Bash Completion

Bash completion is a bash function that allows you to auto complete commands or arguments by typing partially commands or arguments, then pressing the [Tab] key. This will help you when writing the bash command in terminal.

Installation

brew install bash-completion

Bash completion will be installed in /usr/local/etc/bash_completion.d.

For it to work, add this to your ~/.bash_profile:

[ -f /usr/local/etc/bash_completion ] && . /usr/local/etc/bash_completion

Or simply type:

echo "[ -f /usr/local/etc/bash_completion ] && . /usr/local/etc/bash_completion" >> ~/.bash_profile

Restart your bash session:

source ~/.bash_profile

Usage

Once you've done this, you can use bash completion by pressing the tab key twice after a command. For example:

$ git [tab] [tab]
add            blame          cherry-pick    config         format-patch   gui            merge          push           repack         rm             stage          whatchanged
am             branch         citool         describe       fsck           help           mergetool      range-diff     replace        send-email     stash          worktree
apply          bundle         clean          diff           gc             init           mv             rebase         request-pull   shortlog       status
archive        checkout       clone          difftool       gitk           instaweb       notes          reflog         reset          show           submodule
bisect         cherry         commit         fetch          grep           log            pull           remote         revert         show-branch    tag

More

You can list additional completion packages are available by typing:

brew search completion

And you can install them using brew install commands, for example:

brew install docker-completion

You can also manually add a bash completion file into /usr/local/etc/bash_completion.d