How can I (from a script) add something to the zsh command history?

Question

I'd like to be able to look through my command history and know the context from which I issued various commands--in other words, "what directory was I in?" There are various ways I could achieve this, but all of them (that I can think of) would require manipulating the zsh history to add (for instance) a commented line with the result of $(pwd). (I could create functions named cd & pushd & popd etc, or I could use zsh's preexec() function and maybe its periodic() function to add the comment line at most every X seconds, just before I issue a command, or perhaps there's some other way.)

The problem is, I don't want to directly manipulate the history file and bypass the shell's history mechanism, but I can't figure out a way (with the fc command, for instance) to add something to the history without actually typing it on the command line. How could I do this?

Your directory changes go to that history - when you log in, you are at your $HOME - with a history file that is infinitely long, you can always parse the directory you were in — Kimvais, May 12 '10 at 06:40
Yes, thanks, but it can be a hassle. If I type cd /some/path/to/some/where then almost immediately type a command that would be okay. But in reality I'll have lots of cd .., popd, etc. commands, and the command I'm wondering about might in some cases be a hundred or more after the directory change. I'm looking for something that allows me to *quickly* and *easily* see where I was when I issued a command. — iconoclast, May 12 '10 at 14:47
@Kimvais Quite a narrow view of all the possible things that can happen through the course of a command line session. A script can drop you in a wholly different directory. Surely you dont suggest parsing such a script as well? — Steven Lu, Jul 08 '13 at 20:59

score 13 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 10:27

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You can use the print -s command (see man zshbuiltins) to add anything you want to the history. There's also a hook function you can create called zshaddhistory (see man zshmisc) that can manipulate history contents as they are created.

See my Bash history logging functions for inspiration.

edited May 23 '17 at 10:27

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answered May 12 '10 at 07:34

Dennis Williamson

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Is there a way to add it to the parent process' shell? – Sridhar Sarnobat May 06 '20 at 01:56
This doesn't work when I put it in a subshell: `(print -s -- "# hi $(date)")` – HappyFace May 03 '21 at 16:13
@HappyFace: It adds it to the subshell's history. Try `(print -s -- "# hi $(date)"; history)` for a demonstration. You could use `fc` with appropriate options to save the history while in the subshell then read it back while in the parent shell. – Dennis Williamson Jun 26 '22 at 16:05
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@SridharSarnobat: See my comment to HappyFace. – Dennis Williamson Jun 26 '22 at 16:05

How can I (from a script) add something to the zsh command history?

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