Basic Usage

Master the fundamentals of lla with practical examples, common patterns, and essential workflows for everyday file management.

Getting Started with lla

Welcome to the practical guide for using lla! This guide covers the essentials you'll use every day, with real-world examples and helpful tips.

Zero Configuration Required

lla is designed to work perfectly out of the box. Simply run lla in any directory to get a beautiful, informative listing. No configuration files to create, no settings to adjust—though you can customize everything if you want to.

Basic Command Structure

The fundamental lla command follows this pattern:

lla [options] [path]
  • options: Flags that modify behavior (e.g., -l, -t, -f)
  • path: The directory or file to list (defaults to current directory)

Understanding the Defaults

When you run lla without any options, you get:

  • Clean, organized layout: Files displayed in a readable format
  • Color-coded output: Different colors for files, directories, executables
  • Icon support: File type icons (if your terminal supports Nerd Fonts)
  • Alphabetical sorting: Files sorted by name
  • All files visible: Hidden files (dotfiles) are shown by default

Want to hide hidden files? Use --no-dotfiles:

lla --no-dotfiles

Basic Navigation

List different locations:

lla                   # Current directory
lla /path/to/dir      # Specific directory (absolute path)
lla ../other          # Relative path navigation
lla ~/Documents       # Home directory expansion
lla .                 # Explicitly list current directory

Listing Multiple Paths

Compare different directories side by side:

lla ~/projects ~/backups    # List multiple directories
lla src/ tests/ docs/       # Compare project folders

Special Path Handling

lla ~                 # Your home directory
lla /                 # Root directory
lla -                 # Previous directory (if supported by shell)

Quick File Discovery

Simple Pattern Matching

Find files quickly with the -f (filter) flag:

lla -f "pattern"         # Find files containing "pattern"
lla -f "test"            # All test-related files
lla -f ".rs"             # Filter by extension
lla -f "README"          # Find README files

Case Sensitivity

By default, filtering is case-insensitive. Make it case-sensitive with -c:

lla -f "Test"            # Matches "test", "TEST", "Test"
lla -f "Test" -c         # Matches only "Test"

Common Filtering Patterns

# Development files
lla -f ".js"             # JavaScript files
lla -f ".rs"             # Rust source files
lla -f ".py"             # Python scripts
 
# Configuration files
lla -f "config"          # Any file with "config" in name
lla -f ".toml"           # TOML configuration files
lla -f ".env"            # Environment files
 
# Documentation
lla -f "README"          # README files
lla -f ".md"             # Markdown files
lla -f "doc"             # Documentation-related files

Essential Views

Default View: Quick Browsing

Perfect for quickly scanning a directory:

lla

Clean, columnar output optimized for readability.

Long Format: Detailed Information

When you need comprehensive metadata:

lla -l

Shows:

  • Permissions (rwxr-xr-x)
  • Owner and group
  • File size
  • Modification time
  • File name

Pro tip: Combine with other options:

lla -l --relative-dates  # "2 hours ago" instead of timestamps
lla -l --hide-group      # Simplify output on single-user systems

Tree View: Directory Structure

Visualize directory hierarchies:

lla -t                   # Tree view, default depth
lla -t -d 2              # Limit to 2 levels deep
lla -t -d 5              # Deeper exploration

Perfect for understanding project structure at a glance.

Sorting Your Way

Sort by Name (Default)

lla                      # Alphabetical, ascending
lla -r                   # Alphabetical, reversed
lla --sort-natural       # Natural sorting (2.txt before 10.txt)

Sort by Size

Find the largest files:

lla -s size              # Largest files first
lla -s size -r           # Smallest files first

Sort by Date

See what's new:

lla -s date              # Newest first
lla -s date -r           # Oldest first

Combined Sorting Options

lla -s size --sort-dirs-first    # Directories first, then by size
lla -s date --sort-dirs-first    # Directories first, then by date

Practical Workflows

Developer Workflows

Exploring a new codebase:

# Get an overview
lla -t -d 2
 
# Find test files
lla -R -f "test"
 
# Check what's changed recently
lla -s date | head -20

Working with Git:

# See Git status integrated into listing
lla -G
 
# List only modified files
lla -G --files-only

System Administration

Disk space investigation:

# See largest files
lla -s size -l
 
# Visualize space usage
lla -S --include-dirs

Permission auditing:

# Detailed permissions
lla -l --permission-format verbose
 
# Find executable files
lla -l | grep "rwx"

Quick Reference Scenarios

Find configuration files:

lla -f ".conf"
lla -f "config"
lla --dotfiles-only

Compare directories:

lla src/ | wc -l         # Count files in src
lla tests/ | wc -l       # Count files in tests

Recently modified files:

lla -s date -l | head    # Top 10 most recent

Getting Help

Built-in Help

lla -h                   # Quick help
lla --help               # Detailed help
lla --version            # Version information

Command-Specific Help

lla plugin --help        # Plugin command help
lla config --help        # Configuration help
lla theme --help         # Theme management help

Common Patterns and Tips

Combining Options

lla's options are designed to work together:

# Detailed tree view
lla -t -l -d 3
 
# Filtered, sorted, detailed view
lla -f "test" -s size -l
 
# Recursive listing with depth limit
lla -R -d 2 --no-dotfiles

Shell Integration

Create useful aliases:

# Add to your ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc
alias ll='lla -l'
alias lt='lla -t'
alias lf='lla --fuzzy'
alias lg='lla -G'

Pipe to other tools:

lla -l | grep "\.rs"     # Traditional grep
lla --json | jq          # JSON processing
lla --csv > files.csv    # Export to CSV

Performance Tips

For very large directories:

# Limit tree depth
lla -t -d 3              # Faster than unlimited depth
 
# Skip directory sizes
lla -l                   # Instead of lla -l --include-dirs
 
# Use specific filters to reduce output
lla -f "pattern"         # Faster than listing everything

What's Next?

Now that you understand the basics:

  • View Formats: Explore specialized views like grid, table, and sizemap
  • File Filtering: Master advanced filtering with regex and logic operators
  • Configuration: Customize lla to match your preferences
  • Plugins: Extend lla with additional functionality

Quick Reference Card

# Navigation
lla                      # List current directory
lla /path               # List specific path
lla -R                  # Recursive listing
 
# Views
lla -l                  # Long format (detailed)
lla -t                  # Tree view
lla -g                  # Grid layout
lla -T                  # Table view
lla -G                  # Git view
 
# Sorting
lla -s name             # Sort by name
lla -s size             # Sort by size
lla -s date             # Sort by date
lla -r                  # Reverse order
 
# Filtering
lla -f "pattern"        # Filter files
lla --files-only        # Only files
lla --dirs-only         # Only directories
lla --no-dotfiles       # Hide hidden files
 
# Other
lla --fuzzy             # Interactive search
lla --version           # Show version
lla -h                  # Show help