Overview
Fig (now part of Amazon Q Developer) adds IDE-style autocomplete to your terminal. It provides visual autocomplete suggestions for CLI tools, commands, arguments, and file paths as you type. Fig works with popular shells including bash, zsh, and fish, and integrates with terminals like iTerm2, Hyper, VS Code terminal, and the built-in macOS Terminal.
Fig evolved from an independent product into Amazon Q Developer for command line, which extends the original autocomplete with AI-powered natural language to bash translation, inline completions, and chat capabilities. The autocomplete spec system remains community-driven with thousands of CLI tools supported through a public specification repository.
Installation
# Install via Homebrew
brew install --cask amazon-q
# Or download directly from https://docs.aws.amazon.com/amazonq/latest/qdeveloper-ug/command-line.html
# After installation, run setup
q integrations install input-method
q integrations install dotfiles
Linux
# Download the AppImage or .deb package from the Amazon Q website
# For Debian/Ubuntu
sudo dpkg -i amazon-q-developer_amd64.deb
# For RPM-based distros
sudo rpm -i amazon-q-developer.x86_64.rpm
Shell Integration
# Verify shell integration is active
q integrations status
# Manually add to your shell profile if needed
# For zsh (~/.zshrc)
eval "$(q integrations install --shell zsh)"
# For bash (~/.bashrc)
eval "$(q integrations install --shell bash)"
# For fish (~/.config/fish/config.fish)
q integrations install --shell fish | source
Core Features
Autocomplete Navigation
| Key | Action |
|---|
Tab | Accept the highlighted suggestion |
Enter | Accept and execute |
↑ / ↓ | Navigate suggestions |
Esc | Dismiss suggestions |
Ctrl+Space | Manually trigger autocomplete |
→ | Accept inline ghost text suggestion |
Ctrl+I | Toggle AI inline completion |
| Category | Tools |
|---|
| Package managers | npm, yarn, pip, brew, apt, cargo |
| Version control | git, gh, hub, gitflow |
| Cloud | aws, gcloud, az, terraform, kubectl |
| Containers | docker, docker-compose, podman |
| Languages | node, python, ruby, go, rustc |
| Utilities | curl, jq, sed, awk, grep, find |
| Editors | vim, code, nano, emacs |
| Remote | ssh, scp, rsync |
CLI Commands
# Check status
q status
# Open settings
q settings
# Update to latest version
q update
# Toggle autocomplete on/off
q autocomplete enable
q autocomplete disable
# View diagnostic info
q diagnostic
# Restart the background process
q restart
# Uninstall
q uninstall
Configuration
Settings
# Open settings UI
q settings
# Or configure via CLI
q settings autocomplete.theme "dark"
q settings autocomplete.width 320
q settings autocomplete.height 200
# Disable autocomplete for specific tools
q settings autocomplete.disabled-tools "['rm', 'sudo']"
Dotfile Integration
# Fig/Q can sync your dotfiles
q integrations install dotfiles
# Manage aliases and functions
q dotfiles
# Add custom aliases that get autocomplete support
# ~/.config/q/aliases.sh
alias k='kubectl'
alias g='git'
alias dc='docker compose'
alias tf='terraform'
Autocomplete Display Settings
// ~/.config/q/settings.json
{
"autocomplete.theme": "dark",
"autocomplete.width": 320,
"autocomplete.sortMethod": "recency",
"autocomplete.fuzzySearch": true,
"autocomplete.immediatelyRunDangerousCommands": false,
"autocomplete.scrollWrapAround": true,
"autocomplete.insertSpaceAutomatically": true
}
Advanced Usage
Custom Completion Specs
// ~/.config/q/autocomplete/my-tool.ts
const completionSpec: Fig.Spec = {
name: "my-tool",
description: "My custom CLI tool",
subcommands: [
{
name: "deploy",
description: "Deploy the application",
options: [
{
name: ["--env", "-e"],
description: "Target environment",
args: {
suggestions: ["dev", "staging", "production"],
},
},
{
name: ["--region", "-r"],
description: "AWS region",
args: {
generators: {
script: ["aws", "ec2", "describe-regions", "--query", "Regions[].RegionName", "--output", "text"],
postProcess: function (out) {
return out.split("\t").map(region => ({
name: region,
description: `AWS ${region}`,
}));
},
},
},
},
],
},
{
name: "logs",
description: "View application logs",
options: [
{
name: "--follow",
description: "Follow log output",
},
{
name: "--lines",
description: "Number of lines to show",
args: { default: "100" },
},
],
},
],
};
export default completionSpec;
AI Chat and Translation
# Natural language to command translation
q chat "find all Python files modified in the last week"
# Suggests: find . -name "*.py" -mtime -7
q chat "compress all PNG files in this directory"
# Suggests: for f in *.png; do pngquant "$f"; done
# Interactive AI chat for CLI help
q chat
> How do I set up SSH key forwarding?
Script Autocomplete
# Add Fig annotations to shell scripts for autocomplete
#!/bin/bash
# @fig-autocomplete
# @arg --name <string> "The deployment name"
# @arg --replicas <number> "Number of replicas"
# @flag --dry-run "Preview without applying"
deploy() {
echo "Deploying $name with $replicas replicas"
}
Terminal Plugin System
# List available plugins
q plugins list
# Install a plugin
q plugins install git-open
# Remove a plugin
q plugins remove git-open
Troubleshooting
| Issue | Solution |
|---|
| Autocomplete not appearing | Run q diagnostic and check for issues; restart with q restart |
| Slow suggestions | Disable fuzzy search or reduce suggestion count in settings |
| Wrong shell detected | Run q integrations install --shell zsh for your specific shell |
| Conflicts with other tools | Check for conflicting keybindings; disable other completion plugins |
| Autocomplete flashing | Update to the latest version; check terminal compatibility |
| Not working in VS Code | Ensure the terminal integration is enabled: q integrations install vscode |
| High CPU usage | Run q restart; check for runaway generator scripts |
| Specs outdated | Run q autocomplete update to pull latest completion specs |
| Permission errors on install | Check that ~/.config/q/ is writable; fix with chmod -R u+rw ~/.config/q/ |
