shrinkpath¶

Smart cross-platform path shortening for Rust and JavaScript/TypeScript.

/Users/john/Library/Application Support/Code/User/settings.json  (62 chars)
                            ↓  shrink_to(path, 35)
             /Users/john/.../User/settings.json                   (35 chars)

The filename is never truncated. The username is preserved when possible. Everything else adapts to fit your target length.

GitHub Repository →

What it does¶

shrinkpath shortens a path string to fit a target length, working on the string alone — no filesystem access, so it runs in WASM, embedded, or anywhere. It handles /home/..., ~/..., C:\Users\..., \\server\share\..., and .\... from any host OS, and it always returns a result at or under your target length (unless the filename itself is longer — filenames are sacred).

use shrinkpath::{shrink_to, shrink_fish};

let short = shrink_to("/home/john/projects/rust/myapp/src/lib.rs", 30);
assert!(short.len() <= 30);
assert!(short.ends_with("lib.rs"));

let fish = shrink_fish("/home/john/projects/rust/myapp/src/lib.rs");
assert_eq!(fish, "/h/j/p/r/m/s/lib.rs");

Packages¶

Platform	Package	Install
Rust	crates.io/crates/shrinkpath	`cargo add shrinkpath`
JavaScript/TypeScript	@4n6h4x0r/shrinkpath	`npm install @4n6h4x0r/shrinkpath`

Both packages have full feature parity. The npm package is a pure TypeScript implementation (not WASM) with zero dependencies.

Strategies¶

shrinkpath ships four strategies. Pick the one that fits, or use Hybrid (the default) and let the algorithm decide.

Fish — abbreviate every directory segment to its first character (/home/john/projects/lib.rs → /h/j/p/lib.rs). The shortest possible result.
Ellipsis — replace middle segments with ..., keeping the identity head and the segments nearest the filename (/home/john/projects/rust/src/lib.rs → /home/john/.../src/lib.rs). The most readable.
Hybrid (default) — a graduated four-phase approach that produces the best result for any target length, each phase strictly less destructive than the next.
Unique — abbreviate each segment to the shortest prefix that distinguishes it from every other segment in the path.

Segments are classified by how important they are to keep: the filename is sacred, the username/profile is identity (dropped last), home roots are context, and everything else is expendable (dropped first).

Highlights¶

Target-length guarantee — shrink_to(path, 30) always returns ≤ 30 chars (unless the filename is longer).
Identity-preserving — the username segment is the last thing to go, not the first.
Cross-platform — Unix, tilde, Windows drive, UNC, and dot-relative paths, auto-detected from the string.
Zero dependencies — the library has none; clap is only pulled in for the optional CLI.
Segment metadata — shrink_detailed() returns per-segment data for colored prompts, breadcrumbs, or tooltips.
Optional fs feature — git-repo-root detection and filesystem-aware disambiguation when you opt in.

See the README for the full API, CLI flags, and algorithm details.