Live filter files picker to subdirectory?

[heygarrett]

I've customized the files picker to include directories in the search results. Is there a way to to set up an action that updates the files picker to search within the selected subdirectory?

This sort of works:

["ctrl-f"] = function(selected)
	local relative_path = require("fzf-lua.path").entry_to_file(selected[1]).stripped
	vim.api.nvim_input("<esc>")
	require("fzf-lua").files({ cwd = vim.fs.joinpath(vim.env.PWD, relative_path) })
end,

But I end up in normal mode and this error is displayed:

ERROR
[Fzf-lua] fn_selected threw an error: ...rett/.local/share/nvim/lazy/fzf-lua/lua/fzf-lua/core.lua:243: vim/_editor.lua:0: nvim_exec2()..FileType Autocommands for "*": Vim(append):Error executing lua callback: /Users/garrett/.confi
g/nvim/lua/my/settings/options.lua:38: Vim:Can't re-enter normal mode from terminal mode
stack traceback:
        [C]: in function 'normal'
        /Users/garrett/.config/nvim/lua/my/settings/options.lua:38: in function </Users/garrett/.config/nvim/lua/my/settings/options.lua:31>
        [C]: in function 'resume'
        ...rrett/.local/share/nvim/lazy/fzf-lua/lua/fzf-lua/fzf.lua:323: in function <...rrett/.local/share/nvim/lazy/fzf-lua/lua/fzf-lua/fzf.lua:304>
stack traceback:
        ...rett/.local/share/nvim/lazy/fzf-lua/lua/fzf-lua/core.lua:240: in function <...rett/.local/share/nvim/lazy/fzf-lua/lua/fzf-lua/core.lua:234>
        [builtin#36]: at 0x0100eb0760
        ...rett/.local/share/nvim/lazy/fzf-lua/lua/fzf-lua/core.lua:243: in function 'files'
        /Users/garrett/.config/nvim/lua/my/plugins/fzf-lua.lua:164: in function 'action'
        ...t/.local/share/nvim/lazy/fzf-lua/lua/fzf-lua/actions.lua:98: in function 'act'
        ...rett/.local/share/nvim/lazy/fzf-lua/lua/fzf-lua/core.lua:148: in function 'fn_selected'
        ...rett/.local/share/nvim/lazy/fzf-lua/lua/fzf-lua/core.lua:233: in function <...rett/.local/share/nvim/lazy/fzf-lua/lua/fzf-lua/core.lua:232>
        [C]: in function 'xpcall'
        ...rett/.local/share/nvim/lazy/fzf-lua/lua/fzf-lua/core.lua:232: in function <...rett/.local/share/nvim/lazy/fzf-lua/lua/fzf-lua/core.lua:224>

The error refers to an auto-command I have configured in a different file (for some reason):

vim.api.nvim_create_autocmd("FileType", {
	desc = "restore cursor position",
	group = group,
	callback = function()
		local exclude = { "diff", "gitcommit", "gitrebase" }
		if vim.tbl_contains(exclude, vim.bo.filetype) then
			return
		end
		local position_line = vim.api.nvim_buf_get_mark(0, [["]])[1]
		if position_line >= 1 and position_line <= vim.api.nvim_buf_line_count(0) then
			vim.cmd.normal({ -- line 38
				bang = true,
				args = { [[g`"]] },
			})
		end
	end,
})

[ibhagwan]

The error refers to an auto-command I have configured in a different file (for some reason):

Fzf-Lua sets the file type to fzf so it also triggers the auto command, you should probably add it to the exclude list.

Another option is to reuse the existing fzf-lua windows by wrapping the action in {}:

["ctrl-f"] = { function(selected)
	local relative_path = require("fzf-lua.path").entry_to_file(selected[1]).stripped
        -- this line won’t be needed
	-- vim.api.nvim_input("<esc>")
	require("fzf-lua").files({ cwd = vim.fs.joinpath(vim.env.PWD, relative_path) })
end },

[heygarrett]

Another thing I hadn't thought of: this only works once; attempting to filter a second time into another subdirectory doesn't work because it only joins the selected entry text with the cwd. Is there a way to always get the absolute path of the entry? Or would that be a feature request?

[ibhagwan]

Another thing I hadn't thought of: this only works once; attempting to filter a second time into another subdirectory doesn't work because it only joins the selected entry text with the cwd. Is there a way to always get the absolute path of the entry? Or would that be a feature request?

That’s unrelated to a feature request, it’s on you to maintain the state vs display, even if the entry is just the directory and you join cwd why wouldn’t it be turned into an absolute path?

[heygarrett]

Hm, I assumed fzf-lua would always have absolute paths for the files listed in the picker, but I'm realizing now that it likely doesn't need them most of the time.

This is the problem I'm running into:

• I have directory structure A/B/C and A is the cwd
• I use this action to filter results to only directory B (eg, require("fzf-lua").files({ cwd = "A/B" }))
• I use this action again to try to filter results to only directory C, but what ends up happening is the cwd passed to files() ends up being "A/C" (the actual cwd joined with the selected entry) but that's not a real path.

I'll experiment and see if I can come up with a decent way to track the "current" cwd, as seen by the files picker.

[heygarrett]

Oh, there's an opts parameter to the function that tracks the "current" cwd with opts.cwd. That works perfectly for what I'm trying to do.

[ibhagwan]

Correct, opts contains all supplied options including the cwd if it was supplied so make sure to use opts.cwd or vim.uv.cwd().