zsh-predictive-list

PSReadLine-style ListView prediction for zsh. Predictions come only from commands that exited 0 — typos and failures stay in raw history but never pollute your suggestions.

Inspired by PSReadLine's ListView prediction mode for PowerShell.

What it does

• No ghost text — clean list below the prompt, not mixed into your input
• Header line — shows <-/N> (no selection) or <K/N> (selected), with source count
• Source tags — each item shows [History] right-aligned
• Success-only — only commands that exited 0 feed predictions
• Buffer updates on navigation — ↓ selects an item and puts it in your buffer, ↑ restores your typed text

Install

zinit

zinit light testycool/zsh-predictive-list

oh-my-zsh

git clone https://github.com/testycool/zsh-predictive-list ${ZSH_CUSTOM:-~/.oh-my-zsh/custom}/plugins/zsh-predictive-list
# Add to plugins=(...) in .zshrc

Manual

source /path/to/zsh-predictive-list.plugin.zsh

Keybindings

Key	Action
Type anything	List updates automatically
Down	Enter list / select next item (buffer updates to match)
Up	Select previous item / deselect (restores typed text)
Right	Accept top prediction (or selected) when cursor is at end of line
Tab	Accept current selection (only while navigating); otherwise normal completion
Enter	Execute current buffer
Ctrl+G	Dismiss list, restore typed text
Alt+P	Toggle predictions on/off

Additional widgets (not bound by default — bind them yourself if needed):

Widget	Action
zpred-delete-entry	Remove the selected entry from prediction history

When no predictions match, Up/Down/Right fall back to their normal behavior.

Configuration

Set these before sourcing the plugin:

# History file location (default: ~/.local/share/zsh-predictive-list/success_history)
ZPRED_HISTORY="$HOME/.zsh_success_history"

# Max visible predictions (default: 6)
ZPRED_MAX_SHOW=8

# Max entries kept in memory and on disk (default: 5000)
ZPRED_MAX_HISTORY=5000

# Match mode: "prefix" (default) or "contains" (substring matching, prefix results shown first)
ZPRED_MATCH_MODE="contains"

# Styles (zsh region_highlight format)
ZPRED_STYLE_EMPHASIS="fg=yellow"      # matched prefix in unselected items
ZPRED_STYLE_SELECTED="standout"       # selected item (reverse video)
ZPRED_STYLE_DIM="fg=8"               # header, markers, source tags

Importing existing history

New installs start with an empty prediction list. Import from your existing zsh history:

zpred-import              # imports from $HISTFILE (handles both plain and EXTENDED_HISTORY format)
zpred-import /path/to/file  # import from a specific file

Since exit codes aren't stored in $HISTFILE, all entries are imported. The prediction list will self-correct over time as successful commands get recorded.

How it works

1. preexec captures each command before execution
2. precmd checks $? — if 0, the command is appended to the success history file
3. zle-line-pre-redraw detects buffer changes and updates the prediction list
4. Matching runs against the deduplicated, most-recent-first success history (prefix or substring)
5. List renders via POSTDISPLAY + region_highlight (no ghost text)
6. Navigation with ↓ updates BUFFER to the selected command; ↑ at top restores typed text
7. Ctrl+G dismisses the list; typing again un-dismisses it
8. History file auto-truncates when it exceeds 2× ZPRED_MAX_HISTORY

How it differs from other plugins

	zsh-predictive-list	zsh-autosuggestions	zsh-autocomplete
Display	List below prompt	Inline ghost text	Completion menu
Source	Success history only	Full history + completion	Completion system
Navigation	↑/↓ through list	→ to accept	Tab cycling
Buffer	Updates on selection	Unchanged until accept	Unchanged until accept

Requirements

• zsh >= 5.4 (for zle-line-pre-redraw)

Compatibility

• Chains with existing zle-line-init, zle-line-pre-redraw, and zle-line-finish hooks
• Conflicts with zsh-autosuggestions — both use POSTDISPLAY. Use one or the other.

License

MIT