rg

rg is a fast, line-oriented code search tool that respects .gitignore by default. We trial it for replacing plain grep in day-to-day repository search.

Blurb

ripgrep is a line-oriented search tool that recursively searches the current directory for a regex pattern. By default, ripgrep will respect gitignore rules and automatically skip hidden files/directories and binary files.

Summary

Use rg for fast recursive code search that honors ignore files, skips binaries and hidden files, and outputs colored matches with line numbers. Supports file-type filters (-tpy), context (-C), --json, and opt-in PCRE2 (-P) for lookaround. Current stable: 14.1.1. Skip when a POSIX-ubiquitous tool is required; grep remains the portable standard.

Details

• Install: brew install ripgrep (or static binaries per release).
• License: MIT / UNLICENSE (dual).
• Language: Rust; regex via the regex crate (DFA + SIMD).
• Contrast: supersedes ag (The Silver Searcher, unmaintained) and ack; outperforms GNU grep on Unicode and large repos. Vim/Emacs use rg as the grep backend by default.