Ripgrep (rg) Cheatsheet¶

Installation¶

Platform	Command
Ubuntu/Debian	`sudo apt update && sudo apt install ripgrep`
Ubuntu/Debian (latest)	`curl -LO https://github.com/BurntSushi/ripgrep/releases/download/13.0.0/ripgrep_13.0.0_amd64.deb && sudo dpkg -i ripgrep_13.0.0_amd64.deb`
Fedora	`sudo dnf install ripgrep`
RHEL/CentOS	`sudo yum install epel-release && sudo yum install ripgrep`
Arch Linux	`sudo pacman -S ripgrep`
Alpine Linux	`apk add ripgrep`
macOS (Homebrew)	`brew install ripgrep`
macOS (MacPorts)	`sudo port install ripgrep`
Windows (Chocolatey)	`choco install ripgrep`
Windows (Scoop)	`scoop install ripgrep`
Windows (Winget)	`winget install BurntSushi.ripgrep.MSVC`
Snap (Universal)	`sudo snap install ripgrep --classic`
From Source (Cargo)	`cargo install ripgrep`
Verify Installation	`rg --version`

Basic Commands¶

Command	Description
`rg "pattern"`	Search for pattern in current directory recursively
`rg "pattern" file.txt`	Search for pattern in specific file
`rg "pattern" /path/to/dir`	Search for pattern in specific directory
`rg -i "pattern"`	Case-insensitive search
`rg -s "Pattern"`	Case-sensitive search (override smart case)
`rg -S "pattern"`	Smart case (case-insensitive if all lowercase)
`rg -F "exact.string"`	Search for exact literal string (no regex)
`rg -w "word"`	Search for whole word matches only
`rg -l "pattern"`	Show only filenames containing matches
`rg --files-without-match "pattern"`	Show only filenames without matches
`rg -c "pattern"`	Count matches per file
`rg -n "pattern"`	Show line numbers (enabled by default)
`rg -N "pattern"`	Hide line numbers
`rg --column "pattern"`	Show column numbers of matches
`rg -C 3 "pattern"`	Show 3 lines of context before and after match
`rg -B 2 "pattern"`	Show 2 lines before match
`rg -A 2 "pattern"`	Show 2 lines after match
`rg --hidden "pattern"`	Search hidden files and directories
`rg -u "pattern"`	Search all files including ignored ones
`rg -uuu "pattern"`	Search everything (hidden + ignored + binary)

Advanced Usage¶

Command	Description
`rg -t py "pattern"`	Search only Python files
`rg -T js "pattern"`	Exclude JavaScript files from search
`rg -g "*.{js,ts}" "pattern"`	Search using glob pattern
`rg -g "!*.min.js" "pattern"`	Exclude files matching glob pattern
`rg --type-list`	List all supported file types
`rg --type-add 'web:*.{html,css,js}' -t web "pattern"`	Define and use custom file type
`rg -o "pattern"`	Show only matched text, not entire line
`rg "pattern" -r "replacement"`	Show matches with replacement text
`rg --json "pattern"`	Output results in JSON format
`rg -U "pattern.\n.pattern2"`	Multiline search mode
`rg -P "(?<=@)\w+"`	Use PCRE2 regex engine for advanced patterns
`rg -f patterns.txt`	Read patterns from file (one per line)
`rg --stats "pattern"`	Show search statistics after results
`rg -j 8 "pattern"`	Use 8 threads for parallel search
`rg --sort path "pattern"`	Sort results by file path
`rg --max-filesize 1M "pattern"`	Skip files larger than 1MB
`rg --max-columns 500 "pattern"`	Skip lines longer than 500 characters
`rg -L "pattern"`	Follow symbolic links
`rg --no-ignore-vcs "pattern"`	Don't respect .gitignore files
`rg --files`	List all files that would be searched
`rg --color always "pattern" \\| less -R`	Force color output for piping
`rg --colors 'match:fg:yellow' "pattern"`	Customize match color
`rg --heading "pattern"`	Group results by file with headings
`rg --no-heading "pattern"`	Show results inline without file grouping
`rg "\bfunction\b" -A 5`	Search for word boundary and show 5 lines after

Configuration¶

Ripgrep can be configured using a configuration file to set default options.

Configuration File Locations¶

# Linux/macOS
~/.config/ripgrep/config
~/.ripgreprc

# Windows
%APPDATA%\ripgrep\config

# Set custom location via environment variable
export RIPGREP_CONFIG_PATH=/path/to/config

Sample Configuration File¶

# ~/.ripgreprc

# Always use smart case
--smart-case

# Always show line numbers
--line-number

# Always show column numbers
--column

# Set default context lines
--context=2

# Always search hidden files
--hidden

# Custom ignore patterns
--glob=!.git/*
--glob=!node_modules/*
--glob=!*.min.js
--glob=!*.map
--glob=!dist/*
--glob=!build/*
--glob=!target/*

# Custom colors
--colors=match:fg:yellow
--colors=match:style:bold
--colors=path:fg:green
--colors=line:fg:cyan

# Performance settings
--threads=8
--max-filesize=2M

# Output formatting
--heading
--max-columns-preview=150

Environment Variables¶

# Set config file location
export RIPGREP_CONFIG_PATH="$HOME/.ripgreprc"

# Disable config file
export RIPGREP_CONFIG_PATH=""

Common Use Cases¶

Use Case: Finding Function Definitions¶

# Find function definitions in Python files
rg -t py "^def \w+\("

# Find function definitions with context
rg -t py "^def \w+\(" -A 3

# Find all class definitions in JavaScript
rg -t js "^class \w+" --heading

Use Case: Searching Through Logs¶

# Find errors in log files
rg -i "error|exception|fatal" /var/log/

# Find errors with timestamps and context
rg "ERROR" --glob "*.log" -C 2

# Count error occurrences per log file
rg -c "ERROR" --glob "*.log" --sort path

# Search compressed logs
rg -z "pattern" /var/log/archive/

Use Case: Code Refactoring¶

# Find all usages of deprecated API
rg "oldFunction\(" -t js -t ts

# Find TODO comments across codebase
rg "TODO|FIXME|HACK" --heading

# Find hardcoded credentials (security audit)
rg -i "(password|api[_-]?key|secret|token)\s*=\s*['\"]" --type-add 'config:*.{yml,yaml,json,env}' -t config

# Find imports of specific module
rg "^import.*from ['\"]module-name['\"]" -t js

Use Case: Finding Configuration Values¶

# Search for config value across all config files
rg "database_host" --type-add 'config:*.{yml,yaml,json,conf,ini,toml}' -t config

# Find environment variables
rg "export \w+=" --glob "*.sh" --glob "*.bash"

# Search in dotfiles (hidden files)
rg --hidden "pattern" ~/

Use Case: Working with Large Codebases¶

# Search with performance optimization
rg -j 16 --mmap "pattern" /large/codebase

# Search excluding test files
rg "pattern" -g "!**/*test*" -g "!**/*spec*"

# Search only recently modified files (combine with find)
find . -type f -mtime -7 -print0 | xargs -0 rg "pattern"

# Search with file size limit
rg --max-filesize 500K "pattern" /large/codebase

Best Practices¶

Use file type filters (-t, -T) instead of glob patterns when possible for better performance and readability
Leverage smart case (-S) as default - it searches case-insensitively when pattern is lowercase, case-sensitively otherwise
Create a .ripgreprc config file to set your preferred defaults and avoid repetitive command-line flags
Use .ignore files in project roots to exclude directories like node_modules, dist, build without affecting git
Prefer literal search (-F) when searching for exact strings containing regex metacharacters to avoid escaping
Use --stats during optimization to understand search performance and identify bottlenecks in large codebases
Combine with other tools like xargs, fzf, or sed for powerful text processing pipelines
Use --files first when debugging to verify which files will be searched before running the actual search
Set thread count (-j) based on your CPU cores for optimal performance on large searches
Use multiline mode (-U) sparingly as it's slower; prefer multiple searches when possible

Troubleshooting¶

Issue	Solution
No results found but pattern exists	Check if files are being ignored; use `-u` or `-uuu` to search ignored/hidden files
Binary file matches not shown	Use `-a` or `--text` to search binary files as text, or `-uuu` to search everything
Search is too slow	Reduce thread count with `-j 1` to check if parallelism is causing issues, or use `--max-filesize` to skip large files
Regex pattern not working	Verify regex syntax; use `-F` for literal search or `-P` for PCRE2 engine with advanced features
Colors not showing in output	Use `--color always` when piping to other commands, or check terminal color support
`.gitignore` not being respected	Ensure you're in a git repository; use `--debug` to see which ignore files are being used
Memory usage too high	Disable memory mapping with `--no-mmap` or reduce `--mmap-threshold` value
Results not sorted as expected	Use `--sort path`, `--sort modified`, or `--sort accessed` (note: disables parallelism)
Config file not being loaded	Check `RIPGREP_CONFIG_PATH` environment variable and verify file exists at expected location
Symbolic links not followed	Use `-L` or `--follow` to follow symbolic links during search
Pattern matches too much	Use word boundaries (`\b`), start/end anchors (`^`, `$`), or `-w` for whole word matches
Can't search in specific file type	Check `--type-list` for available types or define custom type with `--type-add`

Quick Reference: Common Patterns¶

Pattern	Description	Example
`\bword\b`	Word boundaries	`rg "\bfunction\b"`
`^pattern`	Start of line	`rg "^import"`
`pattern$`	End of line	`rg ";\s*$"`
`pattern1\\|pattern2`	OR operator	`rg "error\\|warning"`
`[0-9]{3}`	Digit repetition	`rg "[0-9]{3}-[0-9]{4}"`
`(?i)pattern`	Case insensitive flag	`rg "(?i)todo"`
`(?P<name>\w+)`	Named capture group	`rg "(?P<email>\w+@\w+\.\w+)"`
`.*`	Any characters	`rg "start.*end"`
`\s+`	Whitespace	`rg "=\s+\w+"`
`[^)]`	Negated character class	`rg "function$[^)]*$"`