Fish Shell:
Checking if a directory exists

How to:

Fish Shell uses the test command to check file types and characteristics, including whether a target is a directory. Here’s a basic pattern for checking if a directory exists:

if test -d /path/to/dir
    echo "Directory exists"
else
    echo "Directory does not exist"
end

Sample Output:

Directory exists

For more streamlined file and directory operations, one might turn to external tools like fd, though it’s more commonly used for finding files and directories rather than just checking for existence. However, combining it with Fish scripting can yield handy results:

set dir "/path/to/search"
if fd . $dir --type directory --max-depth 1 | grep -q $dir
    echo "Directory exists"
else
    echo "Directory does not exist"
end

This fd example searches for the directory at a specified depth, and grep checks for the match, making it versatile for nuanced checks. However, for the direct purpose of checking existence, sticking to Fish’s built-in test is both efficient and straightforward.