Common Options¶

This chapter covers the most frequently used ripgrep flags that you'll need on a daily basis. For a complete list of all options, run rg --help. For a concise reference of just the common flags, use rg -h.

Quick Help Reference

Use rg -h for a concise list of common flags, or rg --help for the complete reference including all advanced options.

The common options are organized by use case to help you quickly find the right flag for your task:

graph LR
    CommonOpts["Common Options"] --> SearchBehavior["Search Basics"]
    CommonOpts --> OutputFormat["Output Formatting"]
    CommonOpts --> FileFilter["File Filtering"]
    CommonOpts --> OutputModes["Output Modes"]

    SearchBehavior --> SB1["Pattern modes
    (-F, -w)"]
    SearchBehavior --> SB2["Case sensitivity
    (-i, -s)"]
    SearchBehavior --> SB3["Regex engines
    (-P)"]

    OutputFormat --> OF1["Line numbers
    (-n)"]
    OutputFormat --> OF2["Context lines
    (-A, -B, -C)"]
    OutputFormat --> OF3["Color
    (--color)"]

    FileFilter --> FF1["Type filtering
    (-t)"]
    FileFilter --> FF2["Glob patterns
    (-g)"]
    FileFilter --> FF3["Hidden files
    (--hidden)"]

    OutputModes --> OM1["JSON output
    (--json)"]
    OutputModes --> OM2["Count matches
    (-c)"]
    OutputModes --> OM3["List files
    (-l)"]

    style CommonOpts fill:#e1f5ff
    style SearchBehavior fill:#e8f5e9
    style OutputFormat fill:#fff3e0
    style FileFilter fill:#f3e5f5
    style OutputModes fill:#fce4ec

Figure: Organization of common options by use case, with key flags highlighted in each category.

Search behavior - Control how ripgrep interprets patterns and matches text
Output formatting - Customize how results are displayed
File filtering - Select which files to search
Alternative output modes - Generate machine-readable or specialized output formats

Navigation Guide

Start with Search Basics if you're new to ripgrep. Once you understand pattern matching, explore Output Formatting to customize results, then File Filtering to narrow your search scope. The Reference page provides a quick lookup table of all common flags.

Combining Common Options

Common options often work together. For example, searching for function definitions in Rust files:

rg -w -n -t rust "fn.*main" -C 2

This combines:

-w (Search Basics) - Match whole words only
-n (Output Formatting) - Show line numbers
-t rust (File Filtering) - Only search Rust files
-C 2 (Output Formatting) - Show 2 lines of context

Each option category contributes to creating precise, readable results.

Common Options¶

See Also¶