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fzf

Fuzzy finder for everything in your terminal

verified 2026-07-02MITself-hostable

Arete score

5.0 / 5

Autonomy5

Return5

Efficiency5

Transparency5

ἀρετή “AH-reh-tay” — excellence: a thing being good at what it’s for. Mean of the four principle scores. How we score →

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✓ Verified by a human against the public rubric on 2026-07-02 · see the evidence ↓

Why it's listed

Written by the ValueIndex editor, from the verification pass of 2026-07-02.

fzf is a fuzzy finder that composes with everything — files, git branches, shell history, process lists — following the Unix philosophy to its logical extreme. One Go binary, zero configuration to start, and it makes every other CLI tool better. Among the most-starred developer tools ever, with no company behind it.

Facts

License: MIT
Pricing: Free
Funding model: Indie OSS
Self-hostable: Yes
Verification: Verified against the rubric on 2026-07-02

Evidence notes

Go single binary; composable with any tool; 60k+ stars; zero config to start

Recorded during the rubric pass — every score must carry evidence a stranger could re-check.

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dust (4.8) — du with an instantly readable tree
eza (4.8) — Modern ls with git awareness

Spotted a problem — trackers added, dark patterns, abandonment? Report a violation. Scores change when evidence does.