# Install cdargs with Homebrew, apt, dnf, MacPorts Directory bookmarking system - Enhanced cd utilities. Version 2.1 via Homebrew; verified 2026-06-19. Also installable with debian: sudo apt install cdargs. ## Install ```sh sudo av install brew:cdargs ``` Additional install commands: ### macOS - Homebrew (100%): ```sh brew install cdargs ``` Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata - MacPorts (94%): ```sh sudo port install cdargs ``` Evidence: MacPorts ports tree: sysutils/cdargs/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1 ### Linux - Debian apt (92%): ```sh sudo apt install cdargs ``` Evidence: Debian stable package indexes: cdargs from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz - dnf (92%): ```sh sudo dnf install cdargs ``` Evidence: Fedora Rawhide package metadata: cdargs from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/07190dc5ae9f35ae73866675fed6d95fe6e8d9fe22c9d7cdf85862cb2ed24a4c-primary.xml.zst ## Package facts - **Package key:** brew:cdargs - **Package manager:** Homebrew - **Version:** 2.1 - **Source summary:** Directory bookmarking system - Enhanced cd utilities - **Homepage:** - **Repository:** - **Last updated:** 2026-06-19T12:30:03-07:00 - **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00 ## Executables - cdargs (alias) ## Install behavior - Bottle: not available ## Freshness - Page generated: 2026-08-03 - Package-manager version: 2.1 ## Project history and usage cdargs is a curses-style directory bookmarking tool for Unix shells. It keeps frequently used filesystem locations in a plain text bookmark list and is normally used through shell functions or aliases that call the external cdargs binary and then change the interactive shell's current directory. ### Project history The upstream README identifies Stefan Kamphausen as the 2001-2003 copyright holder and describes cdargs as a complete C++ rewrite inspired by Michael Schili's CDBM script for the German iX magazine and follow-up scripts from the related discussion thread. The bundled man page was dated March 2002 and documents the core behavior still associated with cdargs: a bookmarks file, list and browse modes, shell integration functions, and optional bash and tcsh helper files. The upstream ChangeLog shows maintenance through the 1.x series, including bash completion, tcsh aliases, Emacs integration, packaging fixes, and a 2006 1.35 release. A 2018 ChangeLog entry records version 2.0 as a C++11 modernization and Meson/Ninja build-system conversion. ### Adoption history cdargs became a small but durable Unix package rather than a large ecosystem project. The Homebrew input records packages in Homebrew, Debian, Fedora, MacPorts, and Ubuntu, which is the kind of cross-distribution presence typical of old shell productivity utilities that solved one workflow well enough to persist. ### How it is used The tool is used to bookmark project directories, jump by short descriptions, browse the filesystem from a terminal UI, and emit the selected path to a result file such as ~/.cdargsresult so a shell function can perform the final cd operation. Its ~/.cdargs file is deliberately simple and editable with a normal text editor. ### Why package nerds care cdargs is interesting as a pre-fzf, pre-zoxide example of directory-jumping ergonomics. It shows an older packaging pattern where a small binary, a man page, and shell snippets provide an interactive workflow that shells themselves cannot implement directly because child processes cannot change the parent shell's working directory. ### Timeline - 2001: Stefan Kamphausen copyright period begins in the upstream README. - 2002: Man page dated March 2002 documents ~/.cdargs, shell functions, and interactive list/browse modes. - 2003: Upstream README copyright period ends; ChangeLog shows active feature work around shell integration and bookmark handling. - 2006: ChangeLog records version 1.35. - 2010: Current GitHub repository was created. - 2018: ChangeLog records version 2.0, a C++11 cleanup and Meson/Ninja build conversion. ### Related projects - cdargs was inspired by the CDBM shell script mentioned in the upstream README. In package-manager culture it sits in the same practical family as autojump, fasd, z, and zoxide, although those related tools are not cdargs upstream dependencies. ### Sources - - - - - - - ## Security Notes narrow executable package without higher-risk signals. - **Geiger risk:** green / low - narrow executable package without higher-risk signals ## Configuration and credential file locations These source-backed paths show where this package keeps local settings or durable credentials. Automic Vault can use them as review targets for secret scanning, migration, and command approval. ## Configuration files - Unix: ~/.cdargs ## Other Package-Manager Records - Debian apt - cdargs - 1.35-12: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: cdargs from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | bookmarks and browsing for the cd command | http://www.skamphausen.de/cgi-bin/ska/CDargs - Ubuntu apt - cdargs - 1.35-12build1: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: cdargs from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | bookmarks and browsing for the cd command | http://www.skamphausen.de/cgi-bin/ska/CDargs - dnf - cdargs - 1.35-49.fc45: normalized package name match | Fedora Rawhide package metadata: cdargs from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/07190dc5ae9f35ae73866675fed6d95fe6e8d9fe22c9d7cdf85862cb2ed24a4c-primary.xml.zst | The shell cd with bookmarks and browser | http://www.skamphausen.de/cgi-bin/ska/CDargs/ - dnf - cdargs-devel - 1.35-49.fc45: normalized package name match | Fedora Rawhide package metadata: cdargs-devel from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/07190dc5ae9f35ae73866675fed6d95fe6e8d9fe22c9d7cdf85862cb2ed24a4c-primary.xml.zst | Development files for cdargs | http://www.skamphausen.de/cgi-bin/ska/CDargs/ - MacPorts - cdargs: normalized package name match | MacPorts ports tree: sysutils/cdargs/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1 ## Combined YAML source View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/cdargs.yml](https://github.com/mxcl/pkgdb/blob/main/combined/cdargs.yml) ## Sources - pkg.so package database - Geiger risk classifier - curated configuration and credential file locations - curated package history - pkgdb category and tag curation - external package-manager database matches - cross-ecosystem install command graph