CLI Commands

All commands use the ce binary (or cli-expander).

ce <trigger>

Expand a trigger and print the result. This is a shorthand for ce expand.

ce <trigger>
ce ":hello"

ce expand

Expand a trigger string from text input.

ce expand <input> [options]

Argument/Option	Description
input	Text to search for triggers
--config-dir <path>	Match files directory (default: ~/.config/cli-expander/matches)
--output <mode>	Output mode: stdout, tmux, clipboard, auto (default: stdout)
--target-pane <id>	Target tmux pane ID (requires --output tmux)
--enter	Send Enter after injection (tmux mode)

Exit codes:

• 0: Success, expansion printed to stdout
• 1: No match found or error

Examples:

ce expand ":hello"
ce expand "say :hello to the team"
ce expand ":greet" --config-dir ./my-matches
ce expand ":date" --output clipboard
ce expand ":command" --output tmux --enter
ce expand ":build" --output tmux --target-pane %1

ce list

List all available triggers from match files.

ce list [options]

Option	Description
--config-dir <path>	Match files directory
--csv	Output in CSV format
--json	Output in JSON format

Example output:

Trigger              Replace/Form                             Type
-------------------- ---------------------------------------- ----------
:hello               Hello World!                             text
:today               {{today}}                                text
:greet                                                        form
:choose                                                       form

CSV output:

ce list --csv
# trigger,replace,type
# :hello,Hello World!,text

JSON output:

ce list --json
# [{"trigger":":hello","replace":"Hello World!","type":"text"}]

ce search

Search triggers by name, description, or content.

ce search <query> [options]

Argument/Option	Description
query	Search term to match against triggers
--csv	Output in CSV format
--config-dir <path>	Match files directory

Example:

ce search "git"
# Trigger    Replace/Form                  Type
# git!com    git commit -m "$|$"           text
# git!rel    git tag -a $|$ -m ""          text

ce details

Show full details for a specific trigger.

ce details <trigger> [--config-dir <path>]

Example:

ce details ":greet"
# Trigger:    :greet
# File:       /home/user/.config/cli-expander/matches/base.yml:12
# Replace:    Hello [[name]]!
# Type:       form
# Fields:     name (text, placeholder: "Your name")

ce generate-csv

Generate or update the CSV trigger database for fzf and other tools.

ce generate-csv [options]

Option	Description
--force	Overwrite existing CSV without prompt
--output <path>	Custom output path (default: ~/.config/cli-expander/triggers.csv)

The CSV database is used by shell plugins for fast trigger search. Regenerate after adding new matches.

ce generate-csv --force

ce form

Open an interactive form directly without a trigger match.

ce form <layout> [--title <title>]

Argument	Description
layout	Form layout text with [[field]] placeholders
--title	Form window title (default: cli-expander)

Example:

ce form "Name: [[name]], Age: [[age]]" --title "User Info"

ce config

Show configuration paths and available shell plugins.

ce config

Outputs:

• Config directory path
• Config file path
• Available shell plugins (Bash, Zsh, Fish)

ce --help

Print help information for any command.

ce --help
ce expand --help
ce list --help
ce search --help
ce form --help

Exit Codes

Code	Meaning
0	Success
1	General error (no match, invalid config, etc.)