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Ripgrep (rg)

A fast, modern replacement for grep

1. What is ripgrep?

ripgrep (command: rg) is a search tool that lets you search text inside files.

Think of it as:

grep, but much faster and smarter

It is especially popular among developers because it:

  • Is extremely fast
  • Respects .gitignore automatically
  • Has simple, intuitive syntax

2. Why use ripgrep?

Compared to traditional grep, ripgrep:

  • ⚡ Searches very fast (written in Rust)
  • 🚫 Automatically ignores .gitignore files
  • 📁 Searches directories recursively by default
  • 🧠 Has sane defaults (no extra flags needed)
  • 🛠️ Works well with editors (VS Code, Neovim, etc.)

3. Installing ripgrep

macOS (Homebrew)

brew install ripgrep

Linux

sudo apt install ripgrep

Verify installation

rg --version

4. Basic usage

4.1 Search for a word in the current directory

rg main

This:

  • Searches all files
  • Recursively
  • Skips ignored files (.gitignore, .ignore)

4.2 Search in a specific directory

rg main src/

4.3 Search in a specific file

rg main main.c

5. Understanding the output

Example:

src/main.c
12:int main() {

Meaning:

[file path]
[line number]:[matched line]

Matches are highlighted automatically.

6. Case sensitivity

Case-sensitive (default)

rg Hello

Case-insensitive

rg -i hello

7. Search using regular expressions

ripgrep supports regex by default.

Example: match foo or bar

rg "foo|bar"

Match numbers

rg "\d+"

(No -E needed!)

8. Search only certain file types

By file extension

rg main -g "*.c"

Exclude files

rg main -g "!*.test.js"

9. Search hidden files

By default, hidden files are ignored.

Include hidden files

rg --hidden

Ignore .gitignore

rg --no-ignore

10. Show only file names

Files that contain matches

rg -l main

Files that do NOT contain matches

rg -L main

11. Count matches

Count matching lines per file

rg -c main

Count total matches

rg -c main | awk -F: '{sum+=$2} END {print sum}'

12. Preview matches interactively (with fzf)

If you have fzf installed:

rg main | fzf

Or with preview:

rg main --line-number | fzf --preview 'bat --highlight-line {2} {1}'

13. Common beginner mistakes

❌ Using rg *

ripgrep does not need \*.

✅ Correct:

rg keyword

❌ Forgetting regex behavior

. means “any character”.

To search literal dots:

rg "\."

14. ripgrep vs grep (quick comparison)

Feature rg grep
Recursive by default ✅ ❌
.gitignore aware ✅ ❌
Speed ⚡ 🐢
Regex by default ✅ ❌

15. When should you use ripgrep?

Use rg when you want to:

  • Search codebases
  • Find functions, variables, strings
  • Replace grep -R
  • Work fast in the terminal

16. Typical workflow example

rg malloc
rg TODO
rg "error|fail"
rg main src/

Fast. Simple. Powerful.

17. Summary

ripgrep (rg) is:

  • Fast
  • Simple
  • Powerful
  • Developer-friendly

If you work with text or code, it’s one of the most useful CLI tools you can learn.