Bash history expansion 🏅

The general syntax is:

!command:parameter

Command segment defines which command to look for in history. It can be a modifier like !! (last command), !-1, !-2, !-3 … (last, previous to last etc) or a specific keyword like !cat (search for most recent cat).

Parameter segment defines which part of the command to use. ^ is first parameter, $ is last parameter, * are all the parameters, 0 the command and 1,2,3… are the parameters. You can define a range eg 2-4 (parameters 2 to 4)

Besides that, you can also use ^x^y^ to replace x with y. There are some more advanced ways to search. Take a look at the references at the end of this page.

You can also use history n to review the last n commands with their ids. If you know an id, you can use it at command segment,

All results are shown as if the command was executed immediately after touch a b c d e (not one after another)

Assume that you have typed in this order:

1. ls -a -r
2. date
3. touch a b c d e

Command	Description	Output
!!	last command (all words)	touch a b c d e
!*	last command, all arguments	a b c d e
!^	last command, second argument	a
!$	last command, last argument	e
!:0	first word	touch
!:1	second word (first argument)	a
!:2-4	range of words	b c d
^touch^ls	find touch and replace it with ls	ls a b c e d
!-1	last command	touch a b c d e
!-2	previous to last command	date
!-2:0	first keyword of previous to last command	date
!ls:*	search for command ls, all arguments of ls	-a -r
!ls:^	search for command ls, first argument of ls	-a
!ls:$	search for command ls, last argument of ls	-r
!ls	search for command starting from ls	ls -a -r
!? b	search for command containing b	touch a b c d e
!!:gs/a/p/	last command, replace a with b	touch p b c d e
…	…	…

References:

• http://www.thegeekstuff.com/2011/08/bash-history-expansion
• https://www.gnu.org/software/bash/manual/html_node/Event-Designators.html#Event-Designators

Book recommendation:

• UNIX Shells by Example, Ellie Quigley