zsh plugin to cache the output of a binary initialization command, intended to help lower shell startup time.
Note
This is a fork of https://github.com/mroth/evalcache that automatically re-validates the cache after a specified amount of time.
There are lots of shell wrapper tools that follow the patte 7B9F rn of asking you to eval a specific init command in your shell startup, for example, rbenv asks:
eval "$(hub alias -s)"
While this is very convenient, the reality is there is a small amount of overhead associated with shelling out to this, and the output is almost always actually static in all of the tools I know. So why bear this cost every time you open a new tab in your shell?
Instead, after you load this plugin, you can replace that same command with:
_evalcache hub alias -s
The first time this runs, it will cache the output of the command to a file, which will be sourced in the future instead when it exists.
If you update a tool and expect for some reason that it's initialization might have changed, you can simply clear the cache and it will be regenerated.
It also gracefully degrades to a no-op if the tool is no longer installed.
Some informal benchmarks from my MacBook on my .zshrc:
| command | without | first run | subsequent runs | savings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| rbenv init | ~65ms | ~65ms | ~8ms | 88% |
| hub alias | ~30ms | ~30ms | ~6ms | 80% |
| scmpuff init | ~24ms | ~25ms | ~10ms | 58% |
The difference isn't huge, but can be handy in shaving down shell startup time, especially if you use a bunch of these tools. Every millisecond counts!
$ZSH_EVALCACHE_DIR: cache files storage, default$HOME/.zsh-evalcache.$ZSH_EVALCACHE_DISABLE: set totrueif you wish to bypass evalcache.$ZSH_EVALCACHE_SECONDS: how long until to re-evaluate the command in seconds, default4320(3 days)$ZSH_EVALCACHE_SHOW_MESSAGES: set totrueif you want to display console output
There is a convenience function to clear the cache called _evalcache_clear.
Add antigen bundle TimoBechtel/evalcache to your .zshrc with your other bundle commands.
Antigen will handle cloning the plugin for you automatically the next time you start zsh. You can also add the plugin to a running zsh with antigen bundle TimoBechtel/evalcache for testing before adding it to your .zshrc.
Fig adds apps, shortcuts, and autocomplete to your existing terminal.
Install evalcache in just one click.
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Clone this repository into
$ZSH_CUSTOM/plugins(by default~/.oh-my-zsh/custom/plugins)git clone https://github.com/TimoBechtel/evalcache ${ZSH_CUSTOM:-~/.oh-my-zsh/custom}/plugins/evalcache -
Edit
~/.zshrcto add evalcache to your plugin list,- plugins=(...) + plugins=(... evalcache)
Add zgen load TimoBechtel/evalcache to your .zshrc file in the same function you're doing your other zgen load calls in. Zgen will handle automatically cloning the plugin for you the next time you do a zgen save.