Command: fx files

Count files in directories with powerful filtering options.

Overview

fx files provides a fast and efficient way to count files and directories with pattern matching and recursive search capabilities. It's perfect for project statistics, file auditing, and understanding project structure.

Key Features: - 📊 Fast file counting with glob pattern matching - 🔍 Recursive directory traversal - 📈 Detailed statistics display - 🎯 Include/exclude filters for precise control - 📁 Directory and file counting

Usage

fx files [OPTIONS] [PATHS...]

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
`PATHS`	path	`.`	One or more paths to analyze (default: current directory)
`--pattern`	string	`*`	Glob pattern to match files (e.g., `.py`, `test_`)
`--exclude`	string	-	Pattern to exclude files (repeatable)
`--recursive`	flag	True	Search subdirectories recursively
`--detailed`	flag	False	Show detailed statistics including directories

Examples

Basic Usage

Count files in the current directory:

fx files .

Output:

      1 .git
      2 README.md
     45 docs/
    125 fx_bin/
    173 Total

Count files in a specific directory:

fx files /path/to/directory

Count files in multiple directories:

fx files /path/to/dir1 /path/to/dir2 /path/to/dir3

Pattern Matching

Count only Python files:

fx files . --pattern "*.py"

Count test files:

fx files . --pattern "*test*.py"

Count all image files:

fx files . --pattern "*.{jpg,jpeg,png,gif}"

Excluding Files

Count files excluding test files:

fx files . --exclude "*test*"

Exclude multiple patterns:

fx files . --exclude "*test*" --exclude "*.pyc" --exclude "__pycache__"

Count documentation files excluding README:

fx files . --pattern "*.md" --exclude "README.md"

Recursive vs Non-Recursive

Count files recursively (default):

fx files . --recursive

Count files only in current directory:

fx files . --no-recursive

Count files with maximum depth of 2 levels:

fx files . --recursive --max-depth 2

Detailed Statistics

Show detailed statistics including directories:

fx files . --detailed

Output:

Directories: 25
Files: 173
Hidden: 5
Total: 198

Real-World Scenarios

Scenario 1: Project Statistics

Count all files in a project:

fx files . --recursive --detailed

Count by file type:

# Count Python files
fx files . --pattern "*.py" --recursive

# Count JavaScript files
fx files . --pattern "*.{js,jsx,ts,tsx}" --recursive

# Count Markdown files
fx files . --pattern "*.md" --recursive

Scenario 2: Audit Large Directories

Find directories with many files:

# Count files in subdirectories
for dir in */; do
  echo "$dir: $(fx files "$dir" --recursive | tail -1 | awk '{print $1}')"
done

Or use fx size for size analysis:

fx size . --recursive --limit 10

Scenario 3: Clean Test Count

Count test files:

# Count all test files
fx files . --pattern "*test*.py" --recursive

# Count by test type
fx files tests/ --pattern "*test*.py" --recursive

Scenario 4: Documentation Audit

Count documentation files:

# Count Markdown files
fx files . --pattern "*.md" --recursive

# Count excluding generated docs
fx files docs/ --pattern "*.md" --exclude "*generated*" --recursive

Scenario 5: Source Code Distribution

Analyze project composition:

# Count by language
echo "Python: $(fx files . --pattern '*.py' --recursive | tail -1 | awk '{print $1}')"
echo "JavaScript: $(fx files . --pattern '*.{js,jsx,ts,tsx}' --recursive | tail -1 | awk '{print $1}')"
echo "Markdown: $(fx files . --pattern '*.md' --recursive | tail -1 | awk '{print $1}')"

Tips and Tricks

Combining with Other Commands

# Find directories with most files
find . -type d -exec fx files {} \; | sort -rn | head -10

# Count files matching a pattern
find . -name "*.py" | xargs fx files

Using in Scripts

#!/bin/bash
# Count files and exit with error if too few
count=$(fx files . --pattern "*.py" --recursive | tail -1 | awk '{print $1}')
if [ "$count" -lt 10 ]; then
  echo "Error: Expected at least 10 Python files, found $count"
  exit 1
fi
echo "OK: Found $count Python files"

Monitoring File Count Changes

# Count before and after operations
before=$(fx files . --recursive | tail -1 | awk '{print $1}')
# ... perform operations ...
after=$(fx files . --recursive | tail -1 | awk '{print $1}')
echo "Files changed: $((after - before))"

Performance Notes

Large directories: fx files is optimized for performance and handles directories with thousands of files efficiently
Symlink handling: Symlinks are not followed by default (prevents infinite loops)
Permission errors: Files with permission errors are silently skipped
Hidden files: Hidden files (starting with .) are counted by default

Common Issues

Permission Denied

If you see permission errors:

# Use sudo (not recommended)
sudo fx files /protected/path

# Or check directory permissions
ls -la /path/to/directory

Slow Performance

For very large directories:

# Use pattern to reduce search scope
fx files . --pattern "*.py" --recursive

# Use max-depth to limit recursion
fx files . --recursive --max-depth 2

Incorrect Counts

If counts seem wrong:

# Use detailed mode to debug
fx files . --recursive --detailed

# Check for hidden files
ls -la | grep "^\."