sachaos/viddy

👀 A modern watch command. Time machine and pager etc.

Rust

5,425

302 commits

updated Aug 16, 2026

See the code

README

Viddy

viddy

Modern watch command.

Viddy well, gopher. Viddy well.

Demo

viddy

Features

  • Basic features of original watch command.
    • Execute command periodically, and display the result.
    • color output.
    • diff highlight.
  • Time machine mode. 😎
    • Rewind like video.
    • Go to the past, and back to the future.
  • Look back history.
    • Save and load history.
  • See output in pager.
  • Vim like keymaps.
  • Search text.
  • Suspend and restart execution.
  • Support shell alias
  • Customize keymappings.
  • Customize color.

Install

Cargo

cargo install viddy

Homebrew

brew install viddy

Linux

wget -O viddy.tar.gz https://github.com/sachaos/viddy/releases/download/v1.3.0/viddy-v1.3.0-linux-x86_64.tar.gz && tar xvf viddy.tar.gz && mv viddy /usr/local/bin

Other

Download from release page.

Install with Other Package Managers (Community-Maintained)

pkg.haus

APT packages for Debian stable, testing and unstable (amd64 and arm64), built from source at release tags. Set up the archive per the instructions on pkg.haus, then:

sudo apt install viddy

MacPorts

sudo port install viddy

Scoop

To install Viddy on Windows, first install the Scoop package manager, and then run the commands below.

NOTE: The git package is required in order to add additional Scoop "buckets".

scoop install git
scoop bucket add extras
scoop install extras/viddy

ArchLinux ( AUR )

yay -S viddy

Alternatively you can use the AUR Git repo directly

Alpine Linux

After enabling the community repository:

apk add viddy

asdf version manager

asdf plugin add viddy
asdf install viddy latest
asdf global viddy latest

Keymaps

key
SPACEToggle time machine mode
sToggle suspend execution
bToggle ring terminal bell
dToggle diff
tToggle header/title display
?Toggle help view
/Search text
jPager: next line
kPager: previous line
hPager: move left
lPager: move right
Control-FPager: page down
Control-BPager: page up
gPager: go to top of page
Shift-GPager: go to bottom of page
Shift-J(Time machine mode) Go to the past
Shift-K(Time machine mode) Back to the future
Shift-F(Time machine mode) Go to more past
Shift-B(Time machine mode) Back to more future
Shift-O(Time machine mode) Go to oldest position
Shift-N(Time machine mode) Go to current position

Configuration

Viddy can be used without any configuration. However, if you want to customize the keybindings or default behavior, you can do so.

Install your config file on $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/viddy.toml On macOS, the path is ~/Library/Application\ Support/viddy.toml.

[general]
no_shell = false
shell = "zsh"
shell_options = ""
skip_empty_diffs = false
disable_mouse = true

[keymap]
timemachine_go_to_past = "Down"
timemachine_go_to_more_past = "Shift-Down"
timemachine_go_to_future = "Up"
timemachine_go_to_more_future = "Shift-Up"
timemachine_go_to_now = "Ctrl-Shift-Up"
timemachine_go_to_oldest = "Ctrl-Shift-Down"
scroll_left = "h"
scroll_right = "l"
scroll_up = "k"
scroll_down = "j"
scroll_half_page_up = "Ctrl-u"
scroll_half_page_down = "Ctrl-d"
scroll_page_up = "Ctrl-b"
scroll_page_down = "Ctrl-f"
scroll_bottom_of_page = "Shift-g"
scroll_top_of_page = "g g"

[color]
background = "white" # Default value is inherit from terminal color.

What is "viddy" ?

"viddy" is Nadsat word meaning to see. Nadsat is fictional argot of gangs in the violent book and movie "A Clockwork Orange".

Credits

The gopher's logo of viddy is licensed under the Creative Commons 3.0 Attributions license.

The original Go gopher was designed by Renee French.

cli
golang
terminal
tui
watch

sachaos/viddy

👀 A modern watch command. Time machine and pager etc.

