SwiftList

A simple and fast rebuild of the UNIX ls command.

Installation

Download Pre-built Binaries

Download the latest release for your architecture:

macOS Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3):

sudo mkdir -p /usr/local/bin
sudo curl -L $(curl -s https://api.github.com/repos/maclong9/list/releases/latest | grep "browser_download_url.*sls-aarch64" | cut -d\" -f4) -o /usr/local/bin/sls
sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/sls

macOS Intel:

sudo mkdir -p /usr/local/bin
sudo curl -L $(curl -s https://api.github.com/repos/maclong9/list/releases/latest | grep "browser_download_url.*sls-x86_64" | cut -d\" -f4) -o /usr/local/bin/sls
sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/sls

Manual Download: Visit the releases page and download sls-aarch64 (Apple Silicon) or sls-x86_64 (Intel) directly.

With mise

mise settings experimental true
mise install spm:maclong9/swift-list

Shell Completion

Generate completion scripts:

# Bash
sls --generate-completion-script bash > ~/.bash_completions/sls.bash

# Zsh
sls --generate-completion-script zsh > ~/.zsh/completion/_sls

# Fish
sls --generate-completion-script fish > ~/.config/fish/completions/sls.fish

Install by copying to your shell's completion directory or sourcing in your shell config.

Usage

sls [OPTIONS] [<path>]

Options

Display Options

Display Options

• -a, --all — Display all files, including hidden
• -l, --long — Display file attributes, one file per line
• -o, --one-line — Display each file on its own line
• -d, --directory — List directories themselves, not their contents

Formatting Options

• -c, --color — Colorize the output
• -i, --icons — Display icons denoting file type
• -F, --classify — Append indicator (/, *, etc.) to entries
• --human-readable — Display human readable file sizes (KB, MB, GB)
• --header — Display column headers explaining the output format (requires -l)

Sorting Options

• -t, --sort-time — Sort by modification time (newest first)
• -S, --sort-size — Sort by file size (largest first)

Navigation Options

• -r, --recurse — Recurse into directories

Help

• --help — Show help information
• --version — Display version information

Common Usage

# Basic listing
sls

# Detailed view with colors and icons
sls -cli --human-readable

# Show headers for clarity
sls -l --header --human-readable

# Recursive exploration
sls -clir --human-readable

# Sort by time or size
sls -clit --human-readable    # by time
sls -cliS --human-readable    # by size