ctrlp.vim

Full path fuzzy file, buffer, mru, tag, ... finder for Vim.

• Written in pure Vimscript for MacVim, gVim and Vim 7.0+.
• Full support for Vim's regexp as search patterns.
• Built-in Most Recently Used (MRU) files monitoring and search.
• Built-in project's root finder.
• Open multiple files at once.
• Create new files and directories.
• Execute Ex commands on an opening file (jump to a line, to a string or do anything).
• Optional cross-sessions caching and history allow for fast initialization.
• Mappings and usage conform to Vim's conventions.

Screenshot: CtrlP in regex and full path mode with 3 files selected to open.

Basic Usage:

• Run :CtrlP or :CtrlP [starting-directory] to invoke CtrlP in find file mode.
• Run :CtrlPBuffer or :CtrlPMRU to start CtrlP in find buffer or find MRU file mode.
• Run :CtrlPMixed to search in Files, Buffers and MRU files at the same time.

Check :help ctrlp-commands and :help ctrlp-extensions for other commands.

Once CtrlP is open:

• Press <F5> to purge the cache for the current directory to get new files, remove deleted files and apply new ignore options.
• Press <c-f> and <c-b> to cycle between modes.
• Press <c-d> to switch to filename search instead of full path.
• Press <c-r> to switch to regexp mode.
• Use <c-j>, <c-k> or the arrow keys to navigate the result list.
• Use <c-t> or <c-v>, <c-x> to open the selected entry in a new tab or in a new split.
• Use <c-n>, <c-p> to select the next/previous string in the prompt's history.
• Use <c-y> to create a new file and its parent directories.
• Use <c-z> to mark/unmark multiple files and <c-o> to open them.

Run :help ctrlp-mappings or submit ? in CtrlP for more mapping help.

• Submit two or more dots .. to go up the directory tree by one or multiple levels.
• End the input with a colon : followed by a command to execute it after opening the file:
  • Use :25 to jump to line 25.
  • Use :/any\:\ string to jump to the first instance of any: string.
  • Use :+setfiletype\ myfiletype|25 to set the filetype to myfiletype then jump to line 25.
  • Use :diffthis when opening files marked by <c-z> to run :diffthis on the first 4 files.

Basic Options:

• Change the default mapping and the default command to invoke CtrlP:

  let g:ctrlp_map = '<c-p>'
  let g:ctrlp_cmd = 'CtrlP'

• When invoked, unless a starting directory is specified, CtrlP will set its local working directory according to this variable:

  let g:ctrlp_working_path_mode = 'ra'

  'c' - the directory of the current file.
  'r' - the nearest ancestor that contains one of these directories or files: .git .hg .svn .bzr _darcs, and your own root markers defined with the g:ctrlp_root_markers option.
  'a' - like 'c', but only applies when the current working directory outside of CtrlP isn't a direct ancestor of the directory of the current file.
  0 or '' (empty string) - disable this feature.
• Exclude files or directories using Vim's wildignore:

  set wildignore+=*/tmp/*,*.so,*.swp,*.zip     " Linux/MacOSX
  set wildignore+=*\\tmp\\*,*.swp,*.zip,*.exe  " Windows

  And/Or CtrlP's own g:ctrlp_custom_ignore:

  let g:ctrlp_custom_ignore = '\v[\/]\.(git|hg|svn)$'
  let g:ctrlp_custom_ignore = {
  	\ 'dir':  '\v[\/]\.(git|hg|svn)$',
  	\ 'file': '\v\.(exe|so|dll)$',
  	\ 'link': 'SOME_BAD_SYMBOLIC_LINKS',
  	\ }

• Specify an external tool to use for listing files instead of using Vim's globpath(). Use %s in place of the target directory:

  let g:ctrlp_user_command = 'find %s -type f'        " MacOSX/Linux
  let g:ctrlp_user_command = 'dir %s /-n /b /s /a-d'  " Windows

  Single VCS listing command:

  let g:ctrlp_user_command = ['.git', 'cd %s && git ls-files']
  let g:ctrlp_user_command = ['.git', 'cd %s && git ls-files . -co --exclude-standard', 'find %s -type f']
  let g:ctrlp_user_command = ['.hg', 'hg --cwd %s locate -I .']

  Multiple VCS listing commands:

  let g:ctrlp_user_command = {
  	\ 'types': {
  		\ 1: ['.git', 'cd %s && git ls-files'],
  		\ 2: ['.hg', 'hg --cwd %s locate -I .'],
  		\ },
  	\ 'fallback': 'find %s -type f'
  	\ }

Check :help ctrlp-options for other options.

Get ctrlp.vim:

1. Clone the plugin into a separate directory:

   $ cd ~/.vim
   $ git clone https://github.com/ctrlpvim/ctrlp.vim.git bundle/ctrlp.vim

2. Add to your ~/.vimrc:

   set runtimepath^=~/.vim/bundle/ctrlp.vim

3. Run at Vim's command line:

   :helptags ~/.vim/bundle/ctrlp.vim/doc

4. Restart Vim and check :help ctrlp.txt for usage instructions and configuration details.

Direct downloads:

• Latest development version from Github: (.zip) (.tar.gz)
• Old releases on vim.org