goto - Directory Shortcut Manager

A lightweight, POSIX-compatible directory bookmark manager for Bash, Zsh, and Fish.

Register named shortcuts to directories and jump to them instantly — with tab completion and subpath navigation.

$ goto -r work ~/Projects/myapp
[ok] Registered: 'work' -> /home/user/Projects/myapp

$ goto work
/home/user/Projects/myapp $

$ goto work/src/components
/home/user/Projects/myapp/src/components $

Features

• Bookmark any directory — register with goto -r name or goto -r name /path
• Subpath navigation — goto project/src/lib jumps into subdirectories
• Tab completion — shortcut names and subpaths complete in all shells
• Cleanup — remove broken shortcuts pointing to deleted directories
• Import/export — back up or transfer shortcuts between machines
• Zero dependencies — pure POSIX shell, no Python/Ruby/Rust needed
• XDG compliant — respects $XDG_CONFIG_HOME
• Shell support — Bash, Zsh, and Fish

Installation

User-local install (recommended for personal use)

git clone https://github.com/byteoverride/goto.git
cd goto
./install.sh

Then add to your shell config:

# Bash (~/.bashrc) or Zsh (~/.zshrc)
source ~/.local/bin/goto.sh

Fish integration is installed automatically if Fish is detected.

System-wide install

sudo make install PREFIX=/usr

Then add to your shell config:

# Bash (~/.bashrc) or Zsh (~/.zshrc)
source /usr/share/goto/goto.sh

Fish completions are loaded automatically from the system path.

Arch Linux (AUR)

yay -S goto-dir

Uninstall

# User-local
rm ~/.local/bin/goto ~/.local/bin/goto.sh

# System-wide
sudo make uninstall PREFIX=/usr

Usage

Register a shortcut

# Save current directory
goto -r work

# Save a specific path
goto -r docs ~/Documents

# Relative paths are resolved automatically
goto -r parent ..

Jump to a shortcut

goto work
goto docs

Navigate into subdirectories

goto work/src/components
goto docs/api/v2

List all shortcuts

goto -l

Output shows valid shortcuts and marks missing paths:

Registered shortcuts:

  work            -> /home/user/Projects/myapp
  docs            -> /home/user/Documents
  old-project     -> /home/user/Projects/deleted (missing)

Delete a shortcut

goto -d work

Rename a shortcut

goto -R work office

Clean up broken shortcuts

goto -c

Import and export

# Back up shortcuts
goto --export > ~/goto-backup.txt

# Restore on another machine
goto --import ~/goto-backup.txt

Configuration

Shortcuts are stored in a plain-text file:

~/.config/goto/config

Or $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/goto/config if XDG_CONFIG_HOME is set.

Format is one shortcut per line, pipe-delimited:

work|/home/user/Projects/myapp
docs|/home/user/Documents

You can edit this file directly if needed.

How It Works

goto is split into two parts:

1. goto (binary) — a POSIX shell script that manages the config file and resolves shortcuts. It outputs the resolved path to stdout.

2. goto.sh (shell integration) — a shell function that wraps the binary, captures its output, and calls cd. This is why you need to source it — shell functions can change the current directory, standalone scripts cannot.

Comparison with Similar Tools

Feature	goto	autojump	z / zoxide	fasd
Explicit bookmarks	Yes	No	No	No
Learning/frecency	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Zero dependencies	Yes	Python	Rust (zoxide)	POSIX
Subpath navigation	Yes	No	No	No
Import/export	Yes	No	No	No
Config is plain text	Yes	No	No	No

goto takes a different approach: explicit bookmarks instead of implicit learning. You control exactly which directories have shortcuts and what they're called. No database, no training period, no surprises.

Development

# Run tests
make test

# Run shellcheck
make lint

# Test the install process
make install DESTDIR=/tmp/goto-test PREFIX=/usr

See CONTRIBUTING.md for development guidelines.

License

MIT - Psalms Christopher Matovu