VIM ctrlp.vim plugin: how to rescan files?

Question

I have come across the awesome ctrlp.vim plugin. It is a good alternative to the Command-T plugin which I have used before. What I did not like about Command-T is that it would take about 20-30 seconds to rescan files when it is invoked for the first time after starting vim.

CtrlP works a lot faster but it does not seem to automatically rescan for newly created files. How should I trigger a rescan manually?

Thanks!

This is answered very clearly in the documentation. – Mark Wilden Jan 21 '12 at 04:18 — Mark Wilden, Jan 21 '12 at 04:18

score 299 · Accepted Answer · edited Apr 30 '16 at 08:21

299

From the documentation:

<F5>
  - Refresh the match window and purge the cache for the current directory.
  - Remove deleted files from MRU list.

This assumes you're in ctrl-p mode already. Note that you can hit F5 in the middle of a query, i.e., you can type a few characters, find it's not matching a recently updated file, and hit F5 to refresh right then. It will automatically show you the match if the file was just added to the ctrl-p cache.

edited Apr 30 '16 at 08:21

mahemoff

44,526
36
160
222

answered Dec 29 '11 at 04:05

Jeet

38,594
7
49
56

110

Note that this must be done while in CTRL-P mode. So, 1. `ctrl-p` 2. `F5` – David Kay Nov 10 '12 at 01:11
2

Almost works for me, I see it updating but it doesn't find newly added files – xer0x Mar 07 '13 at 20:09
1

@xer0x Make sure that you are in the correct CWD. Had the same issue while using NERDTree. – jsbeckr Jun 28 '13 at 17:17
9

Just to add, you can't search for your own file while you currently editing it. – Daryll Santos Mar 24 '14 at 07:47

score 66 · Answer 2 · edited Jul 09 '21 at 11:41

66

As Jeet says you can press F5 but if that doesn't work you can always run :CtrlPClearCache which is what F5 is supposed to run.

From the documentation

:CtrlPClearCache
Flush the cache for the current working directory. The same as pressing <F5> inside CtrlP.
To enable or disable caching, use the |g:ctrlp_use_caching| option.

edited Jul 09 '21 at 11:41

user229044

232,980
40
330
338

answered Aug 28 '14 at 15:06

Oskar Persson

6,605
15
63
124

I have GNU screen windows mapped to my Fn keys so this is perfect - thanks! – LeonardChallis Aug 18 '17 at 12:39

score 11 · Answer 3 · answered Oct 28 '17 at 20:07

11

I added this to .vimrc which turns off ctrlp caching

g:ctrlp_use_caching = 0

answered Oct 28 '17 at 20:07

Pip

1,062
8
6

This is probably the best and most accurate answer to the original question. Especially if you are on a computer (I'm looking at you Apple..) where the function row needs an alternate modifier key to access. – Devon Kiss May 31 '19 at 05:15
i like this answer, even with out cache, ctrp is fast enough already, can use Ag to boost up the speed – Nhan Tran Jun 04 '20 at 06:01

mahemoff · Answer 4 · 2015-09-22T11:34:21.757

If you want, you can automatically bust the cache when a save happens, so it will be forced to refresh on next use.

Put this in your vimrc (credit docwhat):

" CtrlP auto cache clearing.
" ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
function! SetupCtrlP()
  if exists("g:loaded_ctrlp") && g:loaded_ctrlp
    augroup CtrlPExtension
      autocmd!
      autocmd FocusGained  * CtrlPClearCache
      autocmd BufWritePost * CtrlPClearCache
    augroup END
  endif
endfunction
if has("autocmd")
  autocmd VimEnter * :call SetupCtrlP()
endif

Unfortunately there's no way to automatically keep the cache fresh in the background.

on save seems kind of expensive. is there a possible trigger for creating a new file? — Alex Moore-Niemi, Nov 11 '15 at 00:36

score 3 · Answer 5 · answered Oct 13 '16 at 19:49

3

I know this is a old question, but it's so simple that I have to comment. Put this in your .vimrc

:nnoremap <c-p> :CtrlPClearCache<bar>CtrlP<cr>

This will refresh the cache and then call CtrlP. No more missing files.

answered Oct 13 '16 at 19:49

Luiz Rocha

41
3

3

Why not just disable caching with `g:ctrlp_use_caching`? – Martin Tournoij Oct 13 '16 at 20:11

VIM ctrlp.vim plugin: how to rescan files?

5 Answers5