Cheat sheets¶

Cheat sheets are the heart of Commando: parameterized, reusable command templates you author once and fill in interactively forever after.

The format¶

Cheat files are TOML, stored in ~/.config/commando/cheats/*.toml. Each file holds one or more [[cmd]] entries. Here's a complete example:

[[cmd]]
title = "Search git log"                           # (1)!
desc = "Search git log by author for a file."      # (2)!
tmpl = "git log [--author=<author>] [-n <count>] -- <file>"  # (3)!
tags = ["git", "log"]                              # (4)!

  [[cmd.var]]                                       # (5)!
  name = "author"
  src  = "git log --all --format='%an' | sort -u"

  [[cmd.var]]
  name    = "count"
  default = "20"

  [[cmd.var]]
  name     = "file"
  multi    = true
  each     = '"{}"'
  remember = "project"

1. title — the short name shown in the result list and searched.
2. desc — optional detail shown for the selected command and searched. If omitted, Commando uses the title as the selected detail too. Older desc-only cheats still load; their desc is treated as the title.
3. tmpl — the command template. See Template syntax for <var> and [...].
4. tags — extra searchable keywords (also fuzzy-matched).
5. [[cmd.var]] — one block per variable, declaring how to resolve it. See Variables.

Entry fields¶

Where cheat files live¶

~/.config/commando/cheats/
├── git.toml         ← seeded on first run
├── docker.toml      ← seeded on first run
├── kubectl.toml     ← seeded on first run
├── files.toml       ← seeded on first run
└── user.toml        ← where `commando add` appends

Every .toml file in this directory is loaded. Group commands however you like — by tool, by project, by team convention. On first run, Commando seeds a starter set (git, docker, kubectl, files) so the list isn't empty.

[[cmd.var]]
name = "service"
src  = 'cat "$COMMANDO_DATA_DIR/service-names.txt"'

Authoring interactively with commando add¶

Rather than hand-writing TOML, let Commando do it:

$ commando add
Title: Restart deployment
Description (optional): Restart a Kubernetes deployment.
Command template (use <var> and [optional <var>]): kubectl rollout restart deploy/<name> [-n <ns>]
Tags (comma-separated, optional): k8s, deploy

Variable <name>:
  Candidate command (src, optional): kubectl get deploy -o name
  Default value (optional):
  Allow multiple selections? [y/N]: n
  Remember scope [none/global/project/dir] (default none): project

Variable <ns> (optional):
  Candidate command (src, optional): kubectl get ns -o name
  Default value (optional):
  Allow multiple selections? [y/N]: n
  Remember scope [none/global/project/dir] (default none): global

Added to ~/.config/commando/cheats/user.toml

commando add:

• Parses your template and discovers each variable, including whether it's optional (inside [...]).
• Prompts for each variable's options.
• Validates the generated TOML before writing.
• Appends the entry to cheats/user.toml.

Editing by hand¶

Cheat files are plain TOML — open them in any editor. Commando validates every cheat file on load; a malformed file surfaces an error rather than silently disappearing. Use the examples in the repo as templates:

• examples/git.toml — optional segments, multi-select, candidate src, memory.
• examples/shared-and-crossvar.toml — shared variable groups, candidate post-processing, previews, and cross-variable lookups.

Next¶