Rust

5,425

302 commits

updated Aug 16, 2026

See the code

README

Viddy

viddy

Modern watch command.

Viddy well, gopher. Viddy well.

Demo

viddy

Features

  • Basic features of original watch command.
    • Execute command periodically, and display the result.
    • color output.
    • diff highlight.
  • Time machine mode. 😎
    • Rewind like video.
    • Go to the past, and back to the future.
  • Look back history.
    • Save and load history.
  • See output in pager.
  • Vim like keymaps.
  • Search text.
  • Suspend and restart execution.
  • Support shell alias
  • Customize keymappings.
  • Customize color.

Install

Cargo

cargo install viddy

Homebrew

brew install viddy

Linux

wget -O viddy.tar.gz https://github.com/sachaos/viddy/releases/download/v1.3.0/viddy-v1.3.0-linux-x86_64.tar.gz && tar xvf viddy.tar.gz && mv viddy /usr/local/bin

Other

Download from release page.

Install with Other Package Managers (Community-Maintained)

pkg.haus

APT packages for Debian stable, testing and unstable (amd64 and arm64), built from source at release tags. Set up the archive per the instructions on pkg.haus, then:

sudo apt install viddy

MacPorts

sudo port install viddy

Scoop

To install Viddy on Windows, first install the Scoop package manager, and then run the commands below.

NOTE: The git package is required in order to add additional Scoop "buckets".

scoop install git
scoop bucket add extras
scoop install extras/viddy

ArchLinux ( AUR )

yay -S viddy

Alternatively you can use the AUR Git repo directly

Alpine Linux

After enabling the community repository:

apk add viddy

asdf version manager

asdf plugin add viddy
asdf install viddy latest
asdf global viddy latest

Keymaps

key
SPACEToggle time machine mode
sToggle suspend execution
bToggle ring terminal bell
dToggle diff
tToggle header/title display
?Toggle help view
/Search text
jPager: next line
kPager: previous line
hPager: move left
lPager: move right
Control-FPager: page down
Control-BPager: page up
gPager: go to top of page
Shift-GPager: go to bottom of page
Shift-J(Time machine mode) Go to the past
Shift-K(Time machine mode) Back to the future
Shift-F(Time machine mode) Go to more past
Shift-B(Time machine mode) Back to more future
Shift-O(Time machine mode) Go to oldest position
Shift-N(Time machine mode) Go to current position

Configuration

Viddy can be used without any configuration. However, if you want to customize the keybindings or default behavior, you can do so.

Install your config file on $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/viddy.toml On macOS, the path is ~/Library/Application\ Support/viddy.toml.

[general]
no_shell = false
shell = "zsh"
shell_options = ""
skip_empty_diffs = false
disable_mouse = true

[keymap]
timemachine_go_to_past = "Down"
timemachine_go_to_more_past = "Shift-Down"
timemachine_go_to_future = "Up"
timemachine_go_to_more_future = "Shift-Up"
timemachine_go_to_now = "Ctrl-Shift-Up"
timemachine_go_to_oldest = "Ctrl-Shift-Down"
scroll_left = "h"
scroll_right = "l"
scroll_up = "k"
scroll_down = "j"
scroll_half_page_up = "Ctrl-u"
scroll_half_page_down = "Ctrl-d"
scroll_page_up = "Ctrl-b"
scroll_page_down = "Ctrl-f"
scroll_bottom_of_page = "Shift-g"
scroll_top_of_page = "g g"

[color]
background = "white" # Default value is inherit from terminal color.

What is "viddy" ?

"viddy" is Nadsat word meaning to see. Nadsat is fictional argot of gangs in the violent book and movie "A Clockwork Orange".

Credits

The gopher's logo of viddy is licensed under the Creative Commons 3.0 Attributions license.

The original Go gopher was designed by Renee French.

cli
golang
terminal
tui
watch

Project health

Overall

3.0/10

Maintained

1/10

Code review

1/10
OpenSSF Scorecard

Significant stargazers

(top 24 of 143)

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