enter to open files in VS Code, Vim, or your preferred editor
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📱 Responsive Design - Clean, compact interface that works in any terminal size
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🔧 Smart Filtering - Automatically skips binary files and build directories
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⌨️ Vim-like Navigation - Use ctrl+j/ctrl+k or arrow keys for navigation
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🔤 Case Toggle - Ctrl+I to switch between case-sensitive and case-insensitive search
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🧹 Auto-cleanup - Clears terminal after use for a clean workspace
heavily inspired by https://github.com/nvim-telescope/telescope.nvim
Traditional tools like grep and find are powerful but:
- ❌ Results are static and hard to navigate
- ❌ No preview of file contents
- ❌ Require complex command syntax
- ❌ Don't integrate with modern editors
Glimpse solves this with:
- ✅ Interactive, real-time search
- ✅ File preview with syntax context
- ✅ One-key editor opening
- ✅ Beautiful, intuitive interface
- Go 1.21 or later
git clone https://github.com/pixelknightdev/Glimpse.git
cd glimpse
go build -o glimpse cmd/main.go
cp glimpse $(go env GOPATH)/bin/go install github.com/pixelknightdev/Glimpse/cmd/gimpse@latest# Launch interactive search
glimpse
# Then:
# - Type to search in real-time
# - Use ↑/↓ or ctrl+j/ctrl+k to navigate results
# - Press Enter to open file in editor
# - Press ctrl+c to quit# Traditional grep-like output
glimpse --cli "search term"
# Case-insensitive search
glimpse --cli -i "search term"| Key | Action |
|---|---|
Type |
Search in real-time |
↑/↓ or ctrl+j/ctrl+k |
Navigate through results |
Enter |
Open selected file in editor |
Ctrl+I |
Toggle case sensitivity |
Ctrl+C |
Quit |
Screen.Recording.2025-07-25.at.2.42.34.PM.mp4
glimpse/
├── cmd/main.go # CLI interface and mode routing
├── internal/
│ ├── search/ # Core search engine
│ │ └── search.go # File traversal and pattern matching
│ └── tui/ # Terminal user interface
│ ├── model.go # Bubbletea TUI implementation
│ └── editor.go # Cross-platform editor integration
├── go.mod # Dependencies
└── README.md
- Concurrent file processing with goroutines
- Smart binary file detection by extension and content
- Result limiting to prevent memory issues
- Directory exclusion for common build/cache folders
- Early termination when sufficient results found
- VS Code (
codecommand) - Vim/Neovim
- System default editor
- Cross-platform support (macOS, Linux, Windows)
- 🔍 Code exploration - Quickly find function definitions, imports, or patterns
- 🐛 Debugging - Locate error messages, variable usages, or specific logic
- 📚 Learning codebases - Navigate unfamiliar projects with ease
- 🔧 Refactoring - Find all instances of code that needs updating
- 📖 Documentation - Search for comments, TODOs, or documentation strings
We welcome contributions! Here are some ways to help:
- 🐛 Bug Reports - Found an issue? Open a GitHub issue
- 💡 Feature Requests - Have an idea? Let's discuss it
- 🛠 Code Contributions - Submit a pull request
- 📖 Documentation - Help improve our docs
- 🌟 Spread the word - Star the repo and share with others
git clone https://github.com/pixelknightdev/Glimpse.git
cd glimpse
go mod tidy
go run cmd/main.go- 📦 Package managers - Homebrew, apt, chocolatey
- 🎨 Themes - Customizable color schemes
- 🔧 Config files - User preferences and settings
- 📊 Regex support - Advanced pattern matching
- 📁 File filtering - Include/exclude by file type
- 🔗 Git integration - Search only modified files
- 💾 Search history - Remember recent searches
- 🚀 Fuzzy search - More flexible matching
| Tool | Real-time | Interactive | Editor Integration | Preview | Performance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Glimpse | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ⚡ |
| grep | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ⚡ |
| ripgrep | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ⚡⚡ |
| fzf | ❌ | ✅ | ❌ | ⚡ | |
| VS Code Search | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | 🐌 |
Built with these amazing tools:
MIT License - see LICENSE file for details.
⭐ Star us on GitHub • 🐛 Report Issues • 💡 Request Features
Made with ❤️ by developers, for developers