Project Aliases

Project aliases live in a .aliases file at your project root. They load automatically when you cd into the directory and unload when you leave — like direnv, but for aliases.

Adding Project Aliases

Use the -l (local) flag:

cd ~/my-project
am add -l t "./x.py test"
am add -l b "./x.py build"

If no .aliases file exists, one is created in the current directory. If a .aliases already exists further up the directory tree, you'll be asked whether you meant to add to that one instead.

The .aliases File

You can also create or edit the file directly:

# /path/to/my-project/.aliases
[aliases]
t = "./x.py test"
b = "./x.py build"

How It Works

The am init shell hook calls am hook <shell> on every directory change. The hook:

1. Walks up from the current directory looking for a .aliases file (stopping before $HOME)
2. Unloads any previously active project aliases
3. Loads the new project's aliases

This means aliases automatically follow your context — switch to a Rust project and get Rust aliases, switch to a Node project and get Node aliases.

Workflow

A natural workflow is to start with project-local aliases, then refactor duplicates into profiles:

Step 1: Add project-specific aliases:

am add -l t cargo test
am add -l l cargo clippy --all-targets -- -D warnings
am add -l i cargo install --path .

Step 2: Notice t and l are the same across Rust projects. Extract to a profile:

am profile add rust
am add -p rust t cargo test
am add -p rust l cargo clippy --all-targets -- -D warnings
am profile use rust

Now the project .aliases keeps only truly project-specific aliases like i.

TIP

am tui lets you move aliases between project and profile levels visually — select an alias and press m to move it.

Moving Aliases with the TUI

Use am tui to move aliases from project level to a profile visually — select an alias and press m: