ABOV

Basic File Finding & Opening

To find all files that end in .js in a folder and its subfolders, and then open them in Visual Studio Code, use the following command:

find . -type f -name "*.js" -exec code {} +

Explanation:

• find . - start the search in the current directory (replace . with the path to your target directory if needed)
• -type f - search for files
• -name "*.js" - look for files that end with .js
• -exec code {} + - for each found file, execute the code command to open it in Visual Studio Code. The {} is a placeholder for each found file, and + at the end optimizes the command by passing all found files to a single code command

Adding Files to Git

To git add all files that match the find command for .js files, use the following command:

git add $(find . -type f -name "*.js")

Explanation:

• find . -type f -name "*.js" - finds all JavaScript files in the current directory and subdirectories
• $(...) - this is command substitution, which takes the output of the find command and passes it as arguments to git add

Excluding Directories

To find all .js files while ignoring the node_modules and .next directories, and then open them in Visual Studio Code, modify the command above as follows:

find . -type f -name "*.js" -not -path "./node_modules/*" -not -path "./.next/*" -exec code {} +

Explanation:

• find . - starts the search in the current directory
• -type f - limits the search to files
• -name "*.js" - matches files with the .js extension
• -not -path "./node_modules/*" - excludes any files in the node_modules directory
• -not -path "./.next/*" - excludes any files in the .next directory
• -exec code {} + - opens all the found files in Visual Studio Code. The {} is replaced by each file found, and + ensures all files are passed to a single code command

To exclude multiple common directories at once, chain multiple -not -path flags:

find . -type f -name "*.js" \
  -not -path "./node_modules/*" \
  -not -path "./.next/*" \
  -not -path "./dist/*" \
  -not -path "./build/*" \
  -exec code {} +

Finding Files by Multiple Extensions

To find and open files with multiple extensions (for example, both JavaScript and TypeScript files), use the following command:

find . -type f \( -name "*.js" -o -name "*.jsx" -o -name "*.ts" -o -name "*.tsx" \) -exec code {} +

Explanation:

• \( ... \) - groups multiple conditions together, and the backslashes escape the parentheses
• -o - means "or", allowing to match any of the specified patterns
• -name "*.js" -o -name "*.jsx" -o -name "*.ts" -o -name "*.tsx" - matches files ending with .js, .jsx, .ts, or .tsx

Case-Insensitive Search

To match files regardless of case (for example, .jpg, .JPG, or .Jpg), use -iname instead of -name:

find . -type f -iname "*.jpg" -exec code {} +

Explanation:

• -iname "*.jpg" - performs a case-insensitive search, matching any variation of the .jpg extension

Limiting Search Depth

To only search a specific number of levels deep from the current directory, use the -maxdepth flag:

find . -maxdepth 2 -type f -name "*.json" -exec code {} +

Explanation:

• -maxdepth 2 - only searches 2 levels deep from the current directory, ignoring any subdirectories beyond that depth

Preview Before Taking Action

Before opening or committing files, it's a good idea to preview what the find command will match.

To list all matching files without taking any action:

find . -type f -name "*.py" -not -path "./venv/*"

To count how many files match your search:

find . -type f -name "*.css" | wc -l

Explanation:

• | wc -l - pipes the output of the find command to wc -l, which counts the number of lines (i.e., files)

Using xargs for Better File Handling

For better handling of filenames with spaces or special characters, use xargs instead of command substitution:

find . -type f -name "*.md" -print0 | xargs -0 code

Explanation:

• -print0 - separates found files with null characters instead of newlines, which safely handles filenames with spaces or special characters
• | xargs -0 - reads the null-separated input and passes it to the code command

To git add files using xargs:

find . -type f -name "*.css" -print0 | xargs -0 git add

Troubleshooting

• "Argument list too long" error

  If you have thousands of files and encounter this error, use xargs instead of command substitution:

  find . -type f -name "*.log" | xargs git add
  

• Files not opening in the same VS Code window

  To reuse an existing VS Code editor instead of opening a new one, add the -r flag, which opens files in the most recently used window:

  find . -type f -name "*.json" -exec code -r {} +