try

A Go implementation of the Ruby try utility for quickly creating and navigating to temporary project folders.

Note: A child process cannot change the parent shell's directory, so shell integration is required. This is the same approach used by tools like zoxide, autojump, and z.

Features

• Create dated folders: try some name creates ~/try/2025-10-09-some-name
• Fuzzy search: Automatically finds and navigates to existing folders based on name (using sahilm/fuzzy)
• Interactive selector: When multiple matches are found, shows an interactive menu with top 3 matches and "create new" option
• Informative output: Displays folder name, creation date, and usage count when navigating
• Tracks usage: SQLite database tracks folder creation dates, open count, and last opened time
• Smart sorting: Results sorted by fuzzy match score, usage frequency, and last opened time

Installation

Install using Go:

go install github.com/ACPixel/try@latest

Or clone and build locally:

git clone https://github.com/ACPixel/try.git
cd try
go install

Setup Shell Integration

After installing, run:

try init

This will output shell integration code. Add it to your ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc:

try init >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc

Or manually add:

try() {
    local output
    # Only capture stdout for cd command, let stderr through for interactive prompts
    output=$(command try "$@" 2>/dev/tty)
    if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
        eval "$output"
    else
        return 1
    fi
}

Usage

After adding the alias, simply run:

# Create a new folder and cd into it
try my-project
# Creates: ~/try/2024-01-15-my-project and changes directory

# Later, fuzzy search will find it and cd into it
try my-proj
# Navigates to: ~/try/2024-01-15-my-project
# Output: ✓ my-project (2024-01-15, opened 2 times)

# If multiple matches are found, an interactive selector appears
try project
# Shows interactive menu with top 3 matches:
#   > project-a (2024-01-10, opened 5 times)
#     project-b (2024-01-12, opened 3 times)
#     project-c (2024-01-14, opened 1 times)
#     Create new: project

How it works

1. The Go binary searches the database for existing folders matching your query using fuzzy search
2. If a single match is found, it displays folder info, updates usage stats, and outputs cd "path"
3. If multiple matches are found, it shows an interactive selector with the top 3 matches and a "create new" option
4. If no match is found, it creates a new dated folder and outputs cd "path"
5. The shell function wraps the binary and evals the output to change directory
6. Folder information (name, date, usage count) is displayed in gray with a checkmark for easy identification

Installing from Source

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/ACPixel/try.git
cd try

# Install to $GOPATH/bin (or $HOME/go/bin if GOPATH is not set)
go install

# Or build locally
go build -o try main.go

Database

The SQLite database is stored at ~/try/try.db and tracks:

• Folder paths
• Names
• Creation dates
• Times opened
• Last opened timestamp