mkcd

mkcd creates brace-expanded directory trees and drops you into a selected branch.

What It Does

Given:

mkcd test/{test1,test2}/ok/{first,second}

it will:

1. Create all combinations:
   • test/test1/ok/first
   • test/test1/ok/second
   • test/test2/ok/first
   • test/test2/ok/second
2. cd into the selected path (default first option at each brace level).

Features

• Works with quoted and unquoted brace paths
• 1-based index selection per brace level (2,1)
• Empty or 0 index means default (1)
  • ,1
  • 0,2
  • 0, 2
• Optional trailing dot suffix to step up from selected path
  • ..
  • ../..

Requirements

• zsh
• mkdir (standard on macOS/Linux)

Install (macOS + Linux)

From repo root:

./install.sh

Then reload your shell:

source ~/.zshrc
# or source ~/.bashrc / ~/.bash_profile depending on your shell

Installer options

./install.sh --shell zsh|bash
./install.sh --rc-file /path/to/rcfile
./install.sh --prefix /custom/install/dir
./install.sh --skip-rc
./install.sh --force

Usage

Basic

mkcd test/{a,b}/x/{y,z}
# cd => test/a/x/y

Indexed branch selection

mkcd test/{a,b}/x/{y,z} 2,1
# cd => test/b/x/y

Defaulting with empty/0 indexes

mkcd test/{test1,test2}/ok/{first,second} ,1
# cd => test/test1/ok/first

mkcd test/{test1,test2}/ok/{first,second} 0, 2
# cd => test/test1/ok/second

Dot suffix navigation

mkcd test/{test1,test2}/ok/{first,second} 2,1 ..
# cd => test/test2/ok

mkcd test/{test1,test2}/ok/{first,second} ..
# cd => test/test1/ok

Tests

Run:

zsh ./test_mkcd.zsh

Expected:

All mkcd tests passed.

Uninstall

1. Remove the source line from your shell rc file.
2. Delete the installed file (default):

rm -f "$HOME/.local/share/mkcd/mkcd.zsh"

Troubleshooting

If mkcd still behaves like an old version, check where it is loading from:

whence -v mkcd

If it shows ~/.zsh/functions/mkcd.zsh, that legacy autoload path is taking precedence. Re-run the installer with --force; it now updates that file too.