IRIS documentation
Iris is a fast terminal autocomplete assistant written in Go. It wraps around your shell (Zsh, Bash, or Fish) to give you real-time command suggestions, a floating dropdown menu, and smart history search right where you type
Table of contents
- Getting started
- Usage guide
- Commands reference
- Configuration guide
- Troubleshooting guide
- Developer guide
Getting started
Dependencies
Before installing Iris, ensure your system meets the following requirements:
- OS: Linux or macOS
- Terminal emulator with ANSI escape sequence support
- Go 1.24 or newer if building from source
Installation
You can install Iris using any of the three methods below:
Method 1: Install script (recommended)
Quickly download and install the precompiled binary using our install script:
curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/versenilvis/iris/main/scripts/install.sh | sh
Method 2: Go install
If you already have Go installed on your system, install directly to your GOBIN:
go install github.com/versenilvis/iris@latest
Ensure that your $GOPATH/bin or $HOME/go/bin directory is added to your system PATH
Method 3: Build from source
To develop or compile Iris locally from source, install just command runner and execute just reload:
git clone https://github.com/versenilvis/iris.git
cd iris
just reload
Shell integration setup
To enable intelligent auto-completion and overlay rendering, connect Iris to your shell environment
For Zsh (~/.zshrc):
if command -v iris >/dev/null 2>&1; then
alias i="iris"
fi
For Bash (~/.bashrc):
if command -v iris >/dev/null 2>&1; then
alias i="iris"
fi
For Fish (~/.config/fish/config.fish):
if command -v iris >/dev/null 2>&1
alias i="iris"
end
Verify your installation by running:
iris version
Usage guide
Once inside an interactive Iris session, your shell receives powerful real-time auto-completion overlays and navigation enhancements
Core navigation
When you type a command or query, Iris displays a floating overlay box positioned directly below your cursor with matching suggestions
- Up arrow (
↑): Move the selection cursor up through the suggestion list - Down arrow (
↓): Move the selection cursor down through the suggestion list - Tab: Insert the currently highlighted suggestion directly into your command line buffer without executing it
- Enter: Execute the currently highlighted command immediately or submit the text typed in your prompt
- Esc: Temporarily dismiss and hide the overlay suggestion menu for the current line
- Shift+Tab: Permanently disable overlay suggestions until toggled back on
Mode switching
Iris operates in two primary autocomplete modes: specification suggestions and history navigation
You can toggle between these modes instantly at any time by pressing Ctrl+R
- Specification mode (
spec): Suggests available subcommands, flags, and arguments based on built-in tool specifications (such as git, npm, docker, or go) - History mode (
history): Suggests previous commands from your shell history that match your typed prefix using fuzzy matching
When navigating with arrow keys and pressing Ctrl+R, Iris resets the menu selection and immediately loads suggestions for your typed query under the newly active mode
Instant alias expansion
Iris supports POSIX and shell aliases defined in your configuration
When you type an alias keyword and press the Space key, Iris immediately expands the alias into its full command inside your command line buffer
Ghost text autosuggestions
When ghost text is enabled, Iris displays inline completion suggestions ahead of your cursor in a muted style
- Right Arrow (
→): Accept the inline ghost text suggestion and append it to your current command line buffer
Commands reference
Iris provides a comprehensive set of CLI commands to manage shell integration, updates, configuration, and diagnostics:
# start interactive autocomplete session (wrapped terminal wrapper)
iris [flags]
-s, --shell <shell> specify target shell environment (zsh, bash, fish)
-d, --debug enable runtime debug logging to ~/.cache/iris/iris.log
# shell integration setup and initialization
iris setup [shell] automatically configure shell integration in RC file and initialize default config
iris init <shell> output raw shell wrapper code for manual evaluation in profile scripts
# configuration management
iris config init initialize default configuration file at ~/.config/iris/config.toml
iris config show output current active/resolved configuration in TOML format
# maintenance and diagnostics
iris update check GitHub release tracks and update binary to latest release
iris version print current semantic version string
iris uninstall remove shell integration hooks from RC files and uninstall Iris binary
iris crash-log display file path to the latest captured stack trace report
iris crash-log --clear remove all stored crash logs from ~/.cache/iris/crashes
Configuration guide
Iris uses a clean TOML configuration file located at ~/.config/iris/config.toml to customize UI presentation, suggestion behavior, and core engine settings
Default configuration structure
Below is a complete sample configuration template with all available parameters and comments:
# ~/.config/iris/config.toml
# iris configuration file
[core]
# schema version
# do not edit this field manually
version = 1
# override shell: "bash", "zsh", "fish", keep empty for auto detection
shell = ""
# startup mode: "last", "spec", "history"
# "last" = remember last mode used
mode = "last"
# enable debug logging
debug = false
[ui]
# visual style: "modern" (icons, category pills, shortcut footer) or "classic" (minimalist, centered number, no icons)
style = "modern"
# enable Nerd Fonts icons in overlay menu
nerd-fonts = true
# enable inline ghost text
ghost-text = true
# maximum suggestions to display
max-suggestions = 100
# maximum height of the overlay
max-height = 15
[git]
# hide current branch in checkout/switch list
filter-active-branch = true
# merge remote and local branches with same name
deduplicate-branches = true
[updater]
# check for updates on startup
check-on-startup = true
# update channel: "stable", "nightly"
channel = "stable"
# interval between update checks, e.g. "24h", "6h", "30m"
check-interval = "24h"
Configuration sections
[core]: Defines core engine settings including schema version, forced target shell (bash,zsh,fish), initial startup mode (last,spec,history), and diagnostic debug logging[ui]: Controls visual layout such as inline ghost text autocompletion, total suggestions rendered, and maximum overlay box height[git]: Specialized Git autocompletion behavior such as filtering out the currently active branch when switching and deduplicating local and remote branch names[updater]: Configures automated background updates, checking frequency (check-interval), and release track (channel)
CLI configuration commands
Iris provides built-in commands to inspect and modify settings directly from your shell:
iris config init
iris config show
Troubleshooting guide
If you encounter unexpected behavior while running Iris, use the diagnostic procedures outlined below
Debug mode and logging
To inspect overlay positioning or command interception bugs in real time, launch Iris in debug mode:
iris -d
Runtime activities are written directly to the log file located at ~/.cache/iris/iris.log. You can follow real-time events by running:
tail -f ~/.cache/iris/iris.log
Caution
Common issues and solutions
- Overlay Position Misaligned: Multi-line shell prompts (such as Starship) emitting ANSI codes can cause offset issues. Iris automatically parses carriage returns (
\r) and horizontal escape codes (\033[nC) to anchor visual columns accurately- Menu Disappears When Toggling Mode: When pressing
Ctrl+Rafter arrow navigation, Iris restores the original search query automatically so suggestions reload cleanly- Inspecting Crash Logs: If the session terminates unexpectedly, inspect captured stack traces by running
iris crash-log