navi — Interactive Cheatsheet Tool for the Command Line

Introduction

navi solves a very specific problem: you remember there's a command for "rebase the last 3 commits interactively" but forget the exact flags. Instead of googling again, navi shows you a fuzzy-searchable list of snippets, prompts for any parameters, and runs the command directly.

With over 17,000 GitHub stars, navi is the go-to interactive cheatsheet tool. The navi widget hook integrates with zsh/bash/fish so you can invoke it anywhere with a keystroke.

What navi Does

navi reads Markdown-like .cheat files that contain titled commands with parameter placeholders. It indexes them, lets you fuzzy-search (fzf-style), prompts for each parameter, and executes (or pastes) the resolved command. Community cheatsheets cover Git, Docker, Kubernetes, ffmpeg, tmux, AWS CLI, and hundreds more.

Architecture Overview

[.cheat files]
  commands with titles + tags + parameters
  % Git
  
  # Interactively rebase last N commits
  git rebase -i HEAD~<n>
  $ n: echo 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 --- --column 1
      |
[navi]
  - indexes cheats from repos + local folders
  - fzf-based fuzzy search
  - interactive parameter prompts (shell command or static list)
      |
[Shell widget]
  Ctrl+G opens navi
  Resolved command goes into command buffer
      |
[Execution]

Self-Hosting & Configuration

# ~/.local/share/navi/cheats/work.cheat
% k8s, kubernetes

# Get pods in a namespace
kubectl get pods -n <namespace>

$ namespace: kubectl get ns -o name --- --column 1 | sed "s|namespace/||"

# Tail logs for a pod
kubectl logs -f <pod> -n <namespace>

$ pod: kubectl get pods -n <namespace> -o name --- --column 1 | sed "s|pod/||"
$ namespace: kubectl get ns -o name --- --column 1 | sed "s|namespace/||"

# Workflow
navi                     # browse all cheats
navi --query "git rebase"  # pre-filtered
navi fn welcome          # take the interactive tour
navi info cheats-example # see example cheat format
navi add denisidoro/cheats  # install community cheats

Key Features

• Fuzzy-search cheatsheets — find any command in a second
• Interactive parameter prompts — prompted for each <placeholder>
• Dynamic parameter sources — shell commands populate choices (e.g., your namespaces)
• Shell widget — Ctrl+G from any prompt to open navi
• Community cheatsheets — pull from denisidoro/cheats and dozens more repos
• Private repos + folders — keep team/personal cheats in your dotfiles
• Stdout or execute — print the resolved command or run it
• Cross-platform — macOS, Linux, Windows (via WSL/shell)

Comparison with Similar Tools

FAQ

Q: navi vs tldr? A: tldr shows canonical docs (one source of truth). navi lets you run commands with interactive prompts for parameters. Complementary: tldr for reference, navi for execution.

Q: How do I add my own cheats? A: Create ~/.local/share/navi/cheats/mine.cheat with navi's format. Use % for tags, # for commands, $ for parameter sources. navi info dirs shows the cheatsheet directories.

Q: Can I use navi with fish? A: Yes — navi widget fish | source in config.fish. Binds Ctrl+G by default.

Q: How do I resolve conflicts when multiple cheats have the same command? A: navi fuzzy-search will show them grouped by tag. Organize your cheats with % tags (e.g., % git, work) to filter quickly.

Sources

• GitHub: https://github.com/denisidoro/navi
• License: Apache-2.0