How to repeat the last part of a previous command?

Question

I'm using zsh with the oh-my-zsh framework of Robby Russell. How can I create a shortcut or something to repeat the last part of a command?

For example, if I type:

mv something in/this/difficult/to/type/directory

Is there any way to easily get this: in/this/difficult/to/type/directory?

Condescendence

Answer 1

Wether you are in bash or zsh, you can use the ! operator to recover arguments of your previous command:

If we take: echo a b c d as an example

• !$ - the last argument: d
• !:*- all the arguments: a b c d (can be shorten !*)
• !:1 - the first argument: a (same as !^)
• !:1-3 - arguments from first to third: a b c
• !:2-$ - arguments from the second to the last one: b c d

This last point answer you question, you can take the last part of your command.

Note: !:0 is the last command executed, here it would be echo in our example

The corresponding documentation can be found on the gnu website, the whole context gives much more resources than this comment.

Moneybag

Just an additional comment here, at least with Oh my Zsh after typing the ! argument you can expand it out hitting tab. – Costanzo

On your last line, did you mean !:0? – Burletta

@babbata, nice catch ! I have fixed this in the body. Thanks :) – Moneybag

Could you add a link to canonical documentation about this please? Then the answer is perfect :) – Earthling

@robrecord done, and there is much more to learn than my answer there :) – Moneybag

Answer 2

I just tested and it seems you can do it the same way as in bash: !$.

Slough

pretty good, but I loved how in bash I could just press "ALT ." – Condescendence

alt-period? İ think I've heard that before, but it doesn't work on my machine. – Slough

@Kevin: Your meta key mapping may be screwy. What does ALT+f do? What about ESC+.? – Beamends

Alt-f is some funny symbol, esc-. does the same symbol but inserts it at the cursor and doesn't advance. Part of it may be that I'm using the US-intl keyboard. I use vi-mode too, but I just checked and switching to emacs-mode doesn't fix it. – Slough

@Condescendence Zsh has that same key binding in its default setup. – Blasto

@Gilles, are you talking about ALT+.? at the moment, if I type ALT+. it outputs two dots and then goes up in the directory tree. – Condescendence

@Condescendence Alt+. is in the default emacs keymap. If you don't have this binding, either your configuration overrides it (perhaps in oh-my-zsh) or you're using the vi keymap (which doesn't have this widget, insert-last-word, bound by default). – Blasto

how do you prevent the command from repeating and just make it run? for example if you do echo !$ and press enter, you see the command again, and you would have to press enter a second time to make it actually run. this is annoying. – Bias

@Bias I believe it's setopt nohistverify – Slough

@Slough I used to use ALT+. (or I actually tended to use ESC+.) with zsh but I just moved to vi-mode prompt. The solution posted (thank you) works. Is there a way of getting a similar command working in zsh vi-mode? – Quiroz

For ALT+. use bindkey '\e.' insert-last-word. Or, use bindkey -M viins '\e.' insert-last-word to apply just to vi (insert) mode. – Genitourinary

Answer 3

!* gives you ALL the arguments of the last command.

Example:

% echo hello world  
hello world

% echo !*  
(expands to)-> % echo hello world
hello world

Antofagasta

Answer 4

add bindkey '\e.' insert-last-word to your .zshrc

- sp3ctum, in comment here

Sostenuto

Answer 5

<esc>. also works out of the box with zsh and oh-my-zsh.

Outlay

and this way you get to see the argunent before running it! – Allrud

Answer 6

!$ gives you the last parameter of the previous command.

Example:

$ echo hello world
hello world
$ echo !$
echo world
world

Gavra

Answer 7

I ran into this too - I've always used Alt. for insert-last-word in bash. Found where oh-my-zsh overrides this.

In lib/key-bindings.zsh, comment out this and it should work like in bash:

bindkey -s '\e.' "..\n"

Lian

Or add bindkey '\e.' insert-last-word to your .zshrc. – Fiden

@Fiden your comment is the best answer IMO – Philcox

I realise it's been ages, but @Fiden solution seems to be the only one working for me. If you add it as an answer I'll accept it – Condescendence

did not work for me, I am using mac book pro 2017 – Horatio

Answer 8

Just to expand on @Charles Gueunet answer;

• !! - repeats the entire last command

This is useful if you forgot to add sudo to the start of the command. Trivial example:

$ cat /root/file
Permission denied
$ sudo !!
here's the conent

Au

Answer 9

If you get here looking for pasting last word from last command on an zsh interactive shell, maybe this is your answer.

There is a default shortcut already configured in any zsh (or maybe if you have installed oh-my-zsh, i'm not really sure).
To check if you have this shortcut installed, search in bind keys for insert-last-word

$ bindkey -L | grep insert

...
bindkey "^[." insert-last-word
bindkey "^[_" insert-last-word
...

When using this keyboard shortcut, you can paste last word used in last command.
Example:

$   echo a b c d e f g
a b c d e f g
...

$ 
[use shortcut]
$ g

Semination

Answer 10

Another way to reference the last argument of a command is with $_

mkdir 'a_new_directory'
cd $_

The above code will move you into the directory you just created.

$_ can also do other things. Reference: https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/280453/understand-the-meaning-of

Earthling