[BUG] Pictures previews not working with chafa and `-f kitty`

[xfzv]

I can make sure:

• [x] I am using the latest version of fzf-tab
• [x] this is the minimal zshrc which can reproduce this bug
• [x] fzf-tab is loaded after compinit
• [x] fzf-tab is loaded after plugins which will wrap Tab, like junegunn/fzf/completion.zsh
• [x] fzf-tab is loaded before zsh-autosuggestions, zsh-syntax-highlighting and fast-syntax-highlighting.

Describe the bug

I followed the wiki for Previews - show file contents.

It works just fine with the following script (taken from the wiki too, slightly modified):

#! /usr/bin/env bash

has_cmd() { command -v "$1" >/dev/null 2>&1 ; }

MIME="$(file -bL --mime-type "$1")"
CATEGORY="${MIME%%/*}"
KIND="${MIME##*/}"

if [[ -d "$1" ]]; then
    has_cmd exa && exa -a --color=always -l -g --git --group-directories-first --icons "$1"
    has_cmd lsd && lsd -al --color=always --icon=always "$1"
elif [[ "$CATEGORY" == "image" ]]; then
    has_cmd chafa && chafa "$1"
    has_cmd exiftool && exiftool "$1"
elif [[ "$CATEGORY" == "text" ]]; then
    has_cmd bat && bat --color=always --line-range :200 "$1"
elif [[ "$CATEGORY" == "video" ]]; then
    has_cmd mediainfo && mediainfo "$1"
else
    lesspipe.sh "$1" | bat --color=always --line-range :200
fi

Relevant part of my fzf-tab config:

zstyle ':fzf-tab:complete:*:*' fzf-preview 'less ${(Q)realpath}'
zstyle ':fzf-tab:complete:*:*' fzf-flags --height=100% --preview-window=right:wrap
zstyle ':fzf-tab:complete:*:options' fzf-preview
zstyle ':fzf-tab:complete:*:argument-1' fzf-preview
export LESSOPEN='|/path/to/lessfilter.sh %s'

However, pictures previews aren't working with chafa when using kitty terminal (and default preview format).

From man chafa:

       -f, --format format
           Set output format; one of [iterm, kitty, sixels, symbols]. The default is iterm, kitty or sixels if the connected terminal
           supports one of these, falling back to symbols ("ANSI art") otherwise.

Since I'm using kitty, running chafa without any argument defaults to -f kitty, which doesn't seem to work:

It works fine if run directly in terminal with:

❯ chafa 01.jpg

If using

chafa -f symbols "$1"

in the script, it works too, but the preview quality is very bad of course:

Environment:

• OS: Gentoo

❯  zsh --version
zsh 5.9 (x86_64-pc-linux-gnu)

❯  kitty --version
kitty 0.25.2 created by Kovid Goyal

❯  chafa --version
Chafa version 1.12.3

Am I missing something or is this a fzf limitation?

Thanks.

[xfzv]

I've been playing around with ytfzf:

• Above:

  % ytfzf -t --thumb-viewer=kitty Gentoo

• Below:

  % ytfzf -t --thumb-viewer=chafa Gentoo

I tried to replace this line from /usr/bin/ytfzf:

chafa)
    printf '\n'
    command_exists "chafa" || die 3 "\nchafa is not installed\n"
-   chafa --format=symbols -s "$((width-4))x$height" "$thumb_path" ;;
+   chafa --format=kitty -s "$((width-4))x$height" "$thumb_path" ;;

and got the exact same issue (wall of random characters instead of image preview) when using ytfzf -t --thumb-view=chafa.

I also noticed these lines and somewhat got it working by replacing (in my lessfilter.sh script)

elif [[ "$CATEGORY" == "image" ]]; then
-    has_cmd chafa && chafa "$1"
+    kitty +kitten icat --clear --transfer-mode file
+    kitty +kitten icat --transfer-mode file "$1"
    has_cmd exiftool && exiftool "$1"

but of course it's very buggy since I removed the --place option and maybe the other options aren't optimal either. The image is displayed full size instead of matching fzf preview window size and the preview stays displayed when moving with arrow keys while in fzf.

So based on what I'm seeing with ytfzf, I guess chafa doesn't play well with fzf and --format kitty. The best way would be to mimic ytfzf implementation with kitty +kitten icat and ueberzug to determine thumbnail position and size.

Maybe someone could help in that regard.

[justchokingaround]

any updates on this?

[xfzv]

@justchokingaround fzf 0.43 now supports Kitty image protocol. It works fine but I'm having some issues with the placement. Not sure how to integrate it in my lessfilter.sh either, I wonder if it could completely replace chafa.

[justchokingaround]

yes, i actually saw the announcement, however even after building from source, the example code didn't seem to work for me in the kitty terminal

[xfzv]

yes, i actually saw the announcement, however even after building from source, the example code didn't seem to work for me in the kitty terminal

I couldn't get it to work either, but these worked for me:

• https://github.com/junegunn/fzf/issues/3228#issuecomment-1749167376
• https://github.com/junegunn/fzf/issues/3228#issuecomment-1730781875

[justchokingaround]

oh nice, thank you, i'll check another day, but this is pretty cool. i think it's a big step forward that fzf has native image support, hopefully this means sixel is possible in the future :pray:

[DivineMK]

fzf now supports image

[xfzv]

@DivineMK thanks for the heads-up. I'm using Kitty and the following works fine in the terminal:

fzf --preview 'fzf-preview.sh {}'

but it doesn't work well in the lessfilter script on my end:

# lessfilter.sh

mime="$(file -bL --mime-type "$1")"
category="${mime%%/*}"

# [...]
elif [[ "$category" == "image" ]]; then
  fzf-preview.sh "$1"

Any idea?

[DivineMK]

I use it normally. Did you make sure fzf-preview.sh is available globally (putting in $PATH)? Also update fzf and kitty just in case.

[xfzv]

Did you make sure fzf-preview.sh is available globally (putting in $PATH)

Yes, it's in $PATH. Using absolute path instead of fzf-preview.sh doesn't make any difference.

Also update fzf and kitty just in case.

I'm using latest version for both:

% kitty --version
kitty 0.33.1 created by Kovid Goyal

% fzf --version
0.49.0 (62963dc)

[DivineMK]

May I see the whole .lessfilter? Maybe you happen to have other commands for images like chafa as well?

[xfzv]

Also occurs with stripped down lessfilter.sh:

#!/usr/bin/env bash

mime="$(file -bL --mime-type "$1")"
category="${mime%%/*}"

if [[ "$category" == "image" ]]; then
  fzf-preview.sh "$1"
fi

[DivineMK]

From lesspipe documentation you need to use .lessfilter or lessfilter not lessfilter.sh. Or you can edit lesspipe.sh directly but it is not recommended. Edit: I realized you have it working with other functionalities like preview directories so this is not the problem I guess but maybe give it a shot :face_with_head_bandage: ?

[xfzv]

Edit: I realized you have it working with other functionalities like preview directories so this is not the problem I guess but maybe give it a shot 🤕 ?

Yes, the script works just fine apart from that. I'm using:

export LESSOPEN="|lessfilter.sh %s"

as mentioned in the wiki. lessfilter.sh path is is added to $PATH before setting LESSOPEN variable.

[DivineMK]

If running fzf-preview.sh in terminal works then I don't know how to help :cry:. Did you try with different images as well?

[xfzv]

If running fzf-preview.sh in terminal works then I don't know how to help

No worries, thanks for the suggestions! I don't know either. Image previews with lf and Kitty protocol are working just fine too.

Did you try with different images as well?

Yes, multiple formats, same behavior.

[Chrispycode]

Is this still an Issue with kitty, I got it to work with previews like this: https://gist.github.com/Chrispycode/b9a3180ed5f01c4df4c765221d03b8b3

Screencast from 2024-05-21 20-00-40.webm

[xfzv]

@Chrispycode Thanks for the gist.

Can confirm it works for me as well after replacing this line from fzf-preview.sh:

- kitty icat --clear --transfer-mode=memory --unicode-placeholder --stdin=no --place="$dim@0x0" "$file" | sed '$d' | sed $'$s/$/\e[m/'
+ kitty icat --silent --clear --transfer-mode=memory --stdin=no --place="$dim@0x0" "$1" >&2

However, this "$file may be a binary file. See it anyway?" message appears behind the picture (can be seen in your video too):

If the picture is wide enough, it's hidden, but if it's not, then it's visible.

Interestingly, I have no issue whatsoever with images preview with ctrl+t using:

export FZF_CTRL_T_OPTS="--preview 'fzf-preview.sh {}'"

Can you get images preview working with your current setup but using fzf-preview.sh instead?

elif [ "$category" = image ]; then
  fzf-preview.sh "$1"

instead of

elif [ "$category" = image ]; then
  kitty icat --silent --clear --transfer-mode=memory --stdin=no --place="$dim@0x0" "$1" >&2

You can get fzf.preview.sh here

[Chrispycode]

The fzf-preview.sh also only works if I add >&2 and then it also returns the message but beneath the image.

elif [ "$category" = image ]; then
  # kitty icat --silent --clear --transfer-mode=memory --stdin=no --place="$dim@0x0" "$1" >&2
  "$DOTS/fzf-preview.sh" "$1" >&2

[xfzv]

Same here, not sure why. Also wondering why

export FZF_CTRL_T_OPTS="--preview 'fzf-preview.sh {}'"

works just fine without any tweak.

Thank you for your time!

[Chrispycode]

I got it to work now without the message, seems to be a problem with the LESSOPEN example.

zstyle ':fzf-tab:complete:*:*' fzf-preview '$DOTS/fzf-preview.sh ${(Q)realpath}'

[xfzv]

I got it to work now without the message, seems to be a problem with the LESSOPEN example.

zstyle ':fzf-tab:complete:*:*' fzf-preview '$DOTS/fzf-preview.sh ${(Q)realpath}'

Good catch, it solves the image previews for me too. But this completely bypasses lessfilter.sh for other file types and directories unfortunately.

What seems to cause the issue is to run fzf-preview.sh from lessfilter.sh or using the image preview part.

Maybe switching to

zstyle ':fzf-tab:complete:*:*' fzf-preview '/path/to/fzf-preview.sh ${(Q)realpath}'

and customizing fzf-preview.sh to re-use some elements of lessfilter.sh is a good approach?

[Chrispycode]

yes I only replaced the first case in the fzf-preview.sh for the preview of directories with

if [[ ! $type =~ image/ ]]; then
  if [[ $type =~ =binary ]]; then
    ls -1lah --color "$1"
    exit
  fi

[xfzv]

Maybe switching to

zstyle ':fzf-tab:complete::' fzf-preview '/path/to/fzf-preview.sh ${(Q)realpath}'

and customizing fzf-preview.sh to re-use some elements of lessfilter.sh is a good approach?

Can confirm this approach works fine on my end.

Maybe the wiki should be edited to suggest using fzf-preview instead of less? It seems more reliable, at least for image previews.

[Chrispycode]

I also had the same issue with bat previews where it only shows the first line of the file when using less btw.