try-rs

try-rs is a terminal-based tool designed to help developers manage temporary project workspaces and experiments without cluttering their main development folders. It provides a fast terminal user interface (TUI) built with Ratatui and is compiled as a native binary in Rust, ensuring high performance with no interpreter lag. The tool is intended for users who frequently create, explore, or clone repositories for short-term experimentation and want an organized, easily managed environment for these activities.

Key features include instant creation of named experiments, cloning repositories into dated or custom-named folders, and the ability to create Git worktrees from within existing repositories. try-rs integrates with Git to automatically mark cloned repositories and supports shallow cloning. The TUI offers fuzzy search to quickly locate previous experiments, content preview to inspect files before entering directories, and editor integration for opening projects directly from the interface. Users can manage multiple workspaces in tabs, switch themes at runtime, and safely delete old experiments with confirmation prompts. The tool also supports project identification icons and built-in themes such as Catppuccin Mocha, Dracula, and One Dark Pro, among others.

Configuration is flexible, allowing users to customize storage paths, editor preferences, UI settings, and theming through a config file. Environment variables can override default directories and configuration files. try-rs supports dynamic shell tab completion and can generate shell integration scripts for Fish, Zsh, Bash, PowerShell, and Nushell, facilitating seamless operation across different shells. The tool is compatible with Linux, macOS, and Windows, and offers both a fullscreen and an inline picker mode for different terminal preferences.

Installation options include Cargo, Homebrew, PPA, Nix, and AUR, with Cargo requiring the Rust toolchain. io, Terminal Trove, and GitHub.