fbin

Summary

fbin'' creates a Zsh wrapper function that forwards calls to a binary via an embedded path. The function lives only in the current shell session; no files are written to disk. For a persistent, session-independent alternative use sbin''.

Syntax / Usage

fbin'[{g|n|c|N|E|O}:]{path-to-binary}[ -> {name-of-the-function}]'

Multiple entries are separated by ;. The rename -> name is optional; without it the function takes the last path segment of {path-to-binary} as its name.

Flags:

g – set $GEM_HOME to the plugin directory
n – set $NODE_PATH to {plugin-dir}/node_modules
c – cd into the plugin directory before running, then cd back afterward
N – redirect both stdout and stderr to /dev/null
E – redirect stderr to /dev/null
O – redirect stdout to /dev/null

Details

Unlike sbin'', fbin'' does not write anything to $ZPFX/bin. The wrapper is a regular Zsh function defined at plugin-load time. It exists only within the running shell; a new session or a non-interactive script will not have it unless the plugin is loaded again.

Because the function is defined in the live session, the binary is available on the command line without any $PATH change and without any persistent file on disk.

Empty ice: when fbin is given with no value, the annex auto-detects the binary by checking (in order):

trailing component of the id_as'' ice (e.g. id_as'exts/git-my' → git-my)
the plugin name (e.g. paulirish/git-open → git-open)
trailing component of the snippet URL
the alphabetically first executable file in the plugin directory

Examples

# Basic usage — function named after the binary
zinit ice from"gh-r" fbin"fzf"
zinit load junegunn/fzf-bin

# Rename the function and set GEM_HOME
zinit ice from"gh-r" fbin"g:fzf -> myfzf"
zinit load junegunn/fzf-bin

# Inspect the generated function
% which myfzf
myfzf () {
    local bindir="/home/sg/.zinit/plugins/junegunn---fzf-bin"
    local -x GEM_HOME="/home/sg/.zinit/plugins/junegunn---fzf-bin"
    "$bindir"/"fzf" "$@"
}

Caveats / Common Mistakes

The wrapper function only exists in the current interactive shell session. Scripts or other processes launched outside of Zinit will not have it. Use sbin'' when the command must be accessible from scripts or external tools.
fbin and sbin are mutually exclusive approaches: use one or the other for a given binary, not both.