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` |
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 |
[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+" |
