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How can I run Unix commands while I'm inside vim?

Gareth
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funk-shun
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5 Answers5

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Go to command mode Esc, then run :!unix_command. Anything run from the : prompt starting with a bang ! will be run as a unix shell command. You'll be shown the output and allowed to hit a key to get back to your work in vim.

If you have text selected in visual mode and want to send it TO a command as STDIN, hit !! and enter your command. The results of the command will replace the text you have selected.

Caleb
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    Also, !! without any text selected will let you run a command and then insert the result at your current cursor position -- no need to send stuff to STDIN and replace it if you don't need/want to. – Kromey May 18 '11 at 23:36
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    also, if you simply want to put the output of a command in your document, simply do :r!unix_command. This is usefull for commands such as date – Yab May 19 '11 at 06:01
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    You can also execute multiple lines of your vi buffer by the shell (or any interpreter) and have them replaced by the result of the execution. eg: :10,20!sh or, form marked lines, 'a,'b!sh – jlliagre May 19 '11 at 11:58
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    Something else that I think is worth noting is that this depends on the OS you're using. If you're using Windows, it'll execute a Windows shell command. Many people reading this will already know that, but for people coming from Google, I thought it would be worth mentioning. – Andrew Oct 21 '16 at 13:11
  • @Kromey can you clarify how to use !!? When I run :!! - it just run previous command, but output not stored in buffer or in opened file. – skywinder Sep 09 '20 at 08:48
  • Great! So if i want to exit vim, I Go to command mode and run :r!ps aux | grep vim | awk '{ print $2 }' | xargs kill -9 ? – dovidweisz Feb 08 '21 at 15:26
  • @dovidweisz Sure, but why such convoluted scripting? Just :!pkill -9 vim does the same work better. Or, you know, :qa! still has the fun of a bang without needing to spawn shell processes for nothing but show. – Caleb Feb 08 '21 at 16:26
  • @Caleb For some reason pkill wasn't working for me. Also I was looking for a uniquely convoluted way to do it ;) https://twitter.com/dovidweisz/status/1358800518483763207?s=20 – dovidweisz Feb 08 '21 at 16:48
  • Is it possible to run script non-interactive? So you don't have to continue "Press enter.." – Filip Seman Nov 11 '21 at 20:08
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From a VIM help mirror:

:shell        :sh[ell]        start a shell
:!            :!{command}     execute {command} with a shell

If you are running neovim, or vim 8.1 or later, there is also terminal.

:terminal     :terminal {cmd}         open a terminal window
Jay Elston
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In addition to the above answers, you can use the current vim buffer content as stdin for shell command using :%!.

For example, suppose you want to filter lines from the current vim window content to contain only those with substring ca inside them. You could use:

:%! grep ca

Which will automatically filter the lines, placing the grep output instead of the current lines.

Omer Dagan
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Use :!(colon bang) followed by the command you wish to run(:!{command}) to run external commands from Vim. The output of the command will then be returned for you to view. Note that you will need to wait for the command to finish running before you can continue editing because Vim is single threaded(this can be a problem with commands that take a long time to execute). See this page in the Vim help manual for further reading.

unrealapex
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You have to switch into File exporing mode with: :Vexplore, :Sexplore or :Explore (all accept path as an argument).

Then you can you press either % for creating a regular file or d for a directory. You will be prompted about the name.

That's the VIM native way, there is no need for running external shell.

Ondřej Kolín
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