Zsh Completions

ZSH Completion Authoring

Write zsh completion scripts with rich descriptions, colors, and dynamic completions.

Output Location

Place completion files in ~/.config/zsh/completions/ with _commandname naming.

Quick Start

#compdef mycommand

_mycommand() {
    _arguments \
        '-h[Show help]' \
        '--verbose[Enable verbose output]' \
        '1:action:(start stop restart)' \
        '*:files:_files'
}

_mycommand "$@"

Core Functions

Completion with Descriptions

# Static options with descriptions
_arguments \
    '-f[Force operation without confirmation]' \
    '-v[Verbose output]' \
    '--config[Config file path]:file:_files'

# Dynamic list with descriptions
local -a commands
commands=(
    'start:Start the service'
    'stop:Stop the service'
    'status:Show current status'
)
_describe 'command' commands

Dynamic Completions

# Query external command
_mycommand_targets() {
    local -a targets
    targets=(${(f)"$(mycommand list-targets 2>/dev/null)"})
    _describe 'target' targets
}

# With descriptions from JSON
local -a items
items=($(mycommand --json | jq -r '.[] | "\(.name):\(.desc)"'))
_describe 'item' items

Colors

See references/colors.md for ZLS_COLORS configuration.

# In zstyle (completions.zsh)
zstyle ':completion:*:descriptions' format '%F{green}-- %d --%f'
zstyle ':completion:*:warnings' format '%F{red}No matches%f'

# Color by file type
zstyle ':completion:*' list-colors ${(s.:.)LS_COLORS}

Subcommand Trees

For nested commands like git remote add, see references/patterns.md.

_arguments -C \
    '1:command:->cmd' \
    '*::arg:->args'

case $state in
    cmd) _describe 'command' commands ;;
    args)
        case $words[1] in
            start) _mycommand_start ;;
            stop) _mycommand_stop ;;
        esac ;;
esac

fzf-tab Integration

See references/fzf-tab.md for full configuration.

# Group completions using tags
_describe -t commands 'command' commands
_describe -t options 'option' options

# Enable group switching
zstyle ':fzf-tab:*' show-group full
zstyle ':fzf-tab:*' switch-group '<' '>'

# Command-specific preview using fzf.zsh
zstyle ':fzf-tab:complete:mycommand:*' fzf-preview 'fzf.zsh $realpath'

compinit Integration

See references/compinit.md for initialization details.

# Ensure fpath includes your completions dir
fpath=(~/.config/zsh/completions $fpath)

# Initialize (in .zshrc or completions.zsh)
autoload -Uz compinit && compinit

# With zinit (turbo mode)
zinit ice wait lucid atinit"zicompinit; zicdreplay"
zinit light zdharma-continuum/fast-syntax-highlighting

References

• references/arguments.md - _arguments syntax and optspecs
• references/describe.md - _describe for dynamic lists
• references/colors.md - ZLS_COLORS and styling
• references/compinit.md - Completion system internals
• references/patterns.md - Subcommand and complex patterns
• references/fzf-tab.md - fzf-tab grouping, previews, fzf.zsh script