Opening files in Vim using Fuzzy Search

Question

I\'m looking for a way to make Vim have the ability to open a file by fuzzy-searching its name.

Basically, I want to be able to define a project once, and then have a sh

Answer 1

Basic solution

Simply add this to your .vimrc

nnoremap  :find ./**/*

Pressing Ctrl+p will now allow you to fuzzyfind files in your current working directory and sub-directories thereof. Use the tab key to cycle through options.

Related solution

For those who want to keep it basic i.e. no plugins, this entertaining video shows another way to achieve fuzzy file find in vim.

They actually use

set path+=**
set wildmenu

in their .vimrc to find files in current sub-directories.

For example, with :find *Murph followd by tab, I would find the files KilianMurphy2012Why.R and KilianMurphy2014ROLE.R in subdir code which I can cycle through with the tab key. The first solution above has the advantage that the relative path is also shown.

Note that your current working directory will matter and that other files on your path (:set path?) will also be found with the this type of solution. The wildmenu option adds visual information and is not essential.

For a keyboard shortcut, add

nnoremap  :find *

to your .vimrc. Now you will be able to quickly search for files inside your project/current dir with Ctrl+p in normal mode